James Cruze was a silent film

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 and film director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

.

Life

Cruze was born as Jens Vera Cruz Bosen. The Vera Cruz middle name came from the battle of Vera Cruz

Siege of Veracruz

The Battle of Veracruz was a 20-day siege of the key Mexican beachhead seaport of Veracruz, during the Mexican-American War. Lasting from 9-29 March 1847, it began with the first large-scale amphibious assault conducted by United States military forces, and ended with the surrender and occupation...

. He was raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but did not practice the religion after his teenage years. Very little is certain about his childhood and teen years because he told a different story at every interview he granted.

Cruze acted, directed and or produced in over 100 films mainly during the silent film era. His first known acting job was at Lubin Manufacturing Company in 1910. He started at Thanhouser Company

Thanhouser Company

The Thanhouser Company was one of the first motion picture studios, founded in 1909 by Edwin Thanhouser.-See also:...

 in 1912 which is where the majority of his body of work was produced, much of it as the leading man. He married the actress Marguerite Snow

Marguerite Snow

Marguerite Snow was an American silent film actress. Her father was a comedian. She was educated in Denver, Colorado at the Loretta Heights Academy.-Silent Film Leading Lady:...

 in 1913 and had a daughter by her in 1914. They divorced in 1922.

After leaving Thanhouser in 1916, he worked for several other companies as director and producer, primarily for Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

, from 1918 to 1938. He married the actress Betty Compson

Betty Compson

Betty Compson was an American actress. Born Eleanor Luicime Compson in Beaver, Utah, she had an extensive film career. Her father died when she was young, and she was forced to drop out of school and earn a living for herself and her mother...

 in 1924 and they divorced in 1930. He married Alberta McCoy on 30 June 1941. McCoy survived him, and died in Hollywood on 7 July 1960.
He is interred in the Abby of the Psalms in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, CA.

Filmography

As Director (partial list)

• The Wrong Road (1937)
• I Cover the Waterfront
  I Cover the Waterfront
  I Cover the Waterfront is a 1933 film, based on the book of the same name by Max Miller. The film was directed by James Cruze and stars Ben Lyon, Claudette Colbert, Ernest Torrance, and Hobart Cavanaugh.-Synopsis:...
  
  (1933) with Claudette Colbert
  Claudette Colbert
  Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
  
  
• Washington Merry-Go-Round (1932) with Lee Tracy
  Lee Tracy
  William Lee Tracy was an American actor.- Early life :Tracy was born in Atlanta, Georgia.After graduating from Western Military Academy in 1918 he studied electrical engineering at Union College, and then served as a 2nd lieutenant in World War I. In the early 1920s he decided to work as an actor...
  
  
• If I Had A Million
  If I Had A Million
  If I Had a Million is a Paramount Studios anthology film. There were seven directors: Ernst Lubitsch, Norman Taurog, Stephen Roberts, Norman Z. McLeod, James Cruze, William A. Seiter, and H. Bruce Humberstone...
  
  (1932) 8 directors; Cruze directed segment with W. C. Fields
  W. C. Fields
  William Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...
  
  
• Salvation Nell
  Salvation Nell
  Salvation Nell is a 1931 film drama produced and directed by James Cruze and distributed by Tiffany Films, a company then on the brink of ceasing operations. It is based on Edward Sheldon's 1908 Broadway play which starred Minnie Maddern Fiske. Two silent versions were produced ie, in 1915 with...
  
  (1931) based on the play by Edward Sheldon
  Edward Sheldon
  Edward Brewster Sheldon was an American dramatist. His plays include Salvation Nell and Romance , which was made into a motion picture with Greta Garbo....
  
  
• The Great Gabbo
  The Great Gabbo
  The Great Gabbo is an American early sound film musical drama film directed by James Cruze, based on a story by Ben Hecht and starring Erich von Stroheim and Betty Compson....
  
  (1929) with Erich von Stroheim
  Erich von Stroheim
  Erich von Stroheim was an Austrian-born film star of the silent era, subsequently noted as an auteur for his directorial work.-Background:...
  
   and Betty Compson
  Betty Compson
  Betty Compson was an American actress. Born Eleanor Luicime Compson in Beaver, Utah, she had an extensive film career. Her father died when she was young, and she was forced to drop out of school and earn a living for herself and her mother...
  
