William Bowman

William J. Bowman (sometimes cited William J. Bauman; February 27, 1884 – January 1, 1960) was an American stage and film actor, writer, and director noted for his work in the early 1900s on silent productions for studios in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and in Los Angeles during the first decade of filmmaking in and around Hollywood. His direction of a series of films with matinee idol Francis X. Bushman in 1915 and his direction of the serials The Invisible Hand in 1920 and The Avenging Arrow in 1921 form only a small part of Bowman's extensive filmography.

William J. Bowman's surname in some silent-era film reviews and news items, as well in some modern references on American film history, is occasionally misidentified or also cited as William J. "Bauman." It is significant that in the extensive "Studio Directory" published by the trade magazine Motion Picture News in January and October 1916 no "William J. Baumen" is mentioned among more than 2,000 "authorized" biographies of actors, actresses, directors, writers, technicians, executives, and "Other Members of the Film Industry." Only William J. Bowman, as a director, is profiled. The lack of any reference to a William J. Bauman in the editions of that directory, the absence of even a basic profile on him in earlier or later film-industry publications, and the attribution of credits to both men for the same films—such as The Starbucks, The Beautiful Unknown, and The Terror of the Fold—indicate that Bowman and Bauman were actually the same person.

Early life William Bowman was born in Bakersville, North Carolina, in 1884. As "a boy" he moved with his parents to California, where he later attended Lordsburg College, then located in Pomona. Bowman in college studied architecture and spent a short time working as a draftsman until his career interests turned to acting and the management of stage productions.

Bowman in makeup for his vaudeville "playet" The Devil, The Servant and The Man, c. 1906 alt=man with slicked-back hair grins broadly in an exaggerated and theatrical mannerFollowing his work with Frawley, around 1904, Bowman began working in vaudeville and created a number of acts that became "headliners" in major theaters on the vaudeville circuit. Some of those acts or "playets" included The Family Entrance, The Little Mother, and Quarantine. In its review of The Second in Command in July, Variety compliments the direction of the film's battle scenes of the Boer War, describing them as "well worked out". The popular entertainment paper did, though, find the overall production "most tiring to watch" and blamed part of that wearying effect on "the number of times the director moves both the camera and people at the same time, keeping the picture flickery."

Later work (1916–1921) He then started working as a director for David Horsley, a producer and the founder of Centaur Film Company. Variety announces that move to work with Horsley in its December 3 edition; yet, once again, the New York-based trade paper refers to Bowman as "William J. Bauman" in its Hollywood news item, adding that he "is at present directing his first picture. It is in two reels and entitled 'The Terror of the Fold'". Bowman in 1916 went on to direct more Centaur films for Horsley after Terror of the Fold, two of those being much longer five-reelers, The Bait and The Heart of Tara, released during the first quarter of that year. Bowman not only directed The Bait he also wrote the screenplay in collaboration with Theodosia Harris.

Following his association with Horsley, Bowman continued directing and on occasion acting. He returned briefly to Universal and Victor Studios in mid-1916 to direct The Golden Boots and From Broadway to a Throne, a film also written by Bowman. In its review of the latter in July that year, Motion Picture News gives the production a tepid or "even" review, finding its fight scenes interesting but the story weak on comedy, noting "The only trouble is, Mr. Bowman has not put enough [humor] in the picture's five reels."

Scene in From Broadway to a Throne (1916), "written and produced by William Bowman". Carter De Haven (center) starred in the five-reeler.

Bowman's known filmography becomes rather sparse after his work on From Broadway to a Throne. In its film-industry directory published in October 1916, Motion Picture News identifies him as "now [an] independent producer" in his biographical entry in that reference. According to Moving Picture World, that studio was largely funded as "a hobby" by F. M. Manson, a "Nevada mining millionaire"; and he hired "Bauman" and Rice to travel to Guatemala as replacements for "Director John Ince and Assistant Director Joseph Boyle", who had "left the company". After that film, he is credited for directing the Vitagraph feature The Veiled Mystery, two later shorts, and the serials The Invisible Hand in 1920 and The Avenging Arrow for Pathé in 1921. Some modern film references state that Bowman's screen career had ended by "the very early 1920s"; but nearly a decade after his work on The Avenging Arrow, he still identified himself in the 1930 federal census as being employed as a "Director [of] Moving Pictures".

Personal life and death According to federal census records, Bowman by 1930 was living with his wife "Evelyn M" in a home they owned on Beach Street in Oceanside, California, a small town in San Diego County.

Partial filmography Since William Bowman served as an actor in some of his films, as a director in others, and in both capacities in still others, the following productions are marked accordingly to distinguish his work in both shorts and features: Year Title Actor Director 1911 1911 Silas Marner 1911 1912 Under Two Flags 1912 Now Watch the Professor 1912 Two Souls 1912 For the Mikado 1913 1913 1913 1913 Retrogression 1914 1914 Ghosts 1914 Inasmuch 1914 1914 1914 1915 1915 1915 1915 1915 Pennington's Choice 1915 Corner on Cotton 1915 Rosemary 1915 Terror of the Fold 1916 1916 1916 1916 From Broadway to a Throne 1919 1920 1920 1921 1921 Walter Finds a Father 1921 Walter's Winning Ways