Theodore Marston

Theodore Marston was born on August 10, 1868, in Minnesota, and died on October 2, 1920, in Los Angeles, California. He worked as both a Broadway performer and a silent film director and writer during the early silent period of American cinema.

Marston's stage career spanned from 1904 to 1913, during which he appeared in several Broadway productions. His credits included Poor Little Ritz Girl, A Fool of Fortune, The Senator Keeps House, Temptations, and Eyes.

Alongside his stage work, Marston built a career in early silent film. He directed a number of films during this period, among them She in 1911, The Last of the Mohicans in 1911, Put Yourself in His Place in 1912, Aurora Floyd in 1912, and Robin Hood in 1913. A 1911 film of David Copperfield has also been associated with his name, though recent research disputes that he directed it. He worked with actors including William Garwood and Harry Benham. In October 1913, he was appointed head of dramatic film production at the Kinemacolor Company of America.

Marston continued directing into the latter part of the decade, with credits that included The Battle of Frenchman's Run, The Caveman, The Primrose Path, and The Wheels of Justice, all in 1915, followed by The Surprises of an Empty Hotel in 1916, and several films in 1917, among them The Secret Kingdom, The Raggedy Queen, Wrath, The Seventh Sin, and The Girl by the Roadside. His later directing work included Beyond the Law in 1918 and The Black Gate in 1919.