John Steppling

Acting

John Steppling

Born 1870-08-08 · Essen, Germany

John Steppling (8 August 1870 in Essen, Germany – 5 April 1932 in Hollywood, California) was a German-American silent film actor. He moved to America at a young age and entered film in 1912 aged 42. He starred in a total of 230 films between then and 1928, beginning with one of the first feature films ever made, Tess of the d'Urbervilles. He is also credited with directing 7 films. He is the grandfather of playwright John Steppling.

Acting credits

The Silver Car poster
9.0

After serving in the Great War, international crook Anthony Trent resolves to go straight. He wants to track down the English private who saved his life, and discovers his true identity is Arthur Grenvil, the son of the Earl of Rosecarrel. Trent falls in love with Grenvil's sister, Daphne, and sets out to win the Earl's approval. He discovers that the Earl is being blackmailed by Count Michael Temesvar, the prime minister of Croatia, over some documents.

The Silver Car

1921

Glass Houses poster
8.0

When a wealthy young lady loses her inheritance, she decides to apply for work in disguise. In prim and proper working girl attire she becomes the respectable companion of a woman looking to reform her wayward nephew.

Glass Houses

1922

Damaged Goods poster
1.0

"Damaged Goods" pictures the terrible consequences of vice and the physical ruin that follows the abuse of moral law. It is a stirring plea for a pure life before marriage, in order to make impossible the transmission of hereditary traits to future generations.

Damaged Goods

1914

No artwork available
8.0

Steven Brooks, a young man who finds himself entangled in a complicated situation involving his wife, Mrs. Steven Brooks, and another woman named Nell. The relationships and events that unfold ultimately test Steven's resolve and character, leading to a dramatic conclusion.

The Resolve

1915

Broken Lullaby poster
7.4

A young French soldier in World War I is overcome with guilt when he kills a German soldier who, like himself, is a musically gifted conscript, each having attended the same musical conservatory in France. The fact that the incident occurred in war does not assuage his guilt. He travels to Germany to meet the man's family.

Broken Lullaby

1932

No artwork available
NR

Fred Rees proposes to Edith Shanlon, contingent on her mother's approval, which is initially denied due to the mother's desire for a wealthy match. A dream reveals the potential unhappiness of such a marriage when Edith's mother envisions Edith married to a wealthy man who neglects her. The dream, filled with infidelity and public humiliation, convinces the mother that a loveless, wealthy marriage is not worth it. Upon waking, she happily grants her consent to Fred and Edith's union.

The Problem

1915

Live Sparks poster
10.0

Wealthy wastrel Neil Sparks devotes more attention to the pursuit of pleasure than to his inherited oil business. Neil's neglect allows two schemers, Craig and Abbott, to siphon the Sparks' Texas oil through the construction of an illegal pipeline. Upon receiving notification that his wells are running dry, and in an attempt to rid himself of the unwelcome attentions of his mercenary fiancée, Bess Kinloch, Neil ventures West to investigate, using an assumed name. Discovering the theft, Neil sends for his butler, and the two of them force the crooks to buy a parcel of land and deed the property to Myrtle Pratt, whose father had been swindled and murdered by the scoundrels. Justice served, Neil returns East to be followed by Myrtle and her five brothers, who arrive during his engagement party to Bess. Neil shocks his guests by announcing that the children are his, and he and Myrtle wed.

Live Sparks

1920

Memory Lane poster
8.0

Mary is marrying Jimmie, from whom she has kept a secret; Mary remains in love with another man. Problems ensue, jeopardizing the tranquility of their relationship.

Memory Lane

1926

No artwork available
9.0

Young Mary Lehner is deceived and abandoned by Ralph Moore, a manipulative social climber. Mary, daughter of a blacksmith, falls for Moore while he's taking advantage of her father's hospitality. After Moore leaves her pregnant and heartbroken, she flees to the city, faces hardship, and eventually gives birth to their child. Meanwhile, Moore, now engaged to a wealthy woman, experiences a night of drunken debauchery and insults, ultimately leading him to a deserted house where he encounters Mary again. Seeing her and learning of her suffering, Moore finally recognizes his obligation to her and their child. They reconcile and Mary returns to a respectable social standing.

His Obligation

1915

No artwork available
10.0

Tom Allen, a hardworking young miner. He cautions his wife, Beatrice, about the presence of a "worthless chap" named Joe Hills, who frequently loiters around their cabin. Hills subsequently steals Allen's gold, and Beatrice discovers him in the act.

Justified

1915

Caprice poster
1.0

A lost film. A wealthy young man's marriage to a mountain girl he meets while hunting is disastrous until she abandons him and later reappears incognito as a tutored and sophisticated woman.

