Starting out in dramatic parts, Desmond soon switched to westerns and action serials, and became a major western star. When the sound era began Desmond was almost 50 years old, and was soon relegated to supporting roles.
John Maude
The Prince and Betty
Jim Davis / The Vanishing Rider
The Vanishing Rider
The Parson
Peer Gynt
Horace
Captain of His Soul
San Dimas Sheriff Holden
The Rustler's Roundup
Marshal Jack Stevens
When Lightning Strikes
Stagehand (uncredited)
Phantom of the Opera
Museum Tourist (uncredited)
The Mummy's Ghost
The Policeman
The Policeman and the Baby
Carson Stewart
Master of His Home
Street Ambusher (uncredited)
The Return of the Durango Kid
1st Suitor (archive footage)
Mr. Broadway
Townsman (uncredited)
The Lightning Warrior
Bailiff
Song of the Gringo
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Phantom Lady
Sheriff Manning
Wild Waters
Himself
The Extra Girl
General Custer
The Last Frontier
Police Chief
Crack-Up
The Broken Coin
Vigilante Hangman (uncredited)
Frisco Kid
Milesburg Sheriff
The Vanishing Legion
MacDonald
The Vanishing Shadow
Capt. Boncour
Desert Command
Smiling Bill Flannigan
The Burning Trail
Good Deed O'Day
Straight Through
Richard Gilmore
The Meddler
John Brownell
Born to Battle
Parole Officer Donovan
I Can't Escape
Anderson, Vigilante Member
The Vigilantes Are Coming
Capt. Jim Carson
Pirate Treasure
Ned Brown
The Strings of Steel
Gene Travis
Courage of the North
Capt. Boncour
The Three Musketeers
Bill Brine
Winners of the West
Eugene La Salle
Her Code of Honor
Sheriff Barnes
Frontier Days
Tom Blake
The Rawhide Terror
Military Cabinet Officer
Laughing at Life
Jack Merrill Sr. / Jack Merrill Jr.
Perils of the Yukon
Colonel Brownlee
Strawberry Roan
Sheriff Joe Thompson
Fargo Express
Ray Bourke
Paws of the Bear
Dr. Jim Wilson
Border Guns
Self
No Children
Ben 'Wolf' Darby
Shadows of the North
John Mills
Battling with Buffalo Bill
Himself - Actor
The Extra Girl
Sheriff Pete
The Cowboy and the Bandit
Wagon Master
Custer's Last Stand
Wagon Master
Cyclone of the Saddle
Bill
Treachery Rides the Range
John Blaine
Heroes of the West
John Mulford
Gordon of Ghost City
Allen
The Call of the Savage
Mr. Mack (cattle buyer)
Headin' for the Rio Grande
A Scarlet Week-End
Guard
The Ghost Rider
Policeman
Social Error
Pago Pago Patron (uncredited)
Hollywood Boulevard
Settler (uncredited)
Code of the West
Sheriff Campbell
The Red Rider
Captain of the 'Viking'
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
Royce Horter
Timber Terrors
Bartender
Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
Tim
Song of the Saddle
Citizen
The Boys from Syracuse
Foreman Burke
Tailspin Tommy in The Great Air Mystery
Irish Cop (uncredited)
Junior G-Men
Gower Gulch Cowboy (uncredited)
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Dock Official
Tim Tyler's Luck
Thomas Edmonds
The Phantom of the Air
Martin Blair
The Phantom of the West
Bud McGraw
Fightin' Mad
Honorable Billy
Society for Sale
Jules Ingram
The Last of the Ingrams
Townsman
Down Rio Grande Way
Townsman
The Silver Bullet
Williams - Banker
Overland Mail
Ira Dale [Chs. 1-4, 6, 10-12]
Rustlers of Red Dog
Bartender Mike
The Lone Star Trail
Pete
Cheyenne Roundup
John Harper
No Defense
Bob McGuire
McGuire of the Mounted
The Author / Horace Lee
The Iced Bullet
Tom Marshall
The Child Thou Gavest Me
William Desmond
Hello, 'Frisco
Allen
Savage Fury
Happy - Bartender
Powdersmoke Range
Tourist
Where Did You Get That Girl?
Jack Blaisdel
Outwitted
Sky Parker
Ridin' Pretty
Rex Brandon
Barriers of the Law
Larry Lang
A Sage Brush Hamlet
A Gamble in Souls
Showboat Customer (uncredited)
The Naughty Nineties
Winthrop Lane / The Mystery Rider
The Mystery Rider
Rev. Donald Bruce
Peggy
'Cash' Horton (as Wm. Desmond)
The Way of the West
Bob Meredith
Kilmeny
Bruce Smithson
The Dawn Maker
Gendarme Chief (uncredited)
Naughty Marietta
Happy Hobo
The Sunset Trail
Jackson Morgan Kent
The Majesty of the Law
Backstage Technician (Uncredited)
The Climax
Jim Parker
The Roaring West
Self
Night Life in Hollywood
Peanut Vendor (uncredited)
Strange Confession
Prof. Thompson
Perils of Pauline
Spectator at Country Dance (Uncredited)
The Egg and I
Lacy
Oklahoma Jim
Townsman (uncredited)
Thunder Mountain
The Actor
The Marriage Bubble
Billy Carson
The Breathless Moment
David Hunter
Women Men Love
Dave Moran
Clancy of the Mounted
Brent Brewster
Flying Colors
Married in Name Only
Dan Harvey
The Ace of Spades
John Fairmeadow
The Measure of a Man
'Bare-Fisted' Gallagher
Bare-Fisted Gallagher
Prince Carl
Bullets and Brown Eyes
Chief John Nisheto
Red Clay
Passenger (uncredited)
Hi, Beautiful
Dan Burke
The Mints of Hell
Garry Garrity
The Sudden Gentleman
Paddy O'Hara
Paddy O'Hara
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
127
Gender
Male
Birthday
1878-01-23
Place of Birth
Horseheads, New York, USA
Also Known As
William Mannion