W. H. Clune Explained

Birth Name:	William H. Clune
Birth Date:	18 August 1862
Birth Place:	Hannibal, Missouri
Death Place:	Los Angeles, California
Occupation:	Property developer, theatre and studio owner, and film producer

William H. Clune (August 18, 1862 – October 18, 1927)^[1] was an American railroad property developer, film exchange and then theater chain owner, film studio owner, and film producer.

Career

Born in Hannibal, Missouri,^[1] Clune owned a chain of theaters in Southern California.^[2] He launched his studio in 1915.^[3] His film productions were based on novels.^[4] His first production was 1916's Ramona.^[5]

He played hardball with competitors.^[6] He came into dispute with Nell Shipman over their film projects together.^[7]

He died in Los Angeles, two months past his 65th birthday.^[1] He is buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in a crypt.

Clune was an investor in Epoch Film Producing Corp.^[8] The Birth of a Nation, originally released as The Clansman in February 1915, had its world premiere at Clune's Auditorium on Pershing Square in the Core of Los Angeles.^[9]

Filmography

• Ramona (1916), based the book Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson about life in California's early days^[10]
• The Eyes of the World (1917), filmed in Redlands, California, adapted from the Harold Bell Wright novel
• From Manger to Cross
• A Bear, a Boy and a Dog by Nell Shipman^[11]
• The Girl From God's Country (1920)^[12]

External links

• • • • "Unsung Film Pioneer: William H. Clune; theater and film producer" from Hollywoodland

Notes and References

1. Web site: LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies (Library of Congress) . id.loc.gov . Library of Congress . 4 September 2019.
2. Web site: Los Angeles Herald 26 December 1916 — California Digital Newspaper Collection. cdnc.ucr.edu.
3. Web site: The Editor. May 9, 1915. Google Books.
4. Web site: Los Angeles Herald 26 June 1915 — California Digital Newspaper Collection. cdnc.ucr.edu.
5. Web site: Ramona (1916) - Notes - TCM.com. Turner Classic Movies.
6. Book: Balboa Films: A History and Filmography of the Silent Film Studio. Jean-Jacques. Jura. Rodney Norman Bardin. II. 13 August 2015. McFarland. 9781476609010. Google Books.
7. Web site: Nell Shipman – Women Film Pioneers Project. wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu.
8. Web site: History.
9. Web site: Over Protests of Racism, 'The Clansman' Opens in Los Angeles. lmharnisch. 9 February 2012.
10. Web site: Motography. May 9, 1916. Google Books.
11. Book: A Feminist Reader in Early Cinema. Jennifer M.. Bean. Diane. Negra. 21 November 2002. Duke University Press. 0822329999. Google Books.
12. Web site: MSS 81 154. digital.boisestate.edu.