William "Billy" Sistrom (19 March 1884 – March 1972) was an English film producer who worked in the United States.

Biography

Sistrom was born in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, England. He began work with

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

. Later he joined

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

in 1935, where he worked on the film adaptation of

Leslie Charteris Leslie Charteris (born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, 12 May 1907 – 15 April 1993), was a British-Chinese author of adventure fiction, as well as a screenwriter.The Saint in New York ''The Saint in New York'' is a mystery novel by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton in 1935. It was published in the United States by Doubleday in January 1935. A shorter version of the novel had pr ...

''. He produced 30 British and American films between 1930 and 1949. As well as a producer, William also worked as a studio manager. Actor

Lon Chaney, Sr. Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

tells of confronting Universal studio manager William Sistrom in 1918 demanding a payrise and contract. According to Chaney, Sistrom told him that he knew a good actor when he saw one but that, looking directly at Chaney, he saw only a wash-out. According to their website, William managed the Hollywood Center Studios for a time starting in 1925. Wiliam's first wife Louise Rowan had two American-born sons and three daughters

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Ancient Greek, Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of Microorganism, microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, f ...

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, Hollywood producer

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, Suzanne, Rosemary, and Mary Louise. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Sistroms opened their Hollywood home to many American servicemen. One notable Army Air Corps pilot and wannabe actor was Dan David. Dan assumed Mrs. Sistrom's maiden name as a stage name and was known as

Dan Rowan Daniel Hale Rowan (July 22, 1922 – September 22, 1987) was an American actor and comedian. He was featured in the television show ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'', wherein he played straight man to Dick Martin and won the 1969 Emmy for Outstandin ...

. He was member of the comedy team of the 1970s television comedy show ''

Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Dan ...

''. After Louise's death he married actress

Rosalyn Boulter Rosalyn Boulter (1 February 19176 March 1997) was a British film actress. She married Stanley Haynes, a film writer, director and producer before having a daughter together, Carol, in 1943. Between 1935 and 1936 she featured in four West End ...

when he was 68 and she was 36. Boulter's daughter Carol Haynes Johnson, who was 8 when they married, described William as "gentle, loving, giving. I always called him 'Daddy.' Daddy came into our lives when I was about 4."Carol Haynes Johnson biography
/ref> After the wedding, William retired, and the family moved to

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

where he managed a turkey ranch in Buckeye, about outside the city. He died in March 1972 in Los Angeles, United States.

Partial filmography

:''As producer unless otherwise specified.'' * '' Runaway Bride'' (1930) (associate producer) * ''

The Fall Guy ''The Fall Guy'' is an American action/adventure television series produced for ABC and originally broadcast from November 4, 1981, to May 2, 1986. It starred Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, and Heather Thomas as Hollywood stunt performers who moonli ...

'' (1930) (associate producer) * '' The Silver Horde'' (1930) (associate producer) * ''

The Black Camel ''The Black Camel'' (1929) is the fourth of the Charlie Chan novels by Earl Derr Biggers. Plot summary It tells the story of a Hollywood star (Shelah Fane), who is stopping in Hawaii after she finished shooting a film on location in Tahiti. ...

'' (1931) (associate producer) * ''

The Spider The Spider is an American pulp-magazine hero of the 1930s and 1940s. The character was created by editor Harry Steeger and written by a variety of authors for 118 monthly issues of ''The Spider'' from 1933 to 1943. A 119th Spider novel manuscrip ...

'' (1931) (associate producer) * '' The Crooked Circle'' (1932) * '' While Paris Sleeps'' (1932) * ''

A Dog of Flanders ''A Dog of Flanders'' is an 1872 novel by English author Marie Louise de la Ramée published with her pseudonym "Ouida". It is about a Flemish boy named Nello and his dog, Patrasche, and is set in Antwerp. In Japan, Korea, Russia, Ukraine and ...

'' (1935) (associate producer) * ''

Murder on a Bridle Path ''Murder on a Bridle Path'' is a 1936 mystery film directed by William Hamilton and Edward Killy, starring James Gleason and Helen Broderick. This film was the fourth production in the Hildegarde Withers series, and the only one in which Broder ...