  
• A Man's Man (1929) with William Haines
  William Haines
  Charles William "Billy" Haines was an American film actor and interior designer. He was a star of the silent era until the 1930s, when Haines' career was cut short by MGM Studios due to his refusal to deny his homosexuality...
  
  
• The Mating Call
  The Mating Call (film)
  The Mating Call is a 1928 silent drama film about a WWI vet who takes on the Ku Klux Klan when he loses his wife to a womanizing Klansman. The film was produced by Howard Hughes for his Caddo Corporation, and was originally released by Paramount Pictures...
  
  (1928) produced by Howard Hughes
  Howard Hughes
  Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
  
   starring Thomas Meighan
  Thomas Meighan
  Thomas Meighan was an American actor of silent films and early talkies. He played several leading man roles opposite popular actresses of the day including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. At one point he commanded $10,000 a week....
  
  , Evelyn Brent
  Evelyn Brent
  Evelyn Brent was an American film and stage actress.-Early life:Born Mary Elizabeth Riggs in Tampa, Florida and known as Betty, she was a child of 10 when her mother Eleanor died, leaving her father Arthur to raise her alone...
  
  , and Renee Adoree
  Renée Adorée
  Renée Adorée was a French actress who had appeared in Hollywood silent movies during the 1920s.-Early life:...
  
  
• The City Gone Wild (1927) with Louise Brooks
  Louise Brooks
  Mary Louise Brooks , generally known by her stage name Louise Brooks, was an American dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress, noted for popularizing the bobbed haircut. Brooks is best known for her three feature roles including two G. W...
  
   -- lost film
• Old Ironsides
  Old Ironsides (1926 film)
  Old Ironsides is a silent film starring Charles Farrell, Esther Ralston, Wallace Beery, and George Bancroft.-Production background:The movie was directed by James Cruze in a widescreen process that Paramount promoted as "Magnascope"....
  
  (1926) partly filmed in experimental widescreen
  Widescreen
  Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
  
   process Magnascope
• Mannequin
  Mannequin (1926 film)
  Mannequin is a 1926 silent film romance produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. James Cruze directed and Alice Joyce, Warner Baxter and Dolores Costello were the stars...
  
  (1926) with Alice Joyce
  Alice Joyce
  Alice Joyce was an American actress, who appeared in more than 200 movies during the 1910s and 1920s, perhaps best known for her roles in the 1923 silent and 1930 talking versions of The Green Goddess....
  
  , Warner Baxter
  Warner Baxter
  Warner Leroy Baxter was an American actor, known for his role as The Cisco Kid in In Old Arizona , for which he won the second Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1928–1929 Academy Awards. Warner Baxter started his movie career in silent movies...
  
  , Dolores Costello
  Dolores Costello
  Dolores Costello was an American film actress who achieved her greatest success during the era of silent movies. She was nicknamed "The Goddess of the Silent Screen"...
  
  
• The Pony Express
  The Pony Express (1925 film)
  The Pony Express is a silent 1925 Western film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by James Cruze and starred his wife Betty Compson along with Ricardo Cortez, Wallace Beery, and George Bancroft. Prints of this film survive but it hasn't...
  
  (1925)
• Beggar on Horseback
  Beggar on Horseback
  Beggar on Horseback is a play by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly.A parody of the expressionistic parables that were popular at the time, it rails against the perils of trading one's artistic talents for commercial gain. At its core is Neil McRae, a poor, young classical composer...
  
  (1925) based on the play by George S. Kaufman
  George S. Kaufman
  George Simon Kaufman was an American playwright, theatre director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals, notably for the Marx Brothers...
  
   and Marc Connelly
  Marc Connelly
  Marcus Cook Connelly was an American playwright, director, producer, performer, and lyricist. He was a key member of the Algonquin Round Table, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1930.-Biography:...
  
  
• Merton of the Movies
  Merton of the Movies
  Merton of the Movies is a 1919 book written by Harry Leon Wilson. In 1922, it was adapted into a Broadway play by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly. A 1924 silent movie version was directed by James Cruze and starred Glenn Hunter who had created the role on Broadway...
  
