Dustin Farnum
Dustin Lancy Farnum (May 27, 1874 – July 3, 1929) was an American singer, dancer, and actor on the stage and in silent films. Although he played a wide variety of roles, he tended toward westerns and became one of the bigger stars of the genre. He has been called ""the Clark Gable of the silent screen".
Also recorded as Dustin Lancy Farnum
Dustin Farnum
Film World Publishing Co Permission (Reusing this file) See below. · Who's Who in the Film World: edited by Fred C. Justice, Tom R. Smith · Public domain
- Name
- Dustin Farnum
- Birth Name
- Dustin Lancy Farnum
- Born
- 27 May 1874
- Birthplace
- Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, U.S.
- Died
- 3 July 1929
- Place of death
- New York City, U.S.
- Occupation
- Silent film actor, singer, vaudeville performer
- Full name
- Dustin Lancy Farnum.
- Nationality
- United States.
- Honours
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- Languages
- English.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Dustin Lancy Farnum (May 27, 1874 – July 3, 1929) was an American singer, dancer, and actor on the stage and in silent films. Although he played a wide variety of roles, he tended toward westerns and became one of the bigger stars of the genre. He has been called ""the Clark Gable of the silent screen".
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Note VALÉORINE
Dustin Farnum (1874–1929) was an actor, film actor and singer, among other activities, of American nationality. The actor was born Dustin Lancy Farnum in Rockingham County and died in Manhattan.
Languages used include English. Honours include star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q1267709 · wikipedia · Dustin Farnum
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Dustin Farnum • Birth Name — Dustin Lancy Farnum • Born — 27 May 1874 • Birthplace — Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, U.S. • Died — 3 July 1929 • Place of death — New York City, U.S. • Occupation — Silent film actor, singer, vaudeville performer • Years Active — 1914–1926 • Family — William Farnum (brother) Marshall Farnum (brother)
Early life and education
Early life and education
He was born the eldest of three boys on May 27, 1874, in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, the older brother of actor William Farnum, whom he closely resembled, and the lesser known silent film director Marshall Farnum (died 1917). He married Mary Cromwell in 1909, and they divorced in 1924. He then married Winifred Kingston; they were the parents of radio actress Estelle "Dustine" Runyon (1925–1983).
Career
Career
After great success in a number of stage roles, Farnum landed his first film role in 1914 in the movie Soldiers of Fortune, and later in Cecil B. DeMille's The Squaw Man.
Death
Death
He died of kidney failure on July 3, 1929, at Post Graduate Hospital (now NYU Langone Health) in Manhattan, aged 55.
Filmography
Filmography
• Soldiers of Fortune (1914) • The Squaw Man (1914) • The Lightning Conductor (1914) • The Virginian (1914) • When We Were Young (1914) • Cameo Kirby (1914) • Captain Courtesy (1915) • The Iron Strain (1916) • The Gentleman from Indiana (1916) • The Call of the Cumberlands (1916) • Ben Blair (1916) • David Garrick (1916) • Davy Crockett (1916) • The Parson of Panamint (1916) • The Intrigue (1916) • A Son of Erin (1916) • Durand of the Bad Lands (1917) • The Spy (1917) • North of Fifty Three (1917) • The Scarlet Pimpernel (1917) • Ready Money Ringfield (1918) • The Light of Western Stars (1918) • A Man in the Open (1919) • A Man's Fight (1919) • The Corsican Brothers (1920) • Big Happiness (1921) • The Primal Law (1921) • The Devil Within (1921) • Iron to Gold (1922) • Strange Idols (1922) • Oath-Bound (1922) • Trail of the Axe (1922) • The Yosemite Trail (1922) • While Justice Waits (1922) • Three Who Paid (1923) • The Buster (1923) • Bucking the Barrier (1923) • The Man Who Won (1923) • The Grail (1923) • Kentucky Days (1923) • My Man (1924) • The Flaming Frontier (1926)
Broadway plays
Broadway plays
• A Romance of Athlone (January 29, 1900 – March 3, 1900) • Marcelle (October 1900) • More Than Queen (October 30, 1900 – November 1900) • The Virginian (Boston October 1903, New York January 5, 1904 – May 1904) • The Ranger (September 1907) • The Rector's Garden (March 1908) • Cameo Kirby (December 20, 1909 – January 1910) • The Silent Call (January 1911) • The Squaw Man (January 9, 1911 – January 17, 1911) • The Littlest Rebel (November 14, 1911 – January 1912) • Arizona (April 28, 1913 – June 1913)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1929
Dustin Farnum died.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Rockingham County.
Birth place
Manhattan.
Death place
Legacy
According to an interview in the April 1975 edition of Playboy, Dustin Hoffman was named after Farnum. Additionally, according to an interview on January 16, 2013, on Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR, Hoffman said his parents were expecting him to be a girl and did not have a boy's name ready. When his mother did have another boy, and was pressured to give him a name, she picked the name Dustin from a magazine the other lady in her room was reading, which featured Dustin Farnum on the cover.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Dustin Farnum”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1267709: Dustin Farnum
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
scholarly publication
- Farnum, Dustin Lancy (1874-1929), actor, American National Biography Online, 2000
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2000
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Johnson, Erskine. In Hollywood. The Whittier News. July 31, 1944.
- 2.Dustin Farnum To Marry. Has Taken Out License to Wed Mary Conwell, His Leading Woman. The New York Times. March 9, 1909.
- 3.Dustin Farnum Gets a Divorce. The New York Times. August 20, 1924.
- 4.Soldiers of Fortune. American Film Institute.
- 5.The Squaw Man. American Film Institute.
- 6.Dustin Farnum Dies After Long Illness. Stage and Screen Star, 55, Was Born in Hampton Beach, Me., of Theatrical Parents. Debut in Stock In 1897. He Scored First Big Success in 'The Virginian'. With Brother William in 'The Littlest Rebel'. The New York Times. July 5, 1929.
- 7.'Quartet': Dustin Hoffman, Behind the Camera. NPR.
References
Citations
References
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scholarly publication
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
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