Caprice

1913

No artwork available
8.0

Ida Price has been cheated out of her share in her father's estate by her cousin Charles. She puts the appeal of the case in the hands of Judge Clark and his assistant Robert Graham. Charles tries to compromise with Ida, but she stands firm. He resorts to attempting to get the judge tipsy and delay the verdict. He fails, the former decision is reversed with Ida receiving her fair share and incidentally a husband in Robert Graham.

The Decision

1915

Wedding Bills poster
8.0

The best man at an upcoming wedding goes to a jeweler to pick up the wedding ring and is also given a bracelet, on approval, worth $25,000. On his way home, a pigeon swoops down and snags the bracelet. The man must track down the pigeon and get the bracelet back so he won't have to pay for it--but that's easier said than done.

Wedding Bills

1927

No artwork available
7.0

Within earshot of her fiancé Leo Holmes and his friend Bruce Morgan Louise Wilke says she could never marry a man who was a drunkard. Morgan, secretly in love with Louise, gets Leo intoxicated and sends him to her home. Louise breaks off the engagement and Bruce pursues her. Undecided, she slips into a dream where she is mired in a life of misery with Morgan, who has become a worse drunkard than Holmes as well as selfish and brutal. In trying to defend herself from Bruce she kills him with a pair of shears. Holmes, a poor derelict, hears her scream, rushes to her rescue. Louise awakens and sends for Leo.

The Derelict

1915

No artwork available
10.0

Andy is searching for a woman whose photo he found in an envelope with the challenge "Find me." Meanwhile, J.D.P. Moore and his daughter, Ruth, are also at Miramar Beach. Ruth is looking for a heroic husband, and her father tries to make the Count Raphio seem heroic by staging an attack on her that the Count is supposed to stop. However, the Count's plan fails, and Andy ends up rescuing Ruth from the attack, recognizing her as the woman from the photo.

Wife Wanted

1915

Madame Peacock poster
10.0

Jane Goring, a ruthlessly ambitious actress, forsakes her life as a wife and mother for the stage. Returning home from a performance one night, Jane is disgusted to find her husband Robert McNaughton victimized by a tubercular cough and so banishes him and her young daughter to a sanitarium in Colorado. Years pass, finding Jane still estranged from her family. On the opening night of her new play, Jane finds herself upstaged and outperformed by Gloria Cromwell, a rising young actress, who, unknown to Jane, is her abandoned daughter. Returning home, Jane is haunted by visions of her husband and child and begins to sob. Looking up from her pillow, she is startled to see her husband with Gloria.

Madame Peacock

1920

The Gay Old Bird poster
8.0

A maid is forced to take the place of the lady of the house when she is temporarily incapacitated.

The Gay Old Bird

1927

The Alarm of Angelone poster
NR

Angelone, a poor Italian man, works hard in America to support his family back home and eventually bring them over. A mix-up leads to him having to serve time in prison. This film appears to be lost.

The Alarm of Angelone

1914

No artwork available
7.0

At the palatial home of a merchant the latter's wife entertains her husband's friends. The guests have all departed save one, the husband's most intimate and trusted friend. That this man should abuse the confidence of his friend and attempt to force his attentions upon the wife was a thing the merchant deemed little call to fortify against.

Jim

1914

Billions poster
6.0

Princess Triloff, an emigrée from Czarist Russia, escapes to America where she becomes a patron of the arts. She falls in love with the verses of impoverished poet Owen Carey and becomes his anonymous benefactor. When Owen inherits a fortune from his rich Uncle Krakerfeller, he assumes his uncle's identity and confers his own upon an impoverished friend, Frank Manners. At a resort, Owen meets the princess and falls in love with her, but is chagrined to discover that she is enamored with Manners. The princess finally discovers Owen's real identity and the two fall in love.

Billions

1920

By Whose Hand? poster
9.0

By Whose Hand? is a lost 1927 American silent crime drama film directed by Walter Lang and released by Columbia Pictures.

By Whose Hand?

1927

No artwork available
7.0

A shipping clerk falls under the spell of a socialite, but eventually returns to the girl from his own social class who really loves him.

Their Hour

1928

Luck in Pawn poster
7.0

Country girl Annabel Lee has big dreams of being a famous artist. Her widowed mother encourages her to go to the city so she can study. Annabel works hard, but she sells only one painting. She discovers that a renowned artist is spending the summer at a nearby resort, so she sends him her best work for a critique. A friend recommends that she see him in person, so Annabel pawns a piece of jewelry and heads for the resort. The artist informs her that she doesn't have enough talent to achieve much.

Luck in Pawn

1919

Billy McGrath on Broadway poster
6.0

John Steppling is Billy McGrath in this popular series directed by Archer McMackin, of which this is the only existing example. Billy wants to be a Broadway producer but finds is isn't so easy.

Billy McGrath on Broadway

1913

Behind the camera