Francis Winter Boggs (March 1870 â€" October 27, 1911) was a stage
actor and pioneer silent film director. He was one of the first to
direct a film in Hollywood.He was born in Santa Rosa, California to
George W. Boggs and Alabama McMeans. While in his teens he began
acting with the Alcazar stock company in San Francisco and toured the
American southwest. In 1900, he moved to Los Angeles, but in 1902, he
went to Chicago, where he continued to work in theatre. There, he met
William Nicholas Selig and in 1907 became involved with the making of
motion pictures at Selig's Polyscope studios in Chicago. With
cameraman and jack of all trades Thomas Persons, Boggs made one of his
earliest films, Monte Cristo. He completed the interior shots at the
Chicago studio, but shot the scenes of Edmond Dantès emerging from
the sea at the beach near Los Angeles.In Chicago in 1908, he made The
Fairylogue and Radio-Plays, which had its writer, L. Frank Baum,
present a slide show and films as a live travelogue presentation of
his Oz story. In March 1909, he returned to the west coast, where he
filmed In the Sultan’s Power, one of the first motion pictures
completely made in Los Angeles. He left Los Angeles in April to go on
location in Yosemite and Oakland in California and the Hood River
Valley in Oregon. In October, Boggs returned to Los Angeles and rented
a small bungalow in the Edendale district as a permanent base from
which he operated a west coast satellite studio for Selig. Other East
Coast studios soon began filming on the west coast to take advantage
of its moderate climate. Among people Boggs started in the film
industry were actor-director Hobart Bosworth, actor-director Robert Z.
Leonard, cowboy star Art Acord, and actresses Betty Harte, Bessie
Eyton, and Bebe Daniels. (The Sergeant, a Western short in Yosemite
produced and directed by Boggs and written and starring Bosworth, was
released in September 1910.) He also gave Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle his
first movie work, 1909's Ben's Kid, and made four short films with
him.Boggs was shot to death by Frank Minnimatsu on October 27, 1911,
when Minnimatsu, a caretaker and janitor, became violently deranged.
Studio owner Selig tried to wrestle the gun away from the man and he
too was shot, wounded in the arm. Ironically, that same day in 1911,
David Horsley and Al Christie set up their Nestor Studios in
Hollywood, sounding the death knell for Edendale as the film
production center of Los Angeles. Within two years, more than a dozen
film companies would follow Boggs' example and establish facilities in
and around Los Angeles.
actor and pioneer silent film director. He was one of the first to
direct a film in Hollywood.He was born in Santa Rosa, California to
George W. Boggs and Alabama McMeans. While in his teens he began
acting with the Alcazar stock company in San Francisco and toured the
American southwest. In 1900, he moved to Los Angeles, but in 1902, he
went to Chicago, where he continued to work in theatre. There, he met
William Nicholas Selig and in 1907 became involved with the making of
motion pictures at Selig's Polyscope studios in Chicago. With
cameraman and jack of all trades Thomas Persons, Boggs made one of his
earliest films, Monte Cristo. He completed the interior shots at the
Chicago studio, but shot the scenes of Edmond Dantès emerging from
the sea at the beach near Los Angeles.In Chicago in 1908, he made The
Fairylogue and Radio-Plays, which had its writer, L. Frank Baum,
present a slide show and films as a live travelogue presentation of
his Oz story. In March 1909, he returned to the west coast, where he
filmed In the Sultan’s Power, one of the first motion pictures
completely made in Los Angeles. He left Los Angeles in April to go on
location in Yosemite and Oakland in California and the Hood River
Valley in Oregon. In October, Boggs returned to Los Angeles and rented
a small bungalow in the Edendale district as a permanent base from
which he operated a west coast satellite studio for Selig. Other East
Coast studios soon began filming on the west coast to take advantage
of its moderate climate. Among people Boggs started in the film
industry were actor-director Hobart Bosworth, actor-director Robert Z.
Leonard, cowboy star Art Acord, and actresses Betty Harte, Bessie
Eyton, and Bebe Daniels. (The Sergeant, a Western short in Yosemite
produced and directed by Boggs and written and starring Bosworth, was
released in September 1910.) He also gave Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle his
first movie work, 1909's Ben's Kid, and made four short films with
him.Boggs was shot to death by Frank Minnimatsu on October 27, 1911,
when Minnimatsu, a caretaker and janitor, became violently deranged.
Studio owner Selig tried to wrestle the gun away from the man and he
too was shot, wounded in the arm. Ironically, that same day in 1911,
David Horsley and Al Christie set up their Nestor Studios in
Hollywood, sounding the death knell for Edendale as the film
production center of Los Angeles. Within two years, more than a dozen
film companies would follow Boggs' example and establish facilities in
and around Los Angeles.
Share this

SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.