William Farnum was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and made his debut on the stage as Lucius in Julius Caesar; his only other part in a Shakespeare play was as Banquo in Macbeth in 1928. His career on the stage was brief, because he began playing in films in 1914 (Reckless Decision was his first film). Before he retired he had played in 141 motion pictures; the last was Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) where he played the king. He never became a major star, but his supporting parts seem to have kept him quite busy.

His brother Dustin Farnum was also an actor in films and he did become a star. Dustin was only 55 when he died, but before then he had played in 40 films. He was born in Boston in 1874 and died of kidney failure in 1929.

                                                             

A role in a non-Shakespearean play