1878 - 1949

Begonnen hatte er als Darsteller beim Vaudeville und auf der Bühne. Später betrieb er sein eigenes Theaterensemble.

1915 feierte er sein Filmdebüt mit "Kilmeny" (15) und innerhalb weniger Jahre avancierte er zu einem populären Darsteller und Action- und vor allem Westernfilmen.

Zu seinen weiteren Filmen der 10er Jahre gehören u.a. "Peer Gynt" (15), "The Waifs" (16), "The Criminal" (16), "The Last of the Ingrams" (17), "Fighting Back" (17), "Captain of His Soul" (18), "The Sea Panther" (18), "Hell's End" (18), "The Pretender" (18), "Her Code of Honor" (19) und "Dangerous Waters" (19).

In den 20er Jahren konnte er nochmals grössere Rollen in einer Vielzahl von Produktionen verkörpern, darunter in "A Broadway Cowboy" (20), "Dangerous Toys" (21), "Perils of the Yukon" (22), "Around the World in Eighteen Days" (23), "The Breathless Moment" (24), "The Sunset Trail" (24), "Ace of Spies" (25), "Blood and Steel" (25), "Tongues of Scandal" (27), "The Return of the Riddle Rider" (27), "The Mystery Rider" (28) und "No Defense" (29)

Mit dem Tonfilm der 30er Jahre wurden seine Rollen kleiner, dennoch konnte er weiterhin in zahlreichen Filmen mitwirken - oftmals in der Rolle des Sheriffs oder eines Offiziers.

Zu seinen bekannteste Arbeiten dieser Jahre zählen "The Phantom of the West" (31), "Oklahoma Jim" (31), "Battling with Buffalo Bill" (31), "The Black Ghost" (32), "The Jungle Mystery" (32), "The Three Musketeers" (33), "The Perils of Pauline" (33), "Pirate Treasure" (34), "The Way of the West" (34), "Born to Battle" (35), "Nevada" (35), "Flash Gordon" (36), "The Black Coin" (36), "Arizona Days" (37) und "Man of Conquest" (39).

Auch in seinen letzten Lebensjahren blieb seine Schaffenskraft ungebrochen und er war bis kurz vor seinem Tod aktiv vor der Kamera - auch hier meist in Western-Filmen.
Zu seinen letzten Filmen gehören "Junior G-Men" (40), "Sky Raiders" (41), "Raiders of the West" (42), "Sin Town" (42), "The Lone Star Trail" (43), "Phantom of the Opera" (43), "Tall in the Saddle" (44), "The Return of Durango Kid" (45), "Code of the West" (47), "Relentless" (48) und "Are You with It?" (48).
 

Weitere Filme mit William Desmond:
The Majesty of the Law (15) Peggy (16) Bullets and Brown Eyes (16) Not my Sister (16) The Sorrows of Love (16) The Captive God (16) The Payment (16) Lieutenant Danny, U.S.A. (16) The Dawn Maker (16) A Gamble in Souls (16) The Iced Bullet (17) Blood Will Tell (17) Paddy O'Hara (17) Paws of the Bear (17) Time Locks and Diamonds (17) Master of His Home (17) Flying Colors (17) The Sudden Gentleman (17) The Marriage Bubble (18) Society for Sale (18) An Honest Man (18) Old Hartwell's Cub (18) Closin' In (18) Beyond the Shadows (18) Wild Life (18) Deuce Duncan (18) Life's a Funny Proposition (19) The Prodigal Liar (19) Whitewashed Walls (19) The Mints of Hell (19) Bare-Fisted Gallagher (19) A Sagebrush Hamlet (19) The Blue Bandanna (19) The Prince and Betty (19) Women Men Love (20) Twin Beds (20) The Parish Priest (20) Don't Leave Your Husband (21) The Child Thou Gavest Me (21) The Policeman and the Baby (21) Fightin' Mad (21) The Phantom Fortune (23) McGuire of the Mounted (23) Shadows of the North (23) Beasts of Paradise (23) Big Timber (24) The Measure of a Man (24) The Riddle Rider (24) Outwitted (25) Ridin' Pretty (25) Barriers of the Law (25) Duped (25) Straight Through (25) The Burning Trail (25) The Meddler (25) The Ace of Spades (25) The Winking Idol (26) Strings of Steel (26) Finger Prints (27) Red Clay (27) The Vanishing Rider (28) The Devil's Trademark (28) Murder on the Roof (30) The Vanishing Legion (31) First Aid (31) Hell Bent for Frisco (31) The Lightining Warrior (31) Heroes of the West (32) The Last Frontier (32) A Scarlet Week-End (32) The Devil Horse (32) Clancy of the Mounted (33) Rustlers' Roundup (33) Phantom of the Air (33) Laughing at Life (33) Gordon of Ghost City (33) Mr. Broadway (33) Strawberry Roan (33) Fargo Express (33) The Rawhide Terror (34) Border Guns (34) The Vanishing Shadow (34) Crack-Up (34) I Can't Escape (34) The Red Rider (34) Death Fangs (34) Tailspin Tommy (34) Frontier Days (34) Gunfire (34) When Lightning Strikes (34) Timber Terrors (35) The Phantom Cowboy (35) Rough Riding Ranger (35) The Rustlers of Red Dog (35) Five Bad Men (35) Defying the Law (35) Wild Waters (35) Naughty Marietta (35) Devil's Canyon (35) The Cowboy and the Bandit (35) Cyclone of the Saddle (35) The Call of the Savage (35) The Tia Juana Kid (35) The Ghost Rider (35) Social Error (35) The Roaring West (35) Trails of the Wild (35) Powdersmoke Range (35) Courage of the North (35) Tailspin Tommy in The Great Air Mystery (35) Frisco Kid (35) Custer's Last Stand (36) The Broken Coin (36) The Adventures of Frank Merriwell (36) Song of the Saddle (36) The Amazing Exploits of the Clutching Hand (36) Treachery Rides the Range (36) Hollywood Boulevard (36) The Vigilantes Are Coming (36) Cavalry (36) Song of the Gringo (36) Headin' for the Rio Grande (36) The Mysterious Pilot (37) Tim Tyler's Luck (37) Winners of the West (40) The Boys from Syracuse (40) A Little Bit of Heaven (40) Where Did You Get That Girl? (41) Nice Girl? (41) Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie (41) Don Winslow of the Navy (42) Stagecoach Buckaroo (42) Gang Busters (42) Down Rio Grande Way (42) Junior G-Men of the Air (42) The Silver Bullet (42) Overland Mail (42) Cheyenne Roundup (43) Prairie Chickens (43) Frontier Fury (43) Frontier Badmen (43) Thank Your Lucky Stars (43) Marshal of Gunsmoke (44) Oklahoma Raiders (44) The Scarlet Calw (44) The Yellow Rose of Texas (44) National Barn Dance (44) The Climax (44) Bowery to Broadway (44) The Old Texas Trail (44) Firebrands of Arizona (44) Beyond the Pecos (45) See My Lawyer (45) Song of the Sarong (45) The Naughty Nineties (45) That Night with You (45) The Royal Mounted Rides Again (45) Frontier Gal (459 The Scarlet Horseman (46) The Michigan Kid (47) The Egg and I (47)

Produzent: 
Fightin' Mad (21)