Wikipedia

William Hauber

William Carl Hauber[1] (May 20, 1891 – July 17, 1929[2]) was an American silent film actor and much-in-demand stunt performer, known as one of the original Keystone Cops, and for his decade-long association with comic actor Larry Semon, both as a supporting player and as the star's frequent stunt double.[3] He appeared in more than 60 films between 1913 and 1928.

William Hauber
Born
William Carl Hauber

(1891-05-20)May 20, 1891
Brownsville, Minnesota, US
DiedJuly 17, 1929(1929-07-17) (aged 38)
Reseda, California, US
Other namesBill Hauber
Occupation(s)Film actor, stunt performer
Years active1913–1928
SpouseMyrtle Crosswaite (m. 1914)
Children1

Early life and career

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Born and raised in Brownsville, Minnesota,[1][2][4] Hauber was one of six children born to German-American parents, Florian Hauber and Katherine Breiner.[5][6]

1n 1916, Hauber was featured alongside his fellow Keystone alumnus, Anna Luther, in the Fox Film short, Her Father's Station.[1]

In November 1919, The Motion Picture News reported that, in a soon-to-be-released Larry Semon film, Hauber and an athletic troupe dubbed the Mazetta Brothers were—with the aid of a rock crusher "in the vicinity of" Monrovia, California—"do[ing] the best work of their film careers in the matter of jumps and falls."[7]

Hauber's final credited screen appearance came in 1928, as Quint in the early talkie, The Midnight Taxi, amidst an "all-star cast" headed by Antonio Moreno and Helene Costello, and featuring, among others, Myrna Loy, William Russell, and Tommy Dugan.[8]

Personal life and death

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From April 28, 1914 until his death, Hauber was married to Myrtle Crosthwaite (older sister of Keystone actress/diver Ivy Crosthwaite), with whom he had one child, a son, William Carl Hauber Jr.[9][10]

On July 17, 1929, Hauber, while scouting locations for an aerial stunt to be performed the following day for the film, The Aviator, died in an airplane crash when the pilot, cinematographer Alvin Knechtel, suddenly lost consciousness, and the plane crashed, nose down, in a barley field near Reseda, California,[11] approximately two miles from Metropolitan Airport in Van Nuys.[12] Hauber was survived by his wife and son.[10] He is buried in Forest Lawn in Glendale, California.[2]

Roughly eight decades later, Hauber was dubbed by film historian Brent Walker "probably the greatest stuntman ever to work at Keystone—and perhaps the greatest in all silent comedy."[1].

Selected filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Walker, Brent (2010). Mack Sennett's Fun Factory : A history and filmography of his studio and his Keystone and Mack Sennett comedies, with biographies of players and personnel. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 512. ISBN 9780786436101.
  2. ^ a b c Wilson, Scott (September 5, 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 324. ISBN 978-0-7864-7992-4. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  3. ^ "Two Die After Pilot Faints (Continued from first page)". The Los Angeles Times. pt. II, p. 2. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  4. ^ "United States Census, 1900", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9S8-F6P : Tue Aug 13 11:51:22 UTC 2024), Entry for Florian C Hauber and Katherine Hauber, 1900.
  5. ^ "William C. Hauber, Brownsville, Movie Stunt Man, Dead". La Crosse Tribune. July 19, 1926. p. 6. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  6. ^ "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP7T-DT2Y : Sun Mar 10 18:31:39 UTC 2024), Entry for William C Hauber and Florian Hauber, 17 July 1929.
  7. ^ "Doings at Vitagraph Plant". Motion Picture News. November 15, 1919. Volume 20, No. 21. p. 3626. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  8. ^ "'The Midnight Taxi,' With Sound, Comes to the Brooklyn Strand". The Brooklyn Daily Times. November 4, 1928. p. 4B. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  9. ^ "Vital Statistics—Deaths, Births, Marriages: Marriage Certificates". Los Angeles Evening Express. April 27, 1914. p. 17. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Vital Record: Deaths". The Los Angeles Times. April 27, 1914. p. 20. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  11. ^ "Camera and Stunt Men Killed in Plane Crash". Variety. July 24, 1929. p. 6. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  12. ^ "Two Movie Men Killed While Preparing Sky Stunt". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. July 18, 1929. p. 6. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
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