'' (1936) (associate producer) * ''

Bunker Bean ''Bunker Bean'' is a 1936 American black-and-white comedy film adapted from a novel by Harry Leon Wilson and the subsequent play adapted by Lee Wilson Dodd. It was directed by William Hamilton and Edward Killy, produced by William Sistrom, and s ...

'' (1936) (associate producer) * '' The Plot Thickens'' (1936) (associate producer) * ''

There Goes My Girl ''There Goes My Girl'' is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Ben Holmes, written by Harry Segall, and starring Gene Raymond, Ann Sothern, Gordon Jones, Richard Lane, Frank Jenks and Bradley Page. It was released on May 21, 1937, by RKO Pict ...

'' (1937) * ''

Forty Naughty Girls ''Forty Naughty Girls'' is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Edward F. Cline and written by John Grey. The film stars James Gleason, ZaSu Pitts, Marjorie Lord, George Shelley and Joan Woodbury. It is the sixth and final entry in RKO Pictu ...

'' (1937) * ''

The Saint in New York ''The Saint in New York'' is a mystery novel by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton in 1935. It was published in the United States by Doubleday in January 1935. A shorter version of the novel had pr ...

'' (1938) * ''

Blond Cheat ''Blond Cheat'' is a 1938 romantic comedy film directed by Joseph Santley and starring Joan Fontaine, Derrick De Marney, and Cecil Kellaway. The film was produced by William Sistrom, and originally released by RKO Radio Pictures. The original sto ...

'' (1938) * ''

I'm From the City ''I'm From the City'' is a 1938 American Western film directed by Ben Holmes who also wrote the story which was adapted into a screenplay by Nicholas T. Barrows, Robert St. Clair, and John Grey. William Sistrom produced the film for RKO Radio ...

'' (1938) * ''

The Saint in London ''The Saint in London'' is a 1939 British crime film, the third of eight films in RKO's film series featuring the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". It stars George Sanders as Templar and was produced by William Sistrom. John Pad ...

'' (1939) * ''

The Saint's Vacation ''The Saint's Vacation'' is a 1941 adventure film produced by the British arm of RKO Pictures. The film stars Hugh Sinclair as Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", a world-roving crimefighter who walks the fine edge of the law. This was th ...

'' (1941) * ''

Dangerous Moonlight ''Dangerous Moonlight'' (US: ''Suicide Squadron'') is a 1941 British film, directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Anton Walbrook. Among the costumes, the gowns were designed by Cecil Beaton. The film is best known for its score written by ...

'' (1941) * ''

The Saint Meets the Tiger ''The Saint Meets the Tiger'' is the title of a crime thriller produced by the British unit of RKO Pictures, produced in 1941, but not released until 1943. This was to be the last of the eight films in RKO's film series about the crimefighter ...

'' (1943) * ''

Escape to Danger ''Escape to Danger'' is a 1943 British thriller film directed by Lance Comfort and Victor Hanbury and starring Eric Portman, Ann Dvorak and Karel Stepanek. Plot During the Second World War a British schoolteacher working in Denmark is caught u ...

'' (1943) * ''

Tawny Pipit The tawny pipit (''Anthus campestris'') is a medium-large passerine bird which breeds in much of the central Palearctic from northwest Africa and Portugal to Central Siberia and on to Inner Mongolia. It is a migrant moving in winter to tropic ...

'' (1944) * ''

Hungry Hill Hungry Hill or Knockday ( ga, Cnoc Daod) is the highest of the Caha Mountains on the Beara Peninsula in Munster, Ireland. Etymology The first part of the Irish name ''Cnoc Daod'' means "hill". The second part may be a dialectal variant of ...

'' (1947) * '' Woman Hater'' (1948)

References

External links

William Sistrom's filmography on the American Film Institute website

William Sistrom at NSM Movies
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sistrom, William 1884 births 1972 deaths People from Lincolnshire British film producers British expatriates in the United States