Biography
William Nicholas Selig (March 14, 1864 – July 15, 1948) was a vaudeville performer and pioneer of the American motion picture industry. His stage billing as Colonel Selig would be used for the rest of his career, even as he moved into film production.
Born William Mikolaj Zeligowsky to immigrant parents living in Chicago, Selig trained as an upholsterer, but got his start in vaudeville, touring the Midwest as a magician's assistant. Creating his own magic act, he toured the country and produced a touring vaudeville show, Selig’s Mastodon Minstrels, based in San Francisco.
In 1896, Selig created one of the first film production companies, Selig Polyscope Company of Chicago. He produced a string of commercially successful films in the early years of the film industry. His The Tramp and the Dog (1896) is considered the first narrative film set in Chicago. Selig may have made the first narrative film shot in Los Angeles, The Count of Monte Cristo (1908), and in 1909, established the first permanent L.A. studio, in Edendale, Los Angeles.
Selig also produced the first Wizard of Oz film in 1910, the first two-reeler (about 20 minutes) film, Damon and Pythias (1908), and the first true serial, The Adventures of Kathlyn (1913–1914).
Filmography
all 352
Movies 352
Producer 350
Director 2
The Drag-Net (1936)
The Were-Tiger (1925)
The Ne'er-Do-Well (1923)
A Dangerous Adventure (1922)
The Rosary (1922)
Kazan (1921)
Miracles of the Jungle (1921)
The Raiders (1921)
The Struggle (1921)
The Last Chance (1921)
The Hunger of the Blood (1921)
The Galloping Devil (1920)
Vanishing Trails (1920)
The Jungle Princess (1920)
The Lost City (1920)
A Wild Goose Chase (1919)
Ravished Armenia (1919)
Little Orphant Annie (1918)
Brown of Harvard (1918)
The Heart of Texas Ryan (1917)
The Saddle Girth (1917)
Beware of Strangers (1917)
The Luck That Jealousy Brought (1917)
Starring in Western Stuff (1917)
The Garden of Allah (1916)
The Golden Thought (1916)
The Crisis (1916)
Twisted Trails (1916)
Mistakes Will Happen (1916)
The Sheriff's Blunder (1916)
Tom's Sacrifice (1916)
A Close Call (1916)
An Eventful Evening (1916)
The Canby Hill Outlaws (1916)
The Raiders (1916)
The Pony Express Rider (1916)
A Corner in Water (1916)
The Taming of Grouchy Bill (1916)
Tom's Strategy (1916)
Roping a Sweetheart (1916)
A Bear of a Story (1916)
An Angelic Attitude (1916)
Local Color on the A-1 Ranch (1916)
Shooting Up the Movies (1916)
Legal Advice (1916)
Some Duel (1916)
The Girl of Gold Gulch (1916)
The Valiants of Virginia (1916)
Taking a Chance (1916)
The Cowpuncher's Peril (1916)
Going West to Make Good (1916)
Temperance Town (1916)
Crooked Trails (1916)
Into the Primitive (1916)
$5,000 Reward (1916)
5,000 Dollar Elopement (1916)
The Boarding House Ham (1916)
The Man Within (1916)
At Piney Ridge (1916)
Too Many Chefs (1916)
A Western Masquerade (1916)
Wives of the Rich (1916)
Along the Border (1916)
Unto Those Who Sin (1916)
The Adventures of Kathlyn (1916)
Thou Shalt Not Covet (1916)
In the Days of Daring (1916)
The Making of Crooks (1915)
On the Eagle Trail (1915)
The Baby and the Leopard (1915)
A Jungle Revenge (1915)
Young Love (1915)
The Impersonation of Tom (1915)
The Tenderfoot's Triumph (1915)
Sweet Alyssum (1915)
The Vengeance of Rannah (1915)
The Chef at Circle G (1915)
Athletic Ambitions (1915)
The Race for a Gold Mine (1915)
The Stagecoach Guard (1915)
The Brave Deserve the Fair (1915)
The Foreman's Choice (1915)
The Girl and the Mail Bag (1915)
Her Slight Mistake (1915)
The Auction Sale of Run-Down Ranch (1915)
The Blood Seedling (1915)
The Range Girl and the Cowboy (1915)
The Circular Staircase (1915)
How Weary Went Wooing (1915)
Never Again (1915)
The Mystic Ball (1915)
The Awful Adventures of an Aviator (1915)
The Man with the Iron Heart (1915)
