William Shay

William E. Shay (September 16, 1866 – date of death unknown) was an American actor who worked in both stage and silent film productions. His career spanned several decades and encompassed Broadway appearances, leading stage roles, and an extensive body of film work.

Shay's Broadway career ran from 1902 to 1905 and included appearances in two plays. In 1902, he took the stage at Hoyt's Theatre in Martha Morton's The Diplomat. He also appeared in the play Adrea during this period. In 1909, he returned to Broadway at the Liberty Theatre in New York City, playing Baron Sokoli in Kassa, a stage production based on John Luther Long's work. Beyond these credited productions, Shay also starred in the stage productions Zaza and David Belasco's Du Barry.

At the age of 45, Shay transitioned to film, making his screen debut in 1911 in A Manly Man, in which he played the character Duncan, a film that survives as an extant print. The majority of his film output was concentrated within a ten-year span. In 1912, he attended the founding meeting of The Screen Club, a motion picture organization established in New York City.

Among his notable film roles, Shay played King William in Neptune's Daughter (1914), a partially extant film, and Gregor Randar in The Kreutzer Sonata (1915). That same year he appeared as Pierre Clemenceau in The Clemenceau Case, Alan Kendrick in The Heart of Maryland, William Craig in The Soul of Broadway, Luigi in The Sin, and the Chevalier de Vaudrey in The Two Orphans. He also appeared in A Fool There Was (1915) and A Daughter of the Gods (1916). Later credits include The Lone Wolf (1917), The Eternal Sin (1917) in which he portrayed the Duke of Ferrara, The Fall of the Romanoffs (1918) as Theofan, and The Telephone Girl (1927) as a detective.