Fred Fishback

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title: "Fred Fishback" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1894-births", "1925-deaths", "deaths-from-lung-cancer-in-california", "romanian-emigrants-to-the-united-states", "film-directors-from-los-angeles", "american-male-screenwriters", "film-producers-from-california", "20th-century-american-male-writers", "20th-century-american-screenwriters"] description: "Film director" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Fishback" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Film director ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Fred Fishback
image	Fred Hibbard & Edith Roberts - Aug 1919 EH.jpg
caption	Fred Fishback (left) and Edith Roberts in 1919
birth_name	Moscu Fischback
birth_date
birth_place	Bucharest, Romania
death_date
death_place	Los Angeles, U.S.
other_names	Fred Hibbard
occupation
yearsactive	1912–1925
spouse	Ethel Lynne (married 1919–1925)
::

| name = Fred Fishback | image = Fred Hibbard & Edith Roberts - Aug 1919 EH.jpg | caption = Fred Fishback (left) and Edith Roberts in 1919 | birth_name = Moscu Fischback | birth_date = | birth_place = Bucharest, Romania | death_date = | death_place = Los Angeles, U.S. | other_names = Fred Hibbard | occupation = | yearsactive = 1912–1925 | spouse = Ethel Lynne (married 1919–1925)

Fred C. Fishback (born Moscu Fischback; January 18, 1894January 6, 1925) was a film director, actor, screenwriter, and producer of the silent era. Following the 1921 scandal surrounding Roscoe Arbuckle, in which he was involved, Fishback worked mostly under the pseudonym Fred Hibbard.

Biography

Fred Fishback was born Moscu Fischback (sometimes spelled Fischbach) on January 18, 1894, in Bucharest, Romania. He immigrated to the United States around 1900, and made his motion picture debut with Thomas H. Ince in 1912. As Freddy Fischbach, he became a cameraman at Mack Sennett's Keystone studio, where he worked with comedy star Roscoe Arbuckle. Sennett promoted Fischbach to director, with his surname Americanized to Fred Fishback.

Anyone with Keystone credentials was welcomed by lesser comedy studios, and Fishback secured a job directing comedy shorts for Universal Pictures, many of them featuring former Keystone and Hal Roach bit player Lige Conley.

Both Arbuckle and Fishback were hired to direct at Educational Pictures. Fishback, reunited with Lige Conley, helped to develop Conley into a comedy star in a lengthy series of slapstick short subjects. Fishback also directed one of Educational's leading comedians, Lloyd Hamilton. Fishback died at the age of 30 of cancer; his last films were released posthumously.

Select filmography

Actor

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1914	Love and Bullets	Henchman	last=Walker
1914	Laughing Gas	Bearded Patient	297}}
1914	Tillie's Punctured Romance	Tall Servant	460}}
1914	Killing Horace	Painter	301}}
1914	Those Love Pangs	Vivian's Boyfriend	302}}
1914	Gentlemen of Nerve	Spectator Behind Fence, Spectator in Bleachers	303}}
1915	**	Lead Cop	309}}
1915	**	Raffle Ticket Taker	310}}
1915	That Little Band of Gold	Audience Member Near Box	312}}
1915	Droppington's Devilish Deed	The Heavy Man	314}}
1915	Do-Re-Me-Boom!	Cop	316}}
1915	**	Free-Eater Hit with Plate	319}}
1915	**	Tall Henchman	319}}
1915	Only a Messenger Boy	Man with Booze	321}}
1915	**	Waiter in Booth Hall	323}}
1915	**	Prisoner Who Escapes with Ford	325}}
::

