James Cruze

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Actor | Director Born James Cruze Bosen on March 27, 1884 in Ogden, UT

James Cruze was one of the outstanding directors of the silent era, best known for "The Covered Wagon."

The 1923 film was a sprawling epic about the settling of the Wild West in the late 19th century that was shot on location in Utah and Nevada with a cast of thousands. Cruze's sagebrush saga was the second film to play at the newly opened Egyptian Theatre.

Cruze's name always was synonymous with Hollywood. He played in films as an actor and then as a director made hit after hit and brought many an actor and actress fame in the cinema.

Numbered also among the many pictures that linger in the minds of theatergoers was "Old Ironsides." The picture was made off Santa Catalina Island in 1925, and during its filming one man was killed and four were injured in a dynamite explosion.

— Los Angeles Times Aug. 5, 1942