From 1907, he embarked on a theatrical journey, taking the stage by storm. His collaboration with the renowned director D.W. Griffith began in 1913 and lasted until 1922, during which time he appeared in notable films such as The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916). This marked the beginning of his transition from actor to director, with his first directorial venture taking place in 1917.
One of his most notable and ambitious projects was the big-budget epic Down to the Sea in Ships (1922),which catapulted the enigmatic Clara Bow to stardom. However, his career began to decline in the late 1920s, and he found himself struggling to maintain his position in the industry. Although he occasionally worked with major studios such as Columbia and RKO, the majority of his work during this period was relegated to Poverty Row, where he wrote and/or directed low-budget westerns and thrillers for studios like PRC, and even lower-budget exploitation films for producers like J.D. Kendis and the Weiss Brothers.
