- Born
- Died
- Birth nameWilliam Stuart Adams
- Nickname
- Billy
- Height5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
- Born in Brooklyn, William ("Billy") Stuart Adams was the only known product of the union between Thomas Adams, Jr., and
Jessie Stuart Blackton. He was the younger half-brother of James Stuart
Blackton, the founder of Vitagraph and a pioneer in the movie making
business. Little is known about Billy's youth. His World War I Civilian
Draft Registration card (1917) indicates that he was, at the time, the
sole supporter of his aunt, Mary Stuart, his mother's older sister,
with whom he shared an apartment at 1658 East 12th St. in Brooklyn.
Billy's occupation is given as "assistant director" at "Vitagraph Co."
The registration card describes him as physically "short" with "gray"
eyes and "light brown" hair. It also indicates that he had "heart
trouble," which probably kept him out of active duty in the war. But
Billy did serve as an "employee of the Office of the Chief of Staff of
the War department." His oldest daughter, Ruth Elizabeth Stuart Adams
Wolf, remembers him being charged with the task of photographing
documents. Copies of three "passes" that Billy had at the time have
survived. One that is undated but has his signature on it is headed
"Enlistment Detachment: Purchase, Storage and Traffic Division--General
Staff," and reads: "This is to certify that William S. Adams, whose
signature appears hereon, is a member of the Enlisted Detachment
serving with the General Staff, in Washington, D.C.; that he is not
required to live in barracks, and has the freedom of the District of
Columbia and its immediate environs, when not on duty." Another such
pass, from November, 1918, indicates that he was 5' 4" tall, 153 lbs,
with a "light complexion." A third one, the writing on which is for the
most part too faint to read, includes a small picture of him.
Other surviving documentation from the time indicates that Billy was an
active Freemason. A certificate from the "Grand Lodge of Free and
Accepted Masons of the State of New York" of the Clinton Lodge, No.
453, indicates that William Stuart Adams was a "Master Mason in regular
standing," as of September 16, 1918. A surviving membership card shows
that Billy "paid his dues "While Serving the Colors." Billy was a also
Shriner. A certificate from the "Imperial Council of the Ancient Arabic
Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine for North America" (founded
June 6, 1876), indicates that he became a "Noble" at the Kismet Temple
in Brooklyn on January 29, 1920. His daughter Ruth remembers that he
was also a member of the Knights Templar.
At some point, Billy married Ruth Lillian Owen (7/25/1894-10/18/1974).
The date of the wedding in not known, but a copy of a salary check from
the "Treasurer of the United States" for $45.83 made out to "Mrs. Ruth
Adams" on November 7, 1918 (four days before Armistice Day) has
survived. The fact that their oldest child, Ruth Elizabeth Stuart
Adams, was born on March 20, 1919, suggests that the couple had a
traditional June wedding in 1918. Two pictures from the happy event
have survived and clearly show that Ruth and Billy's wedding was a
double one that also involved Ruth Lillian's older sister Elizabeth Mae
Owen and her husband Paul Edward ("Ed") Pfitzenmeier. According to Ed
Pfitzenmeier's WWI registration card, he was employed by Vitagraph just
like his new brother-in-law, suggesting that either Ed and Billy met
there, or that Billy helped Ed get a job there. The second photo has
Billy and Ruth Lillian Owen flanked on the bride's side by Ruth
Lillian's mother Elizabeth MacGregor Laing Owen and on the groom's side
by Billy's aunt, Mary Stuart. This second picture is actually torn down
the middle, largely obscuring the image of the groom. The story is that
the picture was "edited" by someone on the bride's side (probably one
of her sisters) who did not think Ruth should marry Billy.
The 1920 US census lists "William S. Adams" (age 27) living in the
household of Mary Stuart (at 1645 East 9th St. in Brooklyn), along with
his wife, "Ruth L. Adams" (25), and their new daughter, Ruth ("Ruthie")
Elizabeth Stuart Adams (9 months). At about this time the song "Till We
Meet Again" was all the rage and quickly became Billy's and Ruth's
song. While little Ruthie was still a toddler, the family moved a bit
south to the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn. In 1922, they
welcomed Jessamyn ("Jess") Stuart Adams (3/17/1922-7/18/2008), the
second and last child born to Billy and Ruth Adams.
The same census entry from 1920 lists Billy's occupation as "Motion
Picture Photographic Producing," but his work as a cameramen actually
dates from seven years earlier. The Internet Movie Database gives him
credit for his camera work in 34 films (31 as cinematographer and 3 as
an assistant cameraman), The first being "The Wreck," which appeared in
1913. The first five films that he shot were all directed by Ralph
Ince. After that he worked on a series of nine films directed by his
half-brother, James Stuart Blackton, beginning with the film "The
Moonshine Trail," which was released on October 19, 1919. The last of
these, "The Forbidden Valley," was released on October 10, 1920.