  (1924) based on the play by Kaufman and Connelly
• The Covered Wagon
  The Covered Wagon
  The Covered Wagon is an American silent Western film released by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by James Cruze based on a novel by Emerson Hough about a group of pioneers traveling through the old West from Kansas to Oregon. J...
  
  (1923)
• Hollywood
  Hollywood (1923 film)
  Hollywood was a silent comedy film directed by James Cruze, co-written by Frank Condon and Thomas J. Geraghty, and released by Paramount Pictures.The film has become famous as having featured cameos of more than thirty famous Hollywood stars...
  
  (1923) -- lost film
• One Glorious Day (1922) with Will Rogers
  Will Rogers
  William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
  
  
• The Dictator
  The Dictator (1922 film)
  The Dictator is a 1922 silent film comedy drama produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed through Paramount Pictures. James Cruze was the director and the star Wallace Reid. The basic story of this film had been filmed in 1915 with John Barrymore who had played a supporting part in the 1904...
  
  (1922) with Wallace Reid
  Wallace Reid
  Wallace Reid was an actor in silent film referred to as "the screen's most perfect lover".-Early life:Born William Wallace Reid in St...
  
  , Lila Lee
  Lila Lee
  Lila Lee was a prominent screen actress of the early silent film era.-Early life:Lila Lee was born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel in Union Hill, New Jersey into a middle-class family of German immigrants who relocated to New York City when Lila was quite young...
  
  
• Leap Year (1921) with Fatty Arbuckle
  Fatty Arbuckle
  Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. Starting at the Selig Polyscope Company he eventually moved to Keystone Studios where he worked with Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd...
  
  
• Crazy to Marry
  Crazy to Marry
  Crazy to Marry is a 1921 comedy film starring Fatty Arbuckle.-Cast:* Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle - Dr. Hobart Hupp* Lila Lee - Annabelle Landis* Laura Anson - Estrella De Morgan* Edwin Stevens - Henry De Morgan* Lillian Leighton - Sarah De Morgan...
  
  (1921) with Arbuckle
• Gasoline Gus
  Gasoline Gus
  Gasoline Gus is a 1921 comedy film starring Fatty Arbuckle.-Cast:* Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle - Gasoline Gus* Lila Lee - Sal Jo Banty* Charles Ogle - Nate Newberry* Theodore Lorch - Dry Check Charlie* Wilton Taylor - Judge Shortridge...
  
  (1921) with Arbuckle
• The Dollar-a-Year Man
  The Dollar-a-Year Man
  The Dollar-a-Year Man is a 1921 comedy film starring Fatty Arbuckle.-Cast:* Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle - Franklin Pinney* Lila Lee - Peggy Bruce* Winifred Greenwood - Kate Connelly* J.M. Dumont - Tipson Blair...
  
  (1921) with Arbuckle
• The Fast Freight
  The Fast Freight
  The Fast Freight is a 1921 comedy film starring Fatty Arbuckle. The film was not released in the US, due to Arbuckle's involvement in the Virginia Rappe scandal.-Cast:* Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle* Lila Lee* Nigel Barrie* Herbert Standing* Raymond Hatton...
  
  (1921) with Arbuckle
• The Charm School
  The Charm School (1921 film)
  The Charm School is a 1921 silent film comedy starring Wallace Reid. Produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed through Paramount Pictures this James Cruze directed film was based on a 1920 Broadway stage play and novel by Alice Duer Miller that starred veteran actress Minnie Dupree. It is...
  
  (1921) with Wallace Reid
  Wallace Reid
  Wallace Reid was an actor in silent film referred to as "the screen's most perfect lover".-Early life:Born William Wallace Reid in St...
  
  
• Hawthorne of the U.S.A.
  Hawthorne of the U.S.A.
  Hawthorne of the U.S.A. is a 1919 silent film comedy/adventure produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. James Cruze directed and Wallace Reid starred in a story based on a 1912 Broadway play Hawthorne of the U.S.A. that starred Douglas Fairbanks and Irene Fenwick. The...
  
  (1919) with Wally Reid
• The Valley of the Giants
  The Valley of the Giants (1919 film)
  Valley of the Giants is a silent drama film, produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed through Paramount Pictures. It is based on Peter B. Kyne's popular . James Cruze was the director and Wallace Reid the star.-Production background:...
  