Director

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/A_Movie_Star_(1916).webm" caption="A Movie Star]]'' (1916)"] ::

| align = right | direction = vertical | width = 220 | image1 = International Sneak poster.jpg | alt1 = | caption1 = Poster for An International Sneak (1917) | image2 =Brownie-Table-1921.jpg | alt2 = | caption2 = Advertisement for short films starring Brownie the dog, including Playmates and Society Dogs (1921) | image3 =Circus-Clowns-1922-Poster.jpg | alt3 = | caption3 = Poster for Circus Clowns (1922), with direction credited to Fred Hibbard and starring Baby Peggy. ::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Notes
1915	**	310}}
1915	**	312}}
1915	Droppington's Devilish Deed	314}}
1915	Do-Re-Me-Boom!	316}}
1915	**	319}}
1915	**	319}}
1916	**	326}}
1916	His Auto Ruination	327}}
1916	By Stork Delivery	329}}
1916	His Bitter Pill	332}}
1916	Ambrose's Cup of Woe	333}}
1916	Madcap Ambrose	334}}
1916	Ambrose's Rapid Rise	336}}
1916	Safety First Ambrose	337}}
1917	His Naughty Thought	339}}
1917	Cactus Nell	340}}
1917	Lost, a Cook	342}}
1917	Roping Her Romeo	349}}
1917	**	350}}
1918	Beware of Boarders!	354}}
1918	Here Come the Girls
1919	Money Talks
1919	**
1920	His Master's Breath	Also screenwriter
1920	**	Also screenwriter
1920	Naughty Lions and Wild Men	Also screenwriter
1920	Over the Transom	Also screenwriter
1920	Loose Lions and Fast Lovers	Also screenwriter
1920	**	date=1920
1920	My Dog Pal	Also screenwriter
1920	My Salomy Lions	Also screenwriter
1921	**	Also screenwriter
1921	**	Also screenwriter
1921	Playmates	Also screenwriter
1921	Alfalfa Love	Also screenwriter
1921	Society Dogs	Also screenwriter
1921	**	Also screenwriter
1921	Brownie's Little Venus	Also screenwriter
1922	Circus Clowns	As Fred Hibbard; also screenwriter
1922	The Straphanger	Director and screenwriter
1923	Uncle Sam	305}}
1924	My Friend	last=Balducci
1924	Air Pockets	563}}
1924	Killing Time	223}}
1924	Going East	223}}
1924	Jonah Jones	224}}
1924	Crushed	224}}
1925	Hooked	224–225}}
1925	Half a Hero	225}}
::

References

References

1. [https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q557-Y9ZM Fred (Moscu) Fischbach Or Fishbach, United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940.]
2. Walker, Brent E.. (2010). "Mack Sennett's Fun Factory". [[McFarland & Company]].
3. "Here Come the Girls". Silent Era.
4. (1919). "Catalog of Copyright Entries". U.S. Government Printing Office.
5. (1919). "Catalog of Copyright Entries". U.S. Government Printing Office.
6. "Fred Fishback". [[British Film Institute]].
7. (1920). "Catalog of Copyright Entries". U.S. Government Printing Office.
8. (1920). "Catalog of Copyright Entries". U.S. Government Printing Office.
9. (1920). "Catalog of Copyright Entries". U.S. Government Printing Office.
10. (1920). "Catalog of Copyright Entries". U.S. Government Printing Office.
11. (1920). "Catalog of Copyright Entries". U.S. Government Printing Office.
12. (1920). "Catalog of Copyright Entries". U.S. Government Printing Office.
13. (1921). "Catalog of Copyright Entries". U.S. Government Printing Office.
14. (1921). "Catalog of Copyright Entries". U.S. Government Printing Office.
15. (1921). "Catalog of Copyright Entries". U.S. Government Printing Office.
16. (1921). "Catalog of Copyright Entries". U.S. Government Printing Office.
17. (1921). "Catalog of Copyright Entries". U.S. Government Printing Office.
18. (1921). "Catalog of Copyright Entries". U.S. Government Printing Office.
19. (1921). "Catalog of Copyright Entries". U.S. Government Printing Office.
20. "Circus Clowns". Silent Era.
21. (January 11, 1922). "The Straphanger". Century Film.
22. Balducci, Anthony. (2009). "Lloyd Hamilton: Poor Boy Comedian of Silent Cinema". McFarland.

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