"Billy" shot movies for his half-brother again in 1925 ("Tides of
Passion") and 1926 "Bride of the Storm," before working with director
Bruce M. Mitchell on a string of "flying ace" movies: "Three Miles Up"
(1927), "Sky-High Saunders" (1927), "The Air Patrol" (1928), "The
Phantom Flier" (1928), "Won in the Clouds" (1928), "The Cloud Dodger"
(1928), and "The Sky Skidder" (1929). Finally he shot a series of
westerns directed by Joseph Levigard: "Grit Wins," "Born to the
Saddle," and "The Smiling Terror," all of which were released in 1929.
Sometime between the "flying ace" films and the "westerns," Billy Adams
relocated from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. His wife and two daughters
stayed behind for the time being, living with "Grandma Owen" (Elizabeth
MacGregor Laing Owen), who by then had an apartment on the corner of
Bedford and Martense in Brooklyn. There Despite marital problems
between Billy and Ruth, he ultimately did send for his wife and two
girls, hoping for a fresh start in Los Angeles. The family's train trip
across the country most likely took place during the summer of 1926.
Ruthie's minister in Brooklyn gave her a bible--presumably as a going
away gift--inscribed with the date June 12, 1926. Ruthie, who was seven
at the time, remembers a big send off at Grand Central Station, where
every family member seemed to give them boxes of chocolates, none of
which tolerated the heat of the train ride. She remembers her
four-year-old sister Jessamyn being sick most of the time due to the
excessive heat. But Jessamyn's plight had its bright side, since it led
to the three of them getting a private compartment. Ruthie also
remembers eating "huckleberries" on the train for the first time in her
life. When Ruth Lillian and her daughters finally arrived in Los
Angeles, Billy met them and took them to a house that he had rented in
Westwood. Ruthie remembers the adjacent vacant lots filled with gopher
holes, something she had never seen before. Over the next couple of
years the family moved to Laurel Drive in Hollywood, where she
remembers seeing her first "Good Humor" ice cream truck. Whenever
someone treated her to a 20-cent ice cream bar, she always picked the
one made with peppermint ice cream dipped in chocolate. Later the
family moved to Glendale where Billy and Ruth Adams bought a house at
what was then 1020 8th Street, only to lose it shortly after. Soon
Billy and Ruth separated, securing a divorce in 1928. The 1930 Census
lists Ruth Lillian Owen as the head of her Glendale household--at 1355
Graynold Avenue--with no mention of her husband. He turns up in the
same census living in Beverly Hills with his aunt, Mary Stuart, who had
apparently followed Billy and family when they moved California. The
entry lists "Mary Stewart" as a 79-year-old head of a household that
included only her nephew, William Adams, age 38, a "cameraman" for a
"Picture Studio." Ruthie, who remembers the apartment being on Florence
Avenue, recalls visiting her dad during this time, and in particular
the fun that she and Jessamyn had sneaking up behind "Auntie" while she
worked in the kitchen and surreptitiously clipping clothes pins to her
apron strings.
During this time, Ruth Elizabath got to know a number of families who,
like her own, were connected to the movie industry. She recalls in
particular the children of Reginald E. Lyons and his wife Isabel and
those of Frank P. Hulette and his wife Mary; both couples were friends
of her father's who lived in Los Angeles. Reginald, a cameraman, had
come to California in the 1910s. His wife Isabel would pass on her
oldest daughter Isabel's clothes to Ruth, something she greatly
appreciated. The Hulettes were also connected to the film industry,
Frank being an actor in his early years. Another movie industry couple
in the Adams family circle was that of Robert "Bob" Newhard--a
cameraman--and his wife Edna. They lived somewhere in the San Fernando
valley (in the midst of potato fields) and there they would host the
Adams family for weekend visits. Ruthie remembers the couple having two
daughters, Joyce and "Teedy" (officially, Betty) who had such beautiful
hair they were featured in "White King" shampoo commercials. She
remembers watching their mother Edna carefully washing the girls' hair
in the sink. Ruth also remembers a large walnut tree whose branches
were covered with candles that the Newhards would light in the
evenings. Ruth also recalls a yardage store nearby where she bought
fabric for her first (of many!) sewing project. Another couple that
comes to her mind from those days was Charlie and Mabel Glouner, who
had a peach orchard on Lankershim on North Hollywood; Ruthie can still
taste taste those juicy, sun-warmed peaches, the best she has ever had.
On a less happy note, Ruthie remembers the confusion of living with one
and then the other parent while the details of the divorce were being
worked out. Billy's premature death simplified things in that sense. He
had been in Borneo working on the movie "White Captive" when he became
ill with "Jungle Fever." He died back home in Hollywood on December 3,
1930, age 38, and was buried in Hollywood cemetery. The movie was
ultimately released by Warner Brothers in August 1931 under the title
"East to Borneo," though with George Robinson credited as the
cinematographer. Ruthie was only 11 years old when her father died and
she remembers having lived apart from him more than with him. But in
all of his travels as a cameraman, Billy never forgot to bring
souvenirs home to his girls. Ruth still has two ivory earrings and four
dolls from this time, one from China, one from (Yokohama) Japan, one
from Fiji, and one (of a Native American) that must have come from the
American southwest.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Kenneth Baxter Wolf (grandson)
- Contracted tropical fever while filming locations in Borneo for White
Captive
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content