William Collier Sr.

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American actor, screenwriter and director

title: "William Collier Sr." type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1864-births", "1944-deaths", "20th-century-american-male-actors", "20th-century-american-male-writers", "20th-century-american-screenwriters", "american-male-screenwriters", "american-male-film-actors", "burials-at-forest-lawn-memorial-park-(glendale)", "deaths-from-pneumonia-in-california", "film-directors-from-new-york-city"] description: "American actor, screenwriter and director" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Collier_Sr." license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actor, screenwriter and director ::

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

FieldValue
nameWilliam Collier Sr
imageHarvard Theatre Collection - William Collier Sr. TCS 1.5465 - cropped.jpg
birth_date
birth_placeNew York City, U.S.
birth_nameWilliam Morenus
death_date
death_placeBeverly Hills, California, U.S.
burial_placeForest Lawn Memorial Park
occupationWriter, director, actor on stage and screen
yearsactive1916–1941
spouseLouise Allen (?–1909) (her death)
Paula Marr (1910–?)
childrenWilliam Collier Jr.
::

| name = William Collier Sr | image = Harvard Theatre Collection - William Collier Sr. TCS 1.5465 - cropped.jpg | birth_date = | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | birth_name = William Morenus | death_date = | death_place = Beverly Hills, California, U.S. | burial_place = Forest Lawn Memorial Park | occupation = Writer, director, actor on stage and screen | yearsactive = 1916–1941 | spouse = Louise Allen (?–1909) (her death) Paula Marr (1910–?) | children = William Collier Jr.

William Collier Sr. (November 12, 1864 – January 13, 1944), born William Morenus, was an American writer, director and actor.

Collier ran away from home when only 11 years old to join a touring company run by Eddie Foy and in 1879 he appeared as a juvenile in H.M.S. Pinafore. After a notable stage career, he tried motion pictures, under producer Mack Sennett. He then went back to the stage for some years but returned to films when the talkies came along.

In 1910, he appeared at the Elitch Theatre in Denver, Colorado, while his adopted son, stage named William Collier Jr., was recovering from scarlet fever that was followed by typhoid. His son recovered and was able to join his father in a production of The Patriot.

He "once opened The Patriot, one of his own plays, on December 30. On January 2 he advertised with some degree of truthfulness: 'Second Year in New York.'" ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Willie_Collier_and_son_LCCN2014691360_(cropped).jpg" caption="Collier with son [[William Collier Jr."] ::

He was married to the actress Louise Allen; she died in 1909 and he married Paula Marr the following year, adopting her son Charles, whom he renamed William Collier Jr. On Broadway he starred as the gambler Gideon Holtz in Rudolf Friml's The Wild Rose at the Martin Beck Theatre in 1926.

Collier died of pneumonia in 1944. He was interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Partial filmography

References

References

  1. (2001). "Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory". McFarland.
  2. Borrillo, Theodore A.. (2012). "Denver's historic Elitch Theatre : a nostalgic journey (a history of its times)". [publisher not identified].
  3. Hay, Peter. (1990). "Broadway anecdotes". Oxford university press.
  4. [[J. Brooks Atkinson]]. (October 21, 1926). "Matters of State". [[The New York Times]].
  5. "William Collier". Los Angeles Times.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1864-births1944-deaths20th-century-american-male-actors20th-century-american-male-writers20th-century-american-screenwritersamerican-male-screenwritersamerican-male-film-actorsburials-at-forest-lawn-memorial-park-(glendale)deaths-from-pneumonia-in-californiafilm-directors-from-new-york-city