William Desmond — Blue Book of the Screen (1923) 🇺🇸

When Ireland takes a hand in motion pictures, definite results are insured. Scattered here and there in the film colony are to be found natives of the Emerald Isle, and each one “registers” individually. One of these is William Desmond, Dublin born, and for a long time a cinema star.

Nature provided Desmond with that valuable asset, a screen personality, while the hard grind of stock experience at the old Burbank Theatre, Los Angeles, fitted him for his picture career in many ways. This came after the removal to New York and his ensuing education there.

Oliver Morosco gave Desmond his first opportunity to tread the boards at the time that the Burbank in Los Angeles and, in San Francisco, the Alcazar, became famous for the number of celebrities they developed.

While in stock Desmond proved one of the most energetic students who ever strove to attain success. His daytime hours practically were passed in the theatre in rehearsal or play. Every evening, shunning amusements and the call of the outside, he studied and rehearsed steadily, untiringly, with the stubbornness of an Irish lad who was bound to succeed. He had certain obstacles to overcome, and fought these until he won.

Eventually Desmond starred in the greatest plays of the modern age, with dashes of Shakespeare thrown in. One of the earliest was “Quo Vadis”; another, Richard Walton Tully’s “The Bird of Paradise.”

But the films approached. They eventually surrounded the old Burbank Theatre, and, like many others, the ambitious young “Bill” Desmond turned to the new art.

Desmond is of the virile, athletic type. Action appeals to him. Therefore, it was natural that film producers first played him in outdoor roles. Two of these were series productions: “Perils of the Yukon” and “Around the World in Eighteen Days.”

He starred in many special productions with Ince, Goldwyn [Thomas H. Ince, Samuel Goldwyn] and other producers.

Some of his feature successes are: “The Prodigal Liar,” “Mints of Hell,” “Bare-Fisted Gallagher.” “The Blue Bandanna,” “Her Code of Honor,” “The Prince and Betty Hampton,” “The Parish Priest,” “Broadway Cowboy,” “Muffled Drums” and “Women Men Love.”

Mr. Desmond is five feet eleven inches tall, weighs 170 pounds, has black hair and blue eyes.

He married the charming Mary Mclvor, who also has graced the screen, and a winsome little daughter rules the beautiful Hollywood home. Mr. Desmond, besides enjoying athletics, is a talented writer of stage and film plays.

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Another of the beautiful Beverly Hills homes — William Desmond’s.

Portrait by Roman Freulich • Los Angeles

Collection: The Blue Book of the Screen (1923)