Reginald Barker

On the stage as actor and producer from 1902, Barker was a pioneer silent film director of westerns and outdoor action films. In 1912 he joined Bison Motion Pictures, under the auspices of Thomas H. Ince. After leaving the industry in 1945, Barker and his wife ran a gift shop in Pasadena.

Canadian-born (Winnipeg) Reginald Barker moved with his family to Scotland shortly after he was born, and they eventually emigrated to the US, settling in California. Bitten by the show-business bug early, Barker was acting in plays by age 16, and then joined up with a traveling stock company as stage manager. He eventually made his way to New York City, where he got a job as a stage manager and, starting in 1910, as an actor. He found that the burgeoning motion picture business proved more interesting to him than the stage, and he joined Bison Pictures, traveling to California and working under legendary producer Thomas H. Ince.

He soon left acting and worked as an assistant director, making his directorial debut in 1912 with On the Warpath (1912), a western with Art Acord.

He has directed three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Bargain (1914), The Italian (1915) and Civilization (1915).

He worked steadily for Ince, and was so highly thought of by the producer that he shared director duties with Barker on Ince's epic, Civilization (1915). Barker directed almost 100 films over his career, working with such stars as Sessue Hayakawa, Hoot Gibson and Myrna Loy.

Formed Reginald Barker Productions, a film production company, in 1920.

He directed his last film in 1935 and then retired from the industry. He and his wife opened up a gift shop in Pasadena, California.