The Way of a Woman's Heart (1915)
In the King's Service (1915)
A Texas Steer (1915)
Foreman of Bar Z Ranch (1915)
The Octopus (1915)
The Mystery of Dead Man's Isle (1915)
The Girl and the Reporter (1915)
The Grizzly Gulch Chariot Race (1915)
With the Aid of the Law (1915)
The Heart of the Sheriff (1915)
Saved by Her Horse (1915)
Pals in Blue (1915)
How Callahan Cleaned Up Little Hell (1915)
The Jaguar Trap (1915)
The Two Natures Within Him (1915)
A Matrimonial Boomerang (1915)
The Lion's Mate (1915)
An Arizona Wooing (1915)
The Conversion of Smiling Tom (1915)
The Great Experiment (1915)
The Jungle Stockade (1915)
Mrs. Murphy's Cooks (1915)
The Poetic Justice of Omar Khan (1915)
Getting a Start in Life (1915)
The Legal Light (1915)
Ma's Girls (1915)
The Outlaw's Bride (1915)
Sage Brush Tom (1915)
The Fork in the Road (1915)
The Stagecoach Driver and the Girl (1915)
The Guardian's Dilemma (1915)
The Man from Texas (1915)
Slim Higgins (1915)
The Red Blood of Courage (1915)
Bill Haywood, Producer (1915)
Roping a Bride (1915)
Forked Trails (1915)
The Primitive Way (1915)
Cactus Jim's Shop Girl (1915)
His Fighting Blood (1915)
Lassoing a Lion (1915)
Cactus Jake, Heart-Breaker (1914)
Wade Brent Pays (1914)
The Man from the East (1914)
The Lure of the Windigo (1914)
The Soul Mate (1914)
Saved by a Watch (1914)
The Rival Stage Lines (1914)
In the Days of the Thundering Herd (1914)
The Scapegoat (1914)
The Sheriff's Reward (1914)
If I Were Young Again (1914)
The Fatal Note (1914)
The Ranger's Romance (1914)
The Telltale Knife (1914)
Rosemary, That's for Remembrance (1914)
Why the Sheriff Is a Bachelor (1914)
Jimmy Hayes and Muriel (1914)
Garrison's Finish (1914)
The Mexican (1914)
The Way of the Redman (1914)
The Moving Picture Cowboy (1914)
Four Minutes Late (1914)
An Embarrassing Predicament (1914)
The Real Thing in Cowboys (1914)
A Just Punishment (1914)
The Livid Flame (1914)
Jim (1914)
When the West Was Young (1914)
To Be Called For (1914)
Chip of the Flying U (1914)
The White Mouse (1914)
Meller Drammer (1914)
Willie (1914)
Etienne of the Glad Heart (1914)
When the Cook Fell Ill (1914)
The Sealed Package (1914)
The Wilderness Mail (1914)
In Defiance of the Law (1914)
When the Night Call Came (1914)
The Sheep Runners (1914)
Marian, the Holy Terror (1914)
Shotgun Jones (1914)
The Spoilers (1914)
In Remembrance (1914)
Kid Pink and the Maharajah (1914)
The Smuggler's Sister (1914)
Tested by Fire (1914)
The Little Sister (1914)
A Friend in Need (1914)
Conscience and the Temptress (1914)
By Unseen Hand (1914)
The Adventures of Kathlyn (1913)
Mother Love vs Gold (1913)
The Open Door (1913)
The Rustler's Reformation (1913)
The Cipher Message (1913)
Thor, Lord of the Jungles (1913)
Old Doc Yak and the Artist's Dream (1913)
When May Weds December (1913)
The Finger Print (1913)
The Woman of the Mountains (1913)
The Escape of Jim Dolan (1913)
The Fifth String (1913)
Her Way (1913)
The Water Rat (1913)
The Flight of the Crow (1913)
The Devil and Tom Walker (1913)
Through Another Man's Eyes (1913)
The Taming of Texas Pete (1913)
Granny's Old Armchair (1913)
Sweeney's Dream (1913)
Made a Coward (1913)
The Trail of Cards (1913)
Sallie's Sure Shot (1913)
Papa's Dream (1913)
The Marshal's Capture (1913)
The Gold Brick (1913)
Taming a Tenderfoot (1913)
Alone in the Jungle (1913)
The Only Chance (1913)
A Jolt for the Janitor (1913)
The Suwanee River (1913)
The Law and the Outlaw (1913)
The Ex-Convict's Plunge (1913)
Religion and Gun Practice (1913)
Indian Summer (1913)
His Father's Deputy (1913)
Bunny and the Bunny Hug (1913)
In the Long Ago (1913)
The Post-Impressionists (1913)
Roses of Yesterday (1913)
Alas! Poor Yorick! (1913)
That Mail Order Suit (1913)
Dixieland (1913)
The Woodman's Daughter (1913)
The Shotgun Man and the Stage Driver (1913)
A Change of Administration (1913)
