William Haines
2 credits on HibingeTV
American film actor, born in 1900. He was one of MGM's biggest stars of the late silent period, playing brash, athletic young men in films like Show People (1928) and Brown of Harvard. His career ended in the early 1930s when he refused to hide his sexuality and the studio would not cover for him; he then became a successful interior designer to the Hollywood elite, a second career that lasted far longer than his acting one.
Acted In
Drama, Silent
A breezy, arrogant freshman arrives at Harvard and makes enemies of his roommate and a rival for a professor's daughter, then has to claw back his reputation on the crew and football teams. William Haines stars as Tom Brown, with Jack Pickford as his devoted friend and Mary Brian as the girl, in this MGM silent directed by Jack Conway. The film is best remembered today as John Wayne's screen debut, an uncredited turn as a Yale football player. The film is in the public domain in the United States.
Drama · Silent
Brown of Harvard
1926 - as Tom Brown
Comedy, Romance
King Vidor's affectionate comedy about a small-town girl who comes to Hollywood to become a dramatic star and ends up a hit in slapstick instead. Marion Davies plays Peggy Pepper, and the role is a quiet argument for her real talent: she was a gifted comedienne whose reputation was buried under the myth that William Randolph Hearst's patronage was the only reason she worked. Vidor fills the film with cameos from real stars of the era, including Charlie Chaplin playing himself in a single scene, and stages gags that gently mock the machinery of stardom. The film was made at the very end of the silent era and is one of the best records of how a studio lot actually functioned. The 1928 film entered the United States public domain on January 1, 2024.
Comedy · Romance · Silent
Show People
1928 - as Billy Boone