James Cruze

James Cruze (born Jens Vera Cruz Bosen, March 27, 1884 – August 3, 1942) was a silent film actor and film director.[1]

James Cruze
Born
Jens Vera Cruz Bosen

(1884-03-27)March 27, 1884
Ogden, Utah
DiedAugust 3, 1942(1942-08-03) (aged 58)
Los Angeles, California
Spouse(s)Marguerite Snow (m.1913–div.1923)
Betty Compson (m.1925–div.1930)
Alberta Beatrice McCoy (m.1941)
Children1

Biography

Cruze's middle name came from the battle of Vera Cruz. 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 in, directed and or produced 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 in 1911 with She (1911) 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 in 1913 and had a daughter with 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, from 1918 to 1938. He married the actress Betty Compson 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.[2]

Cruze struggled to regain his successes of the silent era when sound came to film. His career declined as he descended further into alcoholism and he ended his directing career at Republic Pictures. He spent the last four years of his life unemployed before he killed himself in 1942.[3]

He is interred in the Abbey of the Psalms in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Filmography
Cruze in The Web of Life (1917)
Cruze in The Million Dollar Mystery (1914)

As Director (partial list)

As Actor

newspaper advertisement for Rivalry (1914)
  • The Last of the Mohicans (1911)
  • The Covered Wagon (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 (1918) .... Simp Calloway
  • Wild Youth (1918) .... Li Choo
  • The Hidden Pearls (1918) .... Koro Leon
  • Nan of Music Mountain (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 (film was retitled The Twenty Million Dollar Mystery)
  • From Wash to Washington (1914)
  • The Million Dollar Mystery (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 (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 (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
  • he 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 (1912) .... Archibald Carlyle
  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (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 (1911) .... Uncas
  • The Higher Law (1911)
  • A Boy of the Revolution (1911)
  • Back to Nature (1911)
  • The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1911)

References
  1. IMDB entry
  2. IMDB entry
  3. Eyman, Scott. The Speed of Sound: Hollywood and the Talkie Revolution 1926-1930. Simon and Schuster, New York: 1997.
  4. "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
  5. Article at PopMatters about rediscovered silent movies including Cruze's You're Fired! (November 5, 2010)

Bibliography
  • Ray Starman, "James Cruze: Cinema's Forgotten Director", Films In Review (October 1985), p. 460-465


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