Volume III: Biographies

ZOLLINGER, William M.

Cameraman (1912-1917)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: William M. Zollinger was a cameraman with Thanhouser, circa 1912-1917.

Biographical Notes: William M. Zollinger was born in Brooklyn, New York on July 23, 1874 and received his education in the public schools there. He was a cameraman for Vitagraph in 1911 (Vanity Fair, War, etc.), after which he went to Thanhouser, where he filmed numerous productions. Most of his work was uncredited, so today only a few of his films can be attributed. In early 1913 he traveled in the Midwest with a company of Thanhouser players under the direction of T.N. Heffron. In the winter of 1914 Zollinger lived in New Rochelle and shared a common backyard boundary with the residence of Thanhouser cameraman Carl Louis Gregory. In the years from 1914 to 1916, perhaps longer, he lived for at least part of the year in New Rochelle aboard the houseboat Wilmar (spelled Willmar in some accounts) and worked at the Thanhouser studio. New Rochelle city directories list his address as 16 Pratt Street in 1910, the Webster Apartments at 417 Main Street in 1914, the Neptune Dock in 1915 and 1916, 5 Locust Avenue in 1917, and 43 Harrison Avenue in 1918.

A 1915 Sketch: As part of a biographical series by William J. Kellette, the following appeared in The New Rochelle Pioneer, June 12, 1915: "William Marshall Zollinger draws down his money as a cameraman at Thanhouser's, or I'd write him up as a motor and houseboat enthusiast, because 'Bill' knows as much of the mechanism of motorboats as he does of the Pathés. 'Zolly' was born in Brooklyn on July 23, 1874, and lacks a trifle over a month of being as aged as the guy that holds the top of the column in this issue. He's a French American and was educated in the Brooklyn Public Schools, where he was nicknamed 'Jack,' but one seldom hears the appellative around the 'stage.'

"'Zolly' is 5 feet 11 1-4 inches in height and weighs 180. He has eyes that denote an analytical mind, gray generally, but change in shade tone to a darker hue when concentrating. He has brown hair and dark complexion, and has acted in photoplays. He came to Thanhouser's from Vitagraph, and has been in the game about eight years. He likes exterior work best, but has turned out some wonderful photography on interior scenes. He works a Pathé. 'Zolly' has been with some great directors in his day - Humphries, Brooks, Kent, Trimble, Ranous, Young, Thompson, Fleming, Marston, Durkin, Heffron, Hale, Hunt, and with all of those employed by Thanhouser. He is the father of the Wilmar a houseboat that reposes at Neptune Dock, is happily wedded, and his daughter is the wife of Harry Stilwell, property man at the studio. Bill is also a grandfather, but if you travel with Bill in his motorboat you wouldn't believe it.

"By hard work and enthusiastic interest Mr. Zollinger has worked his way to the marshal's station in Huguenot Lodge, No. 46 F & A.M., and devotes considerable time to lodge work. He is strong for the water stuff, though, and loves his motorboat next to his family. He's a member of the Cinema Club, New York City, and is thoroughly up upon the news topics of the day. Quiet, partially reserved, painstaking and intelligent, 'Zolly' has a way about him that one soon learns to regard highly and he is soon adopted into your family circle. He is occupying the houseboat for the summer and finds life to be all peaches and cream upon the briny deep."

His Later Career: In early 1916 he was one of Thanhouser's cameramen at the Jacksonville, Florida studio. In June 1917 he was dismissed from the Thanhouser staff as part of a cost-cutting move. Zollinger later worked for the Screen Craft Company (Fang's Fate and Fortune). In 1917 his mailing address was care of the Screen Craft Company, 303 Fifth Avenue, New York City. William Zollinger was 5'11" tall, weighed 190 pounds, had a light complexion, black hair and blue eyes. His recreations included motorboating, sailing, and other outdoor activities. Later, he became a clerk for the New Rochelle Department of Public Works, in which position he remained until his retirement on June 1, 1941. He subsequently moved to 317 West 56th Street, New York City. William M. Zollinger died at the Polyclinic Hospital, New York City, on June 9, 1946, following a five-week illness. He was survived by a brother, Stephen Zollinger of California, and a sister, Mrs. Mary H. Robertson of Brooklyn, New York.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1912: Letters of a Lifetime (10-1-1912)

1913: Halfway to Reno (2-16-1913)

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

1915: The Patriot and the Spy (6-7-1915), Which Shall It Be? (6-22-1915), The Price of Her Silence (9-30-1915)

1916: The Bubbles in the Glass (1-4-1916), Silas Marner (2-19-1916), The Cruise of Fate (3-8-1916), King Lear (12-17-1916)

1917: The Vicar of Wakefield (2-25-1917), Her Beloved Enemy (3-4-1917), The Woman and the Beast (Graphic Features 4-17-1917), Hinton's Double (5-6-1917), The Woman in White (7-1-1917), War and the Woman (9-9-1917)

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