Directing
Gilbert M. Anderson
Born in 1880, ‘Broncho Billy’ Anderson is considered the first western film star. He played three film roles in “The Great Train Robbery” and then began to write, direct and act in his own films. After co-founding the Essanay Studios in 1907 with George Kirk Spoor, Anderson appeared in some 300 short films. But it was his 148 western shorts playing cowboy Bronco Billy that made him a star. He retired for the first time in 1916 but made a few comebacks, including producing movies into the 1950s for his company, Progressive Pictures. He received an honorary Oscar in 1958 as a “motion picture pioneer.” Anderson came out of retirement one more time for a cameo in 1965’s “The Bounty Hunter.” He died at age of 90 1971.
Titles
The Great Train Robbery
1903
His Regeneration
1915
The Champion
1915
The Bounty Killer
1965
Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs
2000
Life with Henry
1941
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
1961
Broncho Billy's Squareness
1913
The Film Parade
1933
Outwitting Papa
1911
The Bachelor's Burglar
1915
Broncho Billy's Christmas Dinner
1911
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
1905
The Western: A Lost TV Special
1958
Alkali Ike Bests Broncho Billy
1912
Ingomar of the Hills
1915
Broncho Billy's Vengeance
1915
Charlie Chaplin: The Long Year at Essanay
2017
Hubby's Scheme
1911
Tag Day
1909
Broncho Billy's Leap
1914
Broncho Billy's Teachings
1915
Broncho Billy Reforms
1913
Broncho Billy's Promise
1912
Broncho Billy's Sentence
1915
Broncho Billy Rewarded
1914
Broncho Billy's Duty
1914
A Christmas Revenge
1915
Broncho Billy's Mistake
1913
The Movies March On
1939
Broncho Billy's Jealousy
1914
Snakeville's New Doctor
1914
Broncho Billy and the Schoolmistress
1912
The Treachery of Broncho Billy's Pal
1914
Broncho Billy and the Western Girls
1913
Broncho Billy, a Friend in Need
1914