  (1919) with Reid
• You're Fired
  You're Fired (1919 film)
  You're Fired is a silent film comedy, produced and distributed by Famous Players-Lasky and Paramount Pictures respectively. James Cruze directed and Wallace Reid starred.-Preservation status:...
  
  (1919) with Reid and Hawley
• The Roaring Road
  The Roaring Road
  The Roaring Road is a 1919 silent film action romance produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is taken from the short stories by Byron Morgan; Junkpile Sweepstakes, Undertaker's Handicap and Roaring Road. A successful film, so much so that it spawned a sequel,...
  
  (1919) with Wallace Reid
  Wallace Reid
  Wallace Reid was an actor in silent film referred to as "the screen's most perfect lover".-Early life:Born William Wallace Reid in St...
  
  

As Actor

• The Covered Wagon
  The Covered Wagon
  The Covered Wagon is an American silent Western film released by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by James Cruze based on a novel by Emerson Hough about a group of pioneers traveling through the old West from Kansas to Oregon. J...
  
  (1923) (scenes deleted) .... Indian (Cruze was also director)
• The Slave Market (1921)
• Johnny Get Your Gun (1919) .... The Duke of Bullconia
• Under the Top (1919) .... 'Foxy' Stillmore
• The Source (1918) .... Langlois
• Less Than Kin (1918) .... Jinx
• The City of Dim Faces (1918) .... Wing Lung
• Believe Me, Xantippe
  Believe Me, Xantippe
  Believe Me, Xantippe was a 1918 silent film comedy film produced by Jesse Lasky for release through Paramount Pictures. It was directed by actor/director Donald Crisp and starred Wallace Reid and Ann Little. The film is based on a 1913 William A. Brady produced play by John Frederick Ballard,...
  
   (1918) .... Simp Calloway
• Wild Youth (1918) .... Li Choo
• The Hidden Pearls (1918) .... Koro Leon
• Nan of Music Mountain
  Nan of Music Mountain
  Nan of Music Mountain is a 1917 short drama film directed by George Melford and Cecil B. DeMille. A lost film. -Cast:* Wallace Reid - Henry de Spain* Ann Little - Nan Morgan * Theodore Roberts - Duke Morgan* James Cruze - Gale Morgan...
  
   (1917) .... Gale Morgan
• The Call of the East (1917) .... Janzo
• On the Level (1917) .... Ozmun
• What Money Can't Buy (1917) .... Ferdinand Vaslof
• The Web of Life (1917) .... Tom Wilson
• Her Temptation (1917) .... Walton Maynard
• The Snowbird (1916) .... Bruce Mitchell
• Armstrong's Wife (1915) .... Harvey Arnold
• His Guardian Auto (1915)
• The Patriot and the Spy (1915) .... Pietro
• The Heart of the Princess Marsari (1915)
• Zudora (1914) .... Hassam Ali/Jim Baird, Reporter
• From Wash to Washington (1914)
• The Million Dollar Mystery
  The Million Dollar Mystery
  The Million Dollar Mystery is a twenty three chapter film serial. It was directed by Howell Hansel, and starred Florence La Badie. It was produced by Thanhouser Film Corporation, and was their biggest success, largely due to the popularity of La Badie. During the filming, La Badie performed her...
  
   (1914) .... Jim Norton
• Rivalry (1914)
• A Dog of Flanders (1914)
• A Debut in the Secret Service (1914)
• The Cat's Paw (1914)
• The Desert Tribesman (1914)
• Cardinal Richelieu's Ward (1914) .... Richelieu
• A Leak in the Foreign Office (1914)
• Joseph in the Land of Egypt (1914) .... Joseph
• Why Reginald Reformed (1914)
• The Woman Pays (1914)
• The Adventures of a Diplomatic Freelance (1914)
• Frou Frou (1914) .... Comte Paul de Valreas
• The Legend of Provence (1913) .... Sir Henry
• The Silver-Tongued Orator (1913)
• The Plot Against the Governor (1913)
• A Daughter Worth While (1913)
• Moths (1913) .... Undetermined Name, villain
• Robin Hood
  Robin Hood
  Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
  
