French postcard by Edition Pathé Frères. Caption:
M. William Gavanaugh.
William Cavanaugh (1874-1936), misspelt on this card as Gavanaugh, was an American actor, who in the early 1910s played at the American studio of Pathé Frères in Fort Lee, New Jersey. However, compared to existing photos on IMDB, e.g.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0233435/mediaviewer/rm2325929984, I would not be surprised if the man on this card is
James Young Deer (1876-1946), whose ancestry is of the Nanticoke people of Delaware, and who became an early film actor, director, writer, and producer. Young Deer is believed to be the first Native American filmmaker/ producer in Hollywood. After Pathé was criticized for its lack of realism in its Eastcoast westerns, Young Deer was sent to Edendale, Los Angeles, to make Indian-themed films there. According to English Wikipedia, Young Deer acted in, wrote, or directed approximately 150 silent movies at Pathé's West Coast Studio. Young Deer eventually ran the company's West Coast Studio operations in Edendale. His wife Red Wing acted in many of his films.
Update 26 March 2023:
Marlene Pilaete: "You will soon (24 April 2023) read in my post on EFSP why Young Deer cannot be called a Native American filmmaker/producer. I don’t know why several websites still call him Native American. I assume they don’t know his family history, which was complex and fascinating. By calling him Native American, they totally erase an important and very large part of his ancestry." Link:
filmstarpostcards.blogspot.com/2023/04/la-collectionneuse...
