The Taking of Luke McVane

The first Western superstar, the taciturn Hart actually was a successful Shakespearean actor who played Messala in “Ben-Hur” on Broadway in 1899 before riding the range in movies. A longtime fan of the Old West, Hart was friends with Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson. His film career began in 1914. After two supporting roles he gained fame as the lead in the feature-length western “The Bargain” shot on location at the Grand Canyon. Hart strove to make his westerns realistic with detailed attention played to costumes and props. Though Hart could be cast as a villain, he imbued all of his characters with honor and integrity. After making western shorts for producer Thomas Ince, he went to Famous Players-Lasky, which merged with Paramount Pictures in 1917. At Paramount he made such gritty feature westerns as “Square Deal Sanderson” and “The Toll Gate.” His star began to fade in the early 1920s when audiences grew tired of his moralistic Western tales. Not helping his career was his 1923 divorce from his wife, Winifred, who accused him of having two children by another woman. He made one last film, 1925’s “Tumbleweeds, which he financed himself. In 1939, the film was reissued this time with a prologue featuring a 75-year-old Hart shot on location at his ranch in Newhall talking about the West and his days in films. He died in 1946 at age 81. His home and ranch were turned into William S. Hart Park in Newhall.

From Wikipedia Enid Markey was born in Dillon, Colorado. Her first film role was in The Fortunes of War (1911). During the production of The Wrath of the Gods (1914), Markey, a "leading lady with the New York Motion Picture Company", was "badly injured" during the production. During her scene in which the lava flow destroys the village she was surrounded by smoke and fumes and nearly asphyxiated, but had recovered by May 1914. Her last appearance was in The Boston Strangler (1968). During the 1950s and 1960s she appeared in several television guest-starring roles, including The Andy Griffith Show as Barney Fife's landlady, and an episode of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., as Grandma Pyle. In the 1960-1961 season, Markey was cast as Aunt Violet Flower in CBS's Bringing Up Buddy, co-starring Frank Aletter and Doro Merande. Markey and Merando played spinster aunts who provide a home for their bachelor nephew stockbroker, Buddy Flower, played by Aletter. She died in Bay Shore, New York, aged 87.