  (1913) (uncredited)
• The Message to Headquarters (1913)
• The Ward of the King (1913)
• An Unromantic Maiden (1913)
• Tannhäuser (1913)
• The Lost Combination (1913)
• The Snare of Fate (1913)
• Marble Heart (1913) .... Raphael
• Her Sister's Secret (1913)
• Rosie's Revenge (1913)
• The Woman Who Did Not Care (1913)
• Cymbeline (1913) .... Leonatus
• For Her Boy's Sake (1913)
• Her Gallant Knights (1913)
• The Idol of the Hour (1913)
• Good Morning, Judge (1913)
• The Dove in the Eagle's Nest (1913) .... The Eagle
• The Tiniest of Stars (1913) .... The Musician
• A Poor Relation (1913)
• When Ghost Meets Ghost (1913)
• A Militant Suffragette (1912) .... John Strong, Mary's Fiancé
• The Star of Bethlehem (1912) .... Micah, Joseph
• The Other Half (1912) .... The Father
• The Forest Rose (1912) .... Albert as an Older Man, Rose's Lover
• The Thunderbolt (1912) .... The Dishonest Broker
• Cross Your Heart (1912) .... The Little Boy Grown Up
• The Ladder of Life (1912)
• Put Yourself in His Place (1912) .... Edith's Husband
• In a Garden (1912) .... Jack, as an Adult
• The Woman in White
  The Woman in White
  The Woman in White can refer to:*The Woman in White , an 1859 novel written by Wilkie Collins*The Woman in White , a 2004 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on the novel...
  
  (1912) .... Sir Percival
• When Mercy Tempers Justice (1912) .... The Impoverished Father
• Miss Robinson Crusoe (1912) .... Miss Crusoe's Rescuer and Lover
• Letters of a Lifetime (1912) .... A Dying Bachelor
• But the Greatest of These Is Charity (1912) .... The Rich Father
• Undine (1912) .... Huldbrand, the Knight
• Lucile (1912) .... Lord Alfred
• Baby Hands (1912) .... The Husband
• The Finger of Scorn (1912) .... The Minister
• Nursie and the Knight (1912) .... The Father
• Pa's Medicine (1912) .... The Doctor
• Under Two Flags (1912)
• Called Back (1912) .... Gilbert Vaughn
• Whom God Hath Joined (1912) .... The Husband
• The Ring of a Spanish Grandee (1912)
• Jess (1912) .... Captain John Neil
• Love's Miracle (1912) .... The Convict/Lover
• Miss Arabella Snaith (1912) .... Harry Hargreaves, Novelist
• The Cry of the Children (1912) .... The working father
• Rejuvenation (1912) .... The Millionaire
• Into the Desert (1912) .... The Arab
• A Love of Long Ago (1912)
• The Girl of the Grove (1912)
• For Sale -- A Life (1912) .... The Wealthy Young Clubman
• The Golf Caddie's Dog (1912) .... The Lover
• Flying to Fortune (1912) .... The Daughter's Sweetheart
• The Arab's Bride (1912) .... The Wealthy Moor
• On Probation (1912)
• East Lynne
  East Lynne
  East Lynne is an English sensation novel of 1861 by Ellen Wood. East Lynne was a Victorian bestseller. It is remembered chiefly for its elaborate and implausible plot, centering on infidelity and double identities...
  
  (1912) .... Archibald Carlyle
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912 film)
  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1912 horror film based on both Robert Louis Stevenson's novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and on the play version of Thomas Russell Sullivan. Directed by Lucius Henderson, the film stars actor James Cruze as the dual role of Jekyll/Hyde.-Plot...
  
  (1912) .... Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde
• She (1911) .... Leo Vincey/Kallikrates
• Brother Bob's Baby (1911) .... Bob's Brother
• Beneath the Veil (1911) .... The Artist
• A Mother's Faith (1911) .... The Errant Son
• The Last of the Mohicans
  The Last of the Mohicans
  The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 is a historical novel by James Fenimore Cooper, first published in February 1826. It is the second book of the Leatherstocking Tales pentalogy and the best known...
  
  (1911) .... Uncas
• The Higher Law (1911)
• A Boy of the Revolution (1911)
• Back to Nature (1911)
• The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1911)

External links