Wendell Phillips Smalley (1865-1939) was a notable, though somewhat controversial, figure in early American cinema. He was married, until 1922, to the pioneering actor-writer-director Lois Weber, and several hundred films are credited as being co-directed by the pair of them. It is now generally accepted, however, that Weber was the creative force behind the pictures, and that it was Smalley’s jealousy of her achievements, along with his alcohol problem, that led to their divorce. The shared credit seems to have been more to do with the patriarchy than with merit. It is noticeable that he directed nothing after their relationship ended.
It is indisputable that Smalley acted in around 130 films during his time with Weber, and a similar number afterwards. In the 1920s, he appeared in John Ford’s Cameo Kirby (1923) and had an uncredited role as a waiter in Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans.
In the 1930s he had mostly uncredited bit parts, including in Stage Mother, as the manager who fires Kitty from the shop, A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races.
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