CHATTY COLLIER recalls her father, WILLIAM “BUSTER” COLLIER (1902-1987), a popular young leading man in silent movies, and later a producer and actor in sound films

Pay attention to the past! I wish I had heeded that advice better. Now that everyone is gone, I have to recreate memories of my family by studying genealogy and news clips. Of course I have a lot of personal recollections. I was born in England in 1937 where my father, William Collier Jr. - “Buster” Collier - was working at that time. We returned to the US the following year in the “Normandie”. In 1945, my parents and I returned to England where we lived in Chelsea until 1949.
Again, my father was producing movies, though I never really knew much about what he did except that it had to do with motion pictures. Children at that time were still expected to be seen and not heard. After our return to Hollywood father became a radio agent, and then went into TV production with Harry Joe Brown and Randolph Scott; their productions included Mr. and Mrs. North, and Topper. My folks entertained a lot, and from my early days I remember their friends always being around - among them Wesley Ruggles, with whom my father had had an earlier production partnership, William Haines, Constance Talmadge, Harry Joe Brown, Leila Hyams, Ruth Taylor, the designer Orry-Kelly. At that time no-one seemed interested in what those people had once done. The silent era was ended and they were retired.
Father was born on 12 February 1902 - although that date is sometimes a shade disputed. Old reference books put it variously at 1900 and 1903, and a birth certificate I acquired after his death, puts his date of birth as March 5, 1902! Daddy always said that his birth certificate had been destroyed in a fire, and when he went to get his first passport, he had to show school records to prove his age. His name, too, changed. His father was Charles F Gall (1854-1941), a theatrical manager who ran the Casino Café in New York City. His mother was the Casino Girl, Paula Marr (1885?-1960); and their son was originally named Charles F Gall Jr. He became William Collier Jr. when Paula married actor William Collier Sr. in 1910.
Paula’s family was interesting for its very strong women. Her mother, Kate Thyson Marr (1850-1907), was a newspaper woman, who had a picture and a byline - very rare in those days - when she wrote a series of articles about the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. She also wrote poems for newspapers, and lyrics to a song for The Casino Girl show in 1900, with music by Collier Jr’s actual father, Charles F Gall. Paula’s daughter, also Paula, became a furniture maker and woodcarver in Beverly Hills in the 1930s; and I am fortunate to have a house full of her furniture.
Paula’s second husband, William Collier Sr was born 12 November 1864 in New York City, the child of actors. His father was John M. Morenus, and his mother Henrietta Engel. Like his own stepson, he took the name Collier when his mother re-married: Henrietta’s second husband was another actor, Edmund Collier. He made his theatrical debut in 1879, and In 1888 he appeared in London as Starveling in The Taming of the Shrew. He enjoyed considerable success in 1906 as writer, director and star of Caught in the Rain, and remained one of the most popular Broadway actors - as a “droll comedian” - through the 1930s. In silent films he appeared from 1915 for Triangle, working with Mack Sennett and Thomas Ince, though his principal screen work was in talking pictures. In these he generally seemed to wear spats and be called “Pops” His final screen appearance, three years before his death, was in The Hard-Boiled Canary (1941). Recently I watched a video of him in Cain and Mabel (1936) and was surprised to see my mother in s small speaking part: presumably grandfather had got it for her. I only have vague memories of him, since I was no more than seven when he died.
Father - now William “Buster” Collier - made his stage debut at four, alongside his step-father in Caught in the Rain (1906). His first film role was as the little trumpeter in The Bugle Call (1916). With the good fortune to be handsome and have good teeth, he went on to become a popular player of sparky, go-getting, upstanding American youth in the later silent period. Among his best roles were that of a young man condemned to death in The Verdict (1925) and as the young shepherd-hero of Raoul Walsh’s The Wanderer (1926), a spectacular tale of the fall of Babylon. However he particular remembered Lighthouse By the Sea (1924), and his resentment of his canine co-star, Rin-Tin-Tin. Both Daddy and Rinty would come up on the beach after being in the sea, and the handlers would rush to dry Rinty off, while Daddy was left shivering and waiting.

He successfully made the transition from silent movies to sound. He actually made very early recordings with synchronised sound, and was asked to play The Jazz Singer, which he turned down because the pay was too low! His best remembered roles are in Little Caesar and Cimarron (he was required to die in both films). He married Marie Stevens (1909-1981), an artists’ model and showgirl in The Ziegfeld Follies, in 1935, and retired when the last remaining member of Gall’s family died, leaving him a home in San Francisco. His final screen appearance was in The People’s Enemy (1935). He died 5 February 1987.

Since I don’t think my father had much school education, he was determined that I should have a good education. The high school I went to in LA was attended by many daughters of movie people, since the other girls’ school wouldn’t take Jews or children of movie stars. My father had probably worked for several fathers of my friends (Frank Capra, Louis Wallace) but they had retired too. One of the reasons I was never as close to my mother as I am to my own children is that she did not drive. With the hours you spend in the car with your kids, you grow much closer. Also we were not encouraged to be inquisitive, and no one seemed to like talking about things gone by. Now I wish I had been more curious about what my family did!

After my parents retired to San Francisco (1956), they spent a lot of time travelling and entertaining, and simply having a great time together. My father had a charmed life. He was handsome, popular, hard-working (he made 80 movies) and funny. My parents’ goal in life was to have a great time, and help their friends to have one too. Father had always a twinkle in his eye.