Reginald C. Barker (April 2, 1886 – February 23, 1945) was a pioneer film director.Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada his family moved to Scotland when he was an infant and then to the United States. Living in California, Barker wrote, produced, and acted in his first play at the age of sixteen following which he acted and handled stage manager duties with a traveling stock company. At age nineteen, he went to New York City where he worked as a stage manager for Henry Miller. Barker made his Broadway acting debut in 1910 in the Shubert brothers production of "Mary Magdalene" written by Maurice Maeterlinck.Fascinated by the fledgling film business, Barker soon joined the Bison Motion Pictures division of the New York Motion Picture Company. At the company's studio/ranch in California, he worked under film producer and screenwriter Thomas H. Ince. Acting was not Barker's forte and he trained as an assistant director until 1912 when he directed his first film, a twenty minute western titled "On the Warpath" starring Art Acord. Barker went on to direct more than eighty films, including the acclaimed 1915 American Civil War drama The Coward. That same year he directed The Italian but because Thomas H. Ince was notorious for credit-grabbing, Barker originally went uncredited on this film. "The Italian" has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. The following year, with the United States still not involved in World War I, Barker co-directed the famous anti-war feature, Civilization.During his career, Reginald Barker directed early stars such as Geraldine Farrar, William S. Hart, Sessue Hayakawa, Gladys Brockwell, Hoot Gibson, Willard Mack, and Myrna Loy. In his first talkie, "The Toilers" (1928) he directed Douglas Fairbanks Jr.. Barker made his last film in 1935. Titled "The Healer," it starred Ralph Bellamy, Karen Morley and Mickey Rooney.Reginald Barker retired to Pasadena, California where he and his wife operated a gift shop until his death from a heart attack in 1945. He is interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.
February 23, 1945, Pasadena, California, United States
Place Of Birth
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Profession
Director, Writer, Producer
Spouse
Clara Williams (m. 1920–1928)
Star Sign
Aries
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Fact
1
Formed Reginald Barker Productions, a film production company, in 1920.
2
On the stage as actor and producer from 1902, Barker was a pioneer silent film director of westerns and outdoor action films. In 1912 he joined Bison Motion Pictures, under the auspices of Thomas H. Ince. After leaving the industry in 1945, Barker and his wife ran a gift shop in Pasadena.
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Forbidden Heaven
1935
The Healer
1935
Women Must Dress
1935
The Moonstone
1934
Hide-Out
1930
Seven Keys to Baldpate
1929
The Mississippi Gambler
1929
The Great Divide
1929
New Orleans
1929
The Rainbow
1929
The Toilers
1928
Body and Soul
1927
The Frontiersman
1927
The Flaming Forest
1926
When the Door Opened
1925
The White Desert
1925
The Great Divide
1925
The Dixie Handicap
1924
Broken Barriers
1924
Women Who Give
1924
Pleasure Mad
1923
The Eternal Struggle
1923
Hearts Aflame
1923
The Storm
1922
The Poverty of Riches
1921
The Old Nest
1921
Snowblind
1921
Bunty Pulls the Strings
1921
Godless Men
1920
The Branding Iron
1920
The Woman and the Puppet
1920
Dangerous Days
1920
The Girl from Outside
1919
Bonds of Love
1919
Flame of the Desert
1919
The Crimson Gardenia
1919
The Stronger Vow
1919
The Rustlers
1919
Short
The Brand
1919
Shadows
1919
The Hell Cat
1918
The One Woman
1918
The Turn of the Wheel
1918
Shackled
1918
Carmen of the Klondike
1918
Madam Who
1918
Golden Rule Kate
1917
A Strange Transgressor
1917
Paws of the Bear
1917
Happiness
1917
Sweetheart of the Doomed
1917
Back of the Man
1917
The Iced Bullet
1917
Three of Many
1916
The Criminal
1916
Jim Grimsby's Boy
1916
The Thoroughbred
1916/II
Shell 43
1916
The Market of Vain Desire
1916
The Bugle Call
1916
The Stepping Stone
1916
The Aryan
1916
The Conqueror
1916
Civilization
1915
The Despoiler
1915
The Golden Claw
1915
The Coward
1915/I
The Iron Strain
1915
The Man from Oregon
1915
The Reward
1915/I
Short
On the Night Stage
1915
The Alien
1915
The Devil
1915
Winning Back
1915
Short
The Chinatown Mystery
1915
Short
The Italian
1915
uncredited
The City of Darkness
1914
Short
The Bargain
1914
The Typhoon
1914
The Curse of Caste
1914
Short
A Relic of Old Japan
1914
Short
A Tragedy of the Orient
1914
Short
The Wrath of the Gods
1914
The Ambassador's Envoy
1914
Short
The Pitfall
1913
Short
The Frame-Up
1913/II
Short
The Buried Past
1913
Short
Borrowed Gold
1913
Short
A Woman's Wit
1913/I
Short
Romance of Erin
1913
Short
The Ironmaster
1913
Short
His Sense of Duty
1912
Short
The Man They Scorned
1912
Short
For the Honor of the Seventh
1912
Short
On the Warpath
1912
Short
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
White Pebbles
1927
story: Boss of the Bar None - as Reginald C. Barker
The Roaring Rider
1926
story - as Reginald C. Barker
Quicker'n Lightnin'
1925
story
Biff Bang Buddy
1924
scenario - as Reginald C. Barker / story - as Reginald C. Barker