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William A. Seiter

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William A. Seiter (b. June 10, 1890-1892 in New York City, New York – d. June 26, 1964 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California) was a movie director, producer, and writer.

When living, Seiter was known to be a man of enormous appetites who preferred his leisure activities to filmmaking. When it comes to moviemaking, Seiter was easygoing during his movies, either directing or producing. After high school, Seiter joined the Hudson River Military Academy. After that Seiter then broke into films as an actor by working for filmmaker legend, Mack Sennett. He then made his directorial debut in 1915, and remained as a movie director until his retirement in 1954 and went until television for a brief period. While at Universal in the mid-1920s, Seiter was the principal director of the popular movies, featuring Reginald Denny, which the majority of them co-starred Seiter's then-wife Laura La Plante.

When the early talkie era became a boom of the late 1920s and early 1930s, Seiter helped nurture the talents of legendary comedy duo Wheeler and Woolsey, now Seiter is working for RKO, in such rollicking features as Caught Plasterd in 1931 and Diplomaniacs in 1933. He then proved to be the perfect director for another legendary comedy team, Laurel and Hardy, guiding them through their best and memorable feature, Sons of the Desert. Seiter also worked with many big name stars during his long career. Names like Shirley Temple, Fred Astaire, Henry Fonda, Margaret Sullavan, Jack Haley, Deanna Durbin, Jean Arthur, John Wayne, Fred MacMurray, Lucille Ball, The Marx Brothers and many others. While many of his films were minor gems, Seiter was also capable of turning out a clinker; if, for example, he ran into friction from his star, as was the case with Lou Costello in 1946's Little Giant, Seiter would get even by adhering religiously to the script, refusing to add any nuance or creativity to the project. This time of pettiness may have been the reason that one prominent actress, who is not named, of the 1930s referred to Seiter as the most unimaginative director she'd ever worked with.

Seiter functioned as both producer and director on his final four films. And later retired and after a brief period of being a television director. In 1964, he died of a heart attack.

For his contributions on movies, he received a "Star" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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