Pioneer Motion Picture Director. Born in Santa Rosa, California, he made his acting debut in San Francisco and toured the southwest with stock companies before moving to Chicago in 1902. He entered films in 1907 as an actor-director for Chicago's Selig Polyscope Co. With his firsthand knowledge of Southern California's landscape and mild climate Boggs persuaded producer William N. Selig to finance winter filming expeditions there, beginning with "The Count of Monte Cristo" (1908), the exteriors for which were shot along the Pacific near La Jolla. He then set up a makeshift stage on a vacant lot in Downtown Los Angeles and produced "In the Sultan's Power" (1909) and "The Heart of a Race Tout" (1909), the first films made entirely in California. In 1909 Boggs was appointed head of Selig's new Los Angeles branch and built the city's first permanent movie studio in the Edendale (now Silver Lake) district; other producers followed his lead and a new West Coast film industry quickly spread from nearby Hollywood to the sea. Boggs went on to direct, write, and in some cases star in over 100 one and two-reelers. He worked in every genre of the time and is credited with discovering comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. But he saw little of the trail he blazed in bringing the American Cinema to the West. On October 27, 1911, Boggs was shot to death at the Selig studio by Frank Minnimatsu, a janitor who was later judged insane; William Selig was wounded in the attack. The incident became Tinseltown's first major scandal. Boggs' ashes were returned to Chicago for burial at Graceland Cemetery. Today only three of his films are known to exist and his pioneering efforts have never been acknowledged by the Hollywood community. Boggs was married twice, both to stage actresses: Lillian Hayward (1895 to 1904) and May Hosmer (c. 1906 until his death). His only child, Edwin, died in France while serving with the US Army during World War I.
Pioneer Motion Picture Director. Born in Santa Rosa, California, he made his acting debut in San Francisco and toured the southwest with stock companies before moving to Chicago in 1902. He entered films in 1907 as an actor-director for Chicago's Selig Polyscope Co. With his firsthand knowledge of Southern California's landscape and mild climate Boggs persuaded producer William N. Selig to finance winter filming expeditions there, beginning with "The Count of Monte Cristo" (1908), the exteriors for which were shot along the Pacific near La Jolla. He then set up a makeshift stage on a vacant lot in Downtown Los Angeles and produced "In the Sultan's Power" (1909) and "The Heart of a Race Tout" (1909), the first films made entirely in California. In 1909 Boggs was appointed head of Selig's new Los Angeles branch and built the city's first permanent movie studio in the Edendale (now Silver Lake) district; other producers followed his lead and a new West Coast film industry quickly spread from nearby Hollywood to the sea. Boggs went on to direct, write, and in some cases star in over 100 one and two-reelers. He worked in every genre of the time and is credited with discovering comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. But he saw little of the trail he blazed in bringing the American Cinema to the West. On October 27, 1911, Boggs was shot to death at the Selig studio by Frank Minnimatsu, a janitor who was later judged insane; William Selig was wounded in the attack. The incident became Tinseltown's first major scandal. Boggs' ashes were returned to Chicago for burial at Graceland Cemetery. Today only three of his films are known to exist and his pioneering efforts have never been acknowledged by the Hollywood community. Boggs was married twice, both to stage actresses: Lillian Hayward (1895 to 1904) and May Hosmer (c. 1906 until his death). His only child, Edwin, died in France while serving with the US Army during World War I.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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