William Norton Bailey (born Gardner Warren Reineck;[1][2] September 26, 1886 – November 8, 1962)[3] was an American actor and director.
Personal life
William Norton Bailey was born Gardner Warren Reineck on 26 September 1886 in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents, Rebecca Gardener Phillips and Jesse P. Reineck, his father was a Western Uniontelegraph operator. The family moved around the country based on Jesse’s work. The Reineck’s divorced after 1900 when Jesse was arrested, along with five other telegraph operators, for defrauding American Express.[4] William's mother settled the family for a number of years in Milwaukee.
Bailey was married on 1917 in Philadelphia to Mary Cannon, an actress who worked under the professional names of Polly Vann[5] and Mary/Polly Bailey.[6] They had no children. After their marriage, William, his new wife, and his mother moved to New York City where he was a director at Vitagraph Studios.[7] After her death in 1952,[8] he married a second time to Mrs. Aletha Hamilton Fadden in Los Angeles.[9] They died within a few months of each other and are buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.[citation needed]
Film career
Bailey's initial work in motion pictures came with Cosmopolitan Pictures, for which he directed one-reel and two-reel films.[3] Bailey appeared in more than 300 films between 1911 and 1959, but his roles were often uncredited. Bailey also starred in the original cast of No, No Nanette (1925), a smash hit on Broadway. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Bailey died in Hollywood, California in 1962 at the age of 76.[10][11]
^Jesse P., Reineck (July 20, 1900). "Express Company Fleeced". No. 28. The Clinton Public. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
^United States, Selective Service System. Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, Record Group Number 147. National Archives and Records Administration; Polly Vann/Bailey, wife.
^"Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Marriage Index, 1885–1951." Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009. Philadelphia County Pennsylvania Clerk of the Orphans' Court. "Pennsylvania, Philadelphia marriage license index, 1885-1951." Clerk of the Orphans’ Court, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
^United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.
^State of California. California Death Index, 1940-1997. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics.
_ca._1925.jpg)
