William Stack

Acting

William Stack

Born 1882-03-05 · Baker, Oregon, USA

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.

Acting credits

Gone with the Wind poster
7.9

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

Gone with the Wind

1939

Mutiny on the Bounty poster
7.4

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

Mutiny on the Bounty

1935

What Every Woman Knows poster
7.6

Aspiring young Scottish politician John Shand enters into an unusual agreement with the wealthy Wylie family -- if they fund his education, he must marry their daughter, Maggie. Staying true to his word, John weds Maggie and begins a successful career, thanks largely to his savvy wife. The couple's relationship is placed in jeopardy when John faces temptation in the form of the lovely aristocrat Lady Sybil Tenterden.

What Every Woman Knows

1934

Penthouse poster
6.9

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 lawyer Jackson Durant in a snoop job aimed at pinning a murder on the thug. Her life will be in peril when that secret gets out.

Penthouse

1933

Captains Courageous poster
7.4

Harvey, the arrogant and spoiled son of an indulgent absentee-father, falls overboard from a transatlantic steamship and is rescued by a fishing vessel on the Grand Banks. Harvey fails to persuade them to take him ashore, nor convince the crew of his wealth. The captain offers him a low-paid job, until they return to port, as part of the crew that turns him into a mature, considerate young man.

Captains Courageous

1937

Libeled Lady poster
7.3

When a major newspaper accuses wealthy socialite Connie Allenbury of being a home-wrecker, and she files a multi-million-dollar libel lawsuit, the publication's frazzled head editor, Warren Haggerty, must find a way to turn the tables on her. Soon Haggerty's harried fiancée, Gladys Benton, and his dashing friend Bill Chandler are in on a scheme that aims to discredit Connie, with amusing and unexpected results.

Libeled Lady

1936

Mary of Scotland poster
6.2

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

Mary of Scotland

1936

History Is Made at Night poster
6.7

An American woman seeking divorce from her wealthy, controlling husband falls for a romantic Parisian who saves her from his entrapment.

History Is Made at Night

1937

Manhattan Melodrama poster
7.0

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.

Manhattan Melodrama

1934

Chained poster
7.0

Richard, a millionaire in love with his secretary, Diane, is dispirited when his wife refuses to divorce him. Concerned that Diane will now lose interest, Richard offers her an all-expense-paid cruise to Argentina so that she can think it over. While traveling, however, Diane falls in love with fellow traveler Mike. She resolves to come clean to Richard, but upon return she becomes conflicted when she finds out he was able to get divorced after all.

Chained

1934

The Last of the Mohicans poster
6.3

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 passive French acquiescence) of between 500 to 1,500 Anglo-American troops, who had honorably surrendered at Fort William Henry, plus some women and servants; the kidnapping of two sisters, daughters of the British commander; and their rescue by the last Mohicans.

The Last of the Mohicans

1936

Pennies from Heaven poster
7.2

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 a young girl, Patsy Smith, and her elderly grandfather who need lots of help. This delays Larry from following his dream and going to Venice and becoming a gondolier. Instead, he becomes a street singer and, while singing in the street, meets a pretty welfare worker, Susan Sprague. She takes a dim view of Patsy's welfare under the guardianship of Larry and her grandfather and starts proceedings to have Patsy placed in an orphanage.

Pennies from Heaven

1936

The Lady in Question poster
6.7

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

The Lady in Question

1940

Criminal Lawyer poster
6.5

Barry Brandon, a criminal lawyer, visits the night club of Denny Larkin, his primary client, with Betty Walker, a spoiled society girl. The police raid the club and Brandon pleads that the whole group is guilty, just to get even with Larkin for a rebuke. On the same night in court, Madge Carter is on trial for disorderly conduct, and Brandon volunteers to defend her, and proves the case against her if a frame-up. Finding that she is penniless, Brandon hires her as his secretary, and falls in love with her. Brandon is appointed district attorney and has ambitions of becoming the state governor. Having dinner at Betty's home, she maneuvers him, while he is drunk, into marrying her. Later, Madge is a witness when Larkin shoots down a fellow gangster. By threatening Brandon's life, he forces her to commit perjury at his trial, and say he fired in self-defense. Brandon, the prosecuting attorney (who has had his marriage to Betty annulled) knows she is lying but doesn't know why.

Criminal Lawyer

1937

Romance poster
6.5

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

Romance

1930

The Earl of Chicago poster
6.3

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

The Earl of Chicago

1940

Becky Sharp poster
5.7

In early 19th century England, ambitious and ruthless orphan Rebecca Sharp advances from the position of governess to the heights of British society. The first feature length film to use three-strip Technicolor.

Becky Sharp

1935

Stowaway poster
6.7

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 America. Susan Parker, also on the ship, marries Randall to give Chin-Ching a family.

Stowaway

1936

Among the Living poster
6.1

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

Among the Living

1941

Son of India poster
5.7

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

Son of India

1931

Four Men and a Prayer poster
6.5

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

Four Men and a Prayer

1938

Hell in the Heavens poster
5.0

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

Hell in the Heavens

1934

Sarah and Son poster
5.5

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 wife, now a world-famous opera singer, finally has enough time and money to begin a search for him.

Sarah and Son

1930

His Brother's Wife poster
5.8

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 good and forces Cliff to fulfill his agreement to do research in Africa in exchange for paying gambling debt. Rita, Cliff and brother are furious with each other, but Rita and Cliff are still in love.

His Brother's Wife

1936