Volume III: Biographies

CAMERON, Walter *

Actor, cameraman (1914-1915)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Walter Cameron appeared in the 1914 Thanhouser release of The Varsity Race and was in films through 1915. He served as an assistant cameraman in The Varsity Race.

Biographical Notes: Walter Cameron appeared in many motion pictures, perhaps as many as 200, from the turn of the century onward. Included was work with Edison in The Great Train Robbery, released in 1903, and with American Biograph, Vitagraph, and Thanhouser. He worked with Thanhouser in 1914 and early 1915. On January 29, 1915 he was elected chairman of the house committee of the Thanhouser Club in New Rochelle. In 1915, by which time it is believed he was no longer with the studio, he was a bystander during the May filming of The Patriot and the Spy. New Rochelle city directories listed his home address as 6 Rochelle Place, Rochelle Park, in 1915, and as 12 Rochelle Place in the same district in 1916 and 1917.

His Later Career: The following is from an undated publicity release issued in the mid 1930s by Selznick International Pictures, Culver City, California: "Walter Cameron, who set the styles for screen he-men 32 years ago, when he became filmland's first hero in The Great Train Robbery [Edison, 1903], the first story-telling picture ever made, is going to return to motion pictures, it was announced today. Cameron was signed up for a role in David O. Selznick's next production, Made for Each Other, which will co-star Carole Lombard and James Stewart. It will be his first film part, save for occasional work as a long-distance double in riding scenes, since he retired from the flickers in 1922.

"Long before the public ever knew there was such a thing as a star, Cameron was contributing to motion picture history. In The Great Train Robbery he was the sheriff. This was the film that started the motion picture industry on its way to billion-dollar proportions. It changed films from a freak and curiosity to the world's leading medium of dramatic entertainment. Now 69 years old, Cameron makes a business of renting horses, carriages, and similar items for motion pictures. He is the owner of the Ben Hur Stables in Culver City. For his work as the screen's first hero he received exactly $35, he recalls, no more than some of his horses now get for only a day's work. The story of The Great Train Robbery merely told of a holdup and chase, with George Barnes doing the holding up and Cameron the chasing. Edwin S. Porter wrote, directed, and produced the picture for the old Edison Company in New York. Cameron's most recent job was providing horses for The Young in Heart, starring Janet Gaynor, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Paulette Goddard."

The following is from an undated publicity release issued in the late 1930s by Bill Hebert, of Selznick International Pictures, Culver City, California: "Walter Cameron, 70, who played the sheriff in The Great Train Robbery 36 years ago, the first motion picture to present a story, today supplies Hollywood with range critters.' He once served as U.S. Deputy Marshal in the Oklahoma Indian Territory and was a ranchman on the open range when the West was ruled by the laws of Hoyle and Colt. The veteran now operates the Ben Hur Stables in Culver City, training horses, burros, and cattle for movies. He is seen here with Ingrid Bergman, Swedish star, appearing in Selznick International's Intermezzo, her first American picture, which stars Leslie Howard, who also is associate producer. Cameron supplied animals for the picture. He worked in 200 pictures which followed The Great Train Robbery, writing and directing, as well as acting, for Thanhouser, Vitagraph, and Biograph. I do better rentin' critters to the movies than by actin' in em,' he remarked."

Thanhouser Filmography:

1914: The Varsity Race (9-22-1914)

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