William Stack

William Stack

William Stack has been often mistaken as British in the scant bio information available on him - he could imitate many a British accent. He was actually born in Oregon. But like many Americans who wished to become serious stage actors and seeing New York as overly competitive, he went to London as a young man. Not much is known about his career there, but with many theaters (almost fifty) and companies around, the opportunities for a talented young man were there. From the craze for post cards with the subject of photos - and especially those of actors that ensued between about 1890 and 1914, there exist pictures of Stack as Hamlet. So Stack did find initial success, and by 1918 he tried his hand in the budding British silent film industry with not much initial interest - just one film that year and another in 1922, then back to the stage. But by 1930 Stack was back in America - and not to Broadway (perhaps in a touring company, but at least not on record as a principal), as was a stage actor's usual course. He did end up in early Hollywood sound pictures - those with marginal sound quality - first with Fredric March as the star in Sarah and Son (1930). With a rich stage actor's voice and accents to apply where needed - and appreciated as audio technology improved - he appeared in from four to ramping up to as many as ten pictures per year through the 1930s. Moving into his 50s, bald and dignified, his roles were focused as featured character pieces - assured doctors, lawyers, judges, nobles, and several butlers. He was one of the Crawley clan in Becky Sharp (1935), the first feature-length three-color film. He perhaps gained press from being in one movie of some scandalous notoriety - Tarzan and His Mate (1934) in which Maureen O'Sullivan appeared to swim nude (somebody else in a body stocking). Although he had a few lines as a white hunter, in this and other films (of note, MGM's first and most famous version of Mutiny on the Bounty, 1935), Stack was not credited for his always believable characterizations. The year 1936 provided Stack with some his most memorable historical roles. He played the French general Montcalm of the French and Indian War in the popular The Last of the Mohicans (1936) with Randolph Scott. The same year he played a much richer character in the film adaptation of the play Mary of Scotland (1936) directed by John Ford. Along with an assemblage of some of the best character actors of Hollywood, Stack played one among a rogues' gallery of self-seeking Scottish lords who included: Robert Barrat, Gavin Muir (another American who spent time in England and was often thought to be British), and Ian Keith. Stack is able to be most Shakespearean, vying in Scottish brogue with his fellow conspirators as the sly Lord Ruthven. Although Stack appeared in many of the best A pictures of the later 1930s, many did not give credit for his great acting skills. There were only a few movies into the 1940s, before he retired - leaving film history all the richer for his screen presence.

  • Popularity : 1.834
  • Known For : Acting
  • Birthday : 1882-03-05
  • Place of Birth : Baker, Oregon, USA
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William Stack Movies

  • 1936
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    The Last of the Mohicans

    The Last of the Mohicans

    6.4 1936 HD

    The story is set in the British province of New York during the French and Indian War, and concerns—in part—a Huron massacre (with...

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  • 1935
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    I've Been Around

    I've Been Around

    2.5 1935 HD

    Romantic problems of a society girl and an engineer.

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  • 1936
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    Stowaway

    Stowaway

    6.7 1936 HD

    Chin-Ching gets lost in Shanghai and is befriended by American playboy Tommy Randall. She falls asleep in his car which winds up on a ship headed for...

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  • 1932
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    Payment Deferred

    Payment Deferred

    5.9 1932 HD

    Bank clerk William Marble is desperate for money to pay his family's bills. When his wealthy nephew visits, Marble asks him for a loan, but the young...

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  • 1935
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    Becky Sharp

    Becky Sharp

    5.6 1935 HD

    The first feature length film to use three-strip Technicolor film. Adapted from a play that was adapted from William Makepeace Thackeray's book...

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  • 1936
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    Pennies from Heaven

    Pennies from Heaven

    6.857 1936 HD

    Larry Poole, in prison on a false charge, promises an inmate that when he gets out he will look up and help out a family. The family turns out to be...

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  • 1938
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    Man-Proof

    Man-Proof

    4.8 1938 HD

    A newspaper illustrator tries to remain best friends with the man she secretly loves, even though he recently married another woman.

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  • 1937
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    Criminal Lawyer

    Criminal Lawyer

    5.9 1937 HD

    Barry Brandon, a criminal lawyer, visits the night club of Denny Larkin, his primary client, with Betty Walker, a spoiled society girl. The police...

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  • 1936
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    His Brother's Wife

    His Brother's Wife

    5.6 1936 HD

    Epidemiologist Cliff Claybourne falls in love with Rita Wilson in a gambling house. They want to marry but Cliff's brother is convinced Rita is no...

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  • 1935
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    College Scandal

    College Scandal

    5.2 1935 HD

    Julie Fresnel is a co-ed at Redgate University and her father, Dr. Henri Fresnel, is the new French professor. Julie attraction from the make...

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  • 1941
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    Among the Living

    Among the Living

    6.1 1941 HD

    A mentally unstable man, who has been kept in isolation for years, escapes and causes trouble for his identical twin brother.

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  • 1931
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    Son of India

    Son of India

    5 1931 HD

    An Indian jewel merchant goes from penniless to wealthy in this story about gratitude.

