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- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
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.