Arabia: The Equine Detective (1913)
The Life Timer (1913)
Pauline Cushman, the Federal Spy (1913)
The Ex-Convict (1913)
The Sheriff of Yavapai County (1913)
The Sands of Time (1913)
Juggling with Fate (1913)
The Ferrets (1913)
A Husband Won by Election (1913)
The Understudy (1913)
The Range Law (1913)
Pierre of the North (1913)
The Millionaire Cowboy (1913)
The Lesson (1913)
The Ainus of Japan (1913)
The Trail of Cards (1913)
The False Order (1913)
Greater Wealth (1913)
A Loyal Deserter (1913)
How the 'Duke of Leisure' Reached His Winter Home (1912)
A Pair of Boots (1912)
A Freight Train Drama (1912)
The Fire Cop (1912)
The Hobo's Rest Cure (1912)
Mike's Brainstorm (1912)
The Lost Inheritance (1912)
Kings of the Forest (1912)
Her Bitter Lesson (1912)
Jim's Vindication (1912)
The Awakening (1912)
Tempted by Necessity (1912)
So-Jun-Wah and the Tribal Law (1912)
Monte Cristo (1912)
Bread Upon the Waters (1912)
A Detective's Strategy (1912)
The House of His Master (1912)
Betty Fools Dear Old Dad (1912)
The Wreck of the Vega (1912)
The Girl at the Cupola (1912)
The Three Valises (1912)
A War Time Romance (1912)
A Day Off (1912)
The Hand of Fate; or The Mysterious Blonde (1912)
All on Account of Checkers (1912)
The 'Diamond S' Ranch (1912)
The Scapegoat (1912)
A Cowboy's Best Girl (1912)
The Mate of the Alden Bessie (1912)
The Bully of Bingo Gulch (1911)
A Romance of the Rio Grande (1911)
The Maid at the Helm (1911)
A Frontier Girl's Courage (1911)
The New Superintendent (1911)
Western Hearts (1911)
Lost in the Jungle (1911)
Told in Colorado (1911)
The Two Orphans (1911)
Shipwrecked (1911)
The Wheels of Justice (1911)
Dad's Girls (1911)
Kit Carson's Wooing (1911)
Life on the Border (1911)
The Blacksmith's Love (1911)
Their Only Son (1911)
The Old Captain (1911)
Saved by the Pony Express (1911)
Captain Kate (1911)
Caught in the Act (1911)
The Reporter (1911)
The Rose of Old St. Augustine (1911)
The Still Alarm (1911)
Back to the Primitive (1911)
Lost and Won (1911)
In Old California When the Gringos Came (1911)
The Witch of the Everglades (1911)
The Cowboy and the Shrew (1911)
1861 (1911)
The Man from the East (1911)
The Medallion (1911)
The Eye of Conscience (1911)
Among the Japanese (1911)
Justinian and Theodora (1910)
John Dough and the Cherub (1910)
The Vampire (1910)
Two Boys in Blue (1910)
The Sanitarium (1910)
The Sergeant (1910)
Lost in the Soudan (1910)
The Phoenix (1910)
Go West, Young Woman, Go West (1910)
The Range Riders (1910)
Trimming of Paradise Gulch (1910)
The Land of Oz (1910)
Dorothy and the Scarecrow in Oz (1910)
A Common Enemy (1910)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910)
The Courtship of Miles Standish (1910)
Making It Pleasant for Him (1909)
Sealed Instructions (1909)
Briton and Boer (1909)
The Cowboy Millionaire (1909)
Mrs. Jones' Birthday (1909)
The Heart of a Race Tout (1909)
Ben's Kid (1909)
In the Sultan's Power (1909)
Stirring Days in Old Virginia (1909)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1908)
The Count of Monte Cristo (1908)
The Wooing and Wedding of a Coon (1907)
The Roller Skate Craze (1907)
The Bandit King (1907)
Western Justice (1907)
His First Ride (1907)
The Girl from Montana (1907)
Tracked by Bloodhounds; or, A Lynching at Cripple Creek (1904)
Ringling Bros. Circus Parade (1902)
The Gans-McGovern Fight (1901)
Something Good — Negro Kiss (1898)
Something Good – Negro Kiss (Alternate Version) (1898)
The Tramp and the Dog (1896)
Arabia Takes The Health Cure
Ratings
Information
Known ForProduction
GenderMale
Birthday1864-03-14
Deathday1948-07-15 (84 years old)
Birth PlaceChicago, United States of America
CitizenshipsUnited States of America
Also Known AsWilliam N. Selig
Awardsstar on Hollywood Walk of Fame
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