Roy Stewart

Tall in the saddle, and dark and handsome to boot, he may be little remembered today when compared to a William S. Hart, Tom Mix or Hoot Gibson, but cowboy hero Roy Stewart was arguably one of the best known of the silent screen back then. While touring with the famous Floradora Girls, Stewart entered films in the early 1910s in support roles until signing with Triangle in 1916 and emerging as a star. Known for his engaging, dimpled grin, he proved a solid and rugged hero and churned out during the course of his career hundreds of two-fisted two-reelers such as The Learnin' of Jim Benton (1917), Cactus Crandall (1918), which he co-wrote, and The Sagebrusher (1920), not to mention reenacting a number of tales from the Old West and portraying such legendary figures as Buffalo Bill and Daniel Boone. Out of the saddle Stewart was quite at home in plush drama and served as a perfect leading man for the likes of Lillian Gish in __House Built Upon Sand, The (1916), Bessie Love in A Daughter of the Poor (1917) and Mary Pickford in her classic silent Sparrows (1926). Come the advent of sound, Stewart lost his footing and was relegated to support roles as a character actor. He continued working until his sudden death in 1933 of a heart attack in his Los Angeles home at the age of 49.