Volume III: Biographies

STAGG, Clinton H.

Scenario writer (1915-1916)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Clinton H. Stagg wrote scenarios for certain 1915 and 1916 Thanhouser films.

Biographical Notes: A native of New Jersey, Clinton H. Stagg became a writer for Munsey's, People's, Popular, Adventure, The Saturday Evening Post, and other magazines. A prolific writer, Stagg claimed to have a commercial output of one million words per year. His novels included Thornby Colton, Blind Detective, and Silver Sandals. At one time he was a paid political lobbyist in New Jersey. Clinton H. Stagg joined Thanhouser in September 1915 and wrote scenarios for many films released in 1916. While working for Thanhouser he lived in a room at the Hotel Osborn in New Rochelle. He left Thanhouser very early in 1916 and went to the Jesse L. Lasky Company in Los Angeles. His death occurred in an automobile accident near Los Angeles, California on Wednesday, May 3, 1916. He was about 30 years old at the time and was survived by his mother and a sister, both of whom lived in New Jersey. A passenger in the car, George Foster Platt, a former director for Thanhouser who also went to Lasky, escaped with injuries which necessitated his resigning from the Lasky studio and taking a cruise to the Orient to recuperate.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1916: In the Name of the Law (1-11-1916), The Burglar's Picnic (1-26-1916), The Knotted Cord (2-2-1916), The Spirit of the Game (2-9-1916), The Reunion (2-23-1916), The Whispered Word (3-15-1916), The Fifth Ace (3-22-1916), The Carriage of Death (4-29-1916)

# # #