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  • 1936
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    Mary of Scotland

    Mary of Scotland

    6.3 1936 HD

    The recently widowed Mary Stuart returns to Scotland to reclaim her throne but is opposed by her half-brother and her own Scottish lords.

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  • 1937
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    History Is Made at Night

    History Is Made at Night

    6.6 1937 HD

    An American woman falls in love with a romantic Parisian head waiter who tries to save her from her possessive wealthy ex-husband who wants to keep...

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  • 1934
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    The Fountain

    The Fountain

    9.5 1934 HD

    Set during the first World War in neutral, but pro-German, Holland, Lewis Allison, an interned British officer, is paroled to the castle of Baron Von...

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  • 1939
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    Gone with the Wind

    Gone with the Wind

    7.939 1939 HD

    The spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical profiteer during the American Civil War and...

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  • 1935
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    The Perfect Gentleman

    The Perfect Gentleman

    4.5 1935 HD

    A strait-laced country vicar is very embarrassed by his father's naughty exploits with a lively actress.

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  • 1935
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    The Winning Ticket

    The Winning Ticket

    3.5 1935 HD

    A barber tries to find the winning lottery ticket he hid from his moralistic wife.

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  • 1933
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    Parachute Jumper

    Parachute Jumper

    6.1 1933 HD

    An Air Force washout and his buddy room with a pretty young lady. Desperate for jobs during the Depression, they finally land employment with the mob.

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  • 1930
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    Sarah and Son

    Sarah and Son

    5.182 1930 HD

    A ne'er-do-well husband, after years of abusing his wife, disappears with their son, and winds up selling him to a wealthy family. Years later, the...

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  • 1936
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    Libeled Lady

    Libeled Lady

    7.3 1936 HD

    When a major newspaper accuses wealthy socialite Connie Allenbury of being a home-wrecker, and she files a multi-million-dollar libel lawsuit, the...

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  • 1940
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    The Earl of Chicago

    The Earl of Chicago

    5.6 1940 HD

    A behind the times Chicago bootlegger goes to England with his lawyer to claim his estate as the Earl of Gorley.

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  • 1937
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    Captains Courageous

    Captains Courageous

    7.418 1937 HD

    Harvey, the arrogant and spoiled son of an indulgent absentee-father, falls overboard from a transatlantic steamship and is rescued by a fishing...

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  • 1935
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    Mutiny on the Bounty

    Mutiny on the Bounty

    7.338 1935 HD

    Fletcher Christian successfully leads a revolt against the ruthless Captain Bligh on the HMS Bounty. However, Bligh returns one year later, hell bent...

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  • 1940
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    The Lady in Question

    The Lady in Question

    6.6 1940 HD

    When a jury member takes in the defendant he couldn't convict, she has a bad influence on his son.

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  • 1937
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    The Soldier and the Lady

    The Soldier and the Lady

    6.5 1937 HD

    In the face of rebellion in Russia, Czar Alexander II sends soldier Michael Strogoff 2,000 miles away, with a critical message for Grand Duke...

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  • 1941
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    So Ends Our Night

    So Ends Our Night

    6 1941 HD

    An anti-Nazi on the run and a young Jewish couple race across Europe trying to escape Hitler's ever powerful influence.

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  • 1930
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    The Right to Love

    The Right to Love

    5.5 1930 HD

    A woman becomes estranged from her daughter when the girl learns that she is illegitimate.

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  • 1938
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    Four Men and a Prayer

    Four Men and a Prayer

    6.3 1938 HD

    The sons of a disgraced British officer try to clear his name.

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  • 1933
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    Charlie Chan's Greatest Case

    Charlie Chan's Greatest Case

    6 1933 HD

    When a good-for-nothing man named Dan is stabbed to death and his arm broken, Charlie Chan is on the case. His first clue comes from the victim's...

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  • 1930
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    Romance

    Romance

    6.267 1930 HD

    A beautiful opera star kept by a rich older man falls in love with a young clergyman.

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  • 1934
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    Chained

    Chained

    6.8 1934 HD

    Richard, a millionaire in love with his secretary, Diane, is dispirited when his wife refuses to divorce him. Concerned that Diane will now lose...

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  • 1934
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    What Every Woman Knows

    What Every Woman Knows

    7 1934 HD

    Aspiring young Scottish politician John Shand enters into an unusual agreement with the wealthy Wylie family -- if they fund his education, he must...

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  • 1934
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    Manhattan Melodrama

    Manhattan Melodrama

    7 1934 HD

    The friendship between two orphans endures even though they grow up on opposite sides of the law and fall in love with the same woman.

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  • 1938
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    A Criminal Is Born

    A Criminal Is Born

    7.5 1938 HD

    An entry in MGM's Crime Does Not Pay series, this short tells the true story of how a young man, ignored by his parents, gets into a gang and starts...

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  • 1933
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    Penthouse

    Penthouse

    6.7 1933 HD

    Gertie Waxted knows how notorious gangster Jim Crelliman runs his rackets, because she's long been under the hoodlum's thumb. She's secretly helping...

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  • 1934
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    Hell in the Heavens

    Hell in the Heavens

    4.7 1934 HD

    During World War I, an American pilot vows to bring down the German ace responsible for his friend's death.

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