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William Nicholas Selig | |
|---|---|
 Selig in 1916 | |
| Born | March 14, 1864 |
| Died | July 15, 1948 (aged 84) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Other names | "Colonel" Selig Col. William N. Selig Col. William Selig W.N. Selig William N. Selig Wm. N. Selig |
William Nicholas Selig (March 14, 1864 – July 15, 1948) was a vaudeville performer and pioneer of the American motion picture industry. His stage billing as Colonel Selig would be used for the rest of his career, even as he moved into film production.
Born to immigrant parents living in Chicago, Selig apprenticed as an upholsterer, but got his start in vaudeville, touring the Midwest as a magician's assistant. Creating his own magic act, Colonel Selig toured the country and produced a touring vaudeville show, Selig’s Mastodon Minstrels, based in San Francisco.
In 1896, Selig created one of the first film production companies, Selig Polyscope Company of Chicago. He produced a string of commercially successful films in the early years of the film industry. His The Tramp and the Dog (1896) is considered the first narrative film set in Chicago. Selig may have made the first narrative film shot in Los Angeles, The Count of Monte Cristo (1908), and in 1909, in a corporate expansion established the first permanent L.A. studio, in Edendale, Los Angeles.
Selig also produced the first Wizard of Oz film in 1910, the first two-reeler (about 20 minutes) film, Damon and Pythias (1908), and the first true serial, The Adventures of Kathlyn (1913–1914).[1]
- ^ Loerzel, Robert (2003). Alchemy of Bones: Luetgert Judge Rules Bacon Wrote Shakespeare's Plays. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-02858-9.
He claimed to have made the first narrative film shot in Los Angeles, 1908 's The Count of Monte Cristo, and he established what may have been the first permanent studio in the Los Angeles area in 1909. He had other claims to fame as well: His studio was credited with being the first U.S. company to shoot a two-reel film, Damon and Pythias (1908), and the first true serial, The Adventures of Kathlyn (1913-1914). Western star Tom Mix got his start with Selig. Selig shut down his Selig Polyscope Company in 1918 but continued to produce motion pictures into the 1930s. The final pictures credited to Selig were The Drag-Net (1936) and Convicts at Large (1938).