William Hauber
William Carl Hauber (May 20, 1891 – July 17, 1929) was an American silent film actor and much-in-demand stunt performer, known as one of the original Keystone Cops, and for his decade-long association with comic actor Larry Semon, both as a supporting player and as the star's frequent stunt double. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1913 and 1928.
William Hauber

Larry Semon · Screenshot · Public domain
- Name
- William Hauber
- Birth Name
- William Carl Hauber
- Born
- 20 May 1891
- Birthplace
- Brownsville, Minnesota, US
- Died
- 17 July 1929
- Place of death
- Reseda, California, US
- Occupation
- Film actor, stunt performer
- Spouse
- Myrtle Crosswaite (m. 1914)
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
William Carl Hauber (May 20, 1891 – July 17, 1929) was an American silent film actor and much-in-demand stunt performer, known as one of the original Keystone Cops, and for his decade-long association with comic actor Larry Semon, both as a supporting player and as the star's frequent stunt double. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1913 and 1928.
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William Hauber (1891–1929) was an American actor. Born in Brownsville, the actor died in California. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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wikidata · Q3568687 · wikipedia · William Hauber
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — William Hauber • Other Names — Bill Hauber • Birth Name — William Carl Hauber • Born — 20 May 1891 • Birthplace — Brownsville, Minnesota, US • Died — 17 July 1929 • Place of death — Reseda, California, US • Occupation — Film actor, stunt performer • Years Active — 1913–1928 • Spouse — Myrtle Crosswaite (m. 1914) • Children — 1
Early life and career
Early life and career
Born and raised in Brownsville, Minnesota, Hauber was one of six children born to German-American parents, Florian Hauber and Katherine Breiner. 1n 1916, Hauber was featured alongside his fellow Keystone alumnus, Anna Luther, in the Fox Film short, Her Father's Station. In November 1919, The Motion Picture News reported that, in a soon-to-be-released Larry Semon film, Hauber and an athletic troupe dubbed the Mazetta Brothers were—with the aid of a rock crusher "in the vicinity of" Monrovia, California—"do[ing] the best work of their film careers in the matter of jumps and falls." Hauber's final credited screen appearance came in 1928, as Quint in the early talkie, The Midnight Taxi, amidst an "all-star cast" headed by Antonio Moreno and Helene Costello, and featuring, among others, Myrna Loy, William Russell, and Tommy Dugan.
Personal life and death
Personal life and death
From April 28, 1914 until his death, Hauber was married to Myrtle Crosthwaite (older sister of Keystone actress/diver Ivy Crosthwaite), with whom he had one child, a son, William Carl Hauber Jr. On July 17, 1929, Hauber, while scouting locations for an aerial stunt to be performed the following day for the film, The Aviator, died in an airplane crash when the pilot, cinematographer Alvin Knechtel, suddenly lost consciousness, and the plane crashed, nose down, in a barley field near Reseda, California, approximately two miles from Metropolitan Airport in Van Nuys. Hauber was survived by his wife and son. He is buried in Forest Lawn in Glendale, California. Roughly eight decades later, Hauber was dubbed by film historian Brent Walker "probably the greatest stuntman ever to work at Keystone—and perhaps the greatest in all silent comedy.".
Selected filmography
Selected filmography
• That Ragtime Band (1913) • Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life (1913) • Fatty's Flirtation (1913) • A Flirt's Mistake (1914) • Mabel at the Wheel (1914) • Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914) • Love, Loot and Crash (1915) • His Bitter Pill (1916) • Huns and Hyphens (1918) • Bears and Bad Men (1918) • Frauds and Frenzies (1918) • Dull Care (1919) • The Stage Hand (1920) • The Bakery (1921) • The Rent Collector (1921) • The Fall Guy (1921) • The Bell Hop (1921) • The Sawmill (1922) • The Show (1922) • A Pair of Kings (1922) • Golf (1922) • The Agent (1922) • The Counter Jumper (1922) • The Barnyard (1923) • The Midnight Cabaret (1923) • The Gown Shop (1923) • Lightning Love (1923) • Trouble Brewing (1924) • Her Boy Friend (1924) • Kid Speed (1924) • The Midnight Taxi (1928)

William Hauber (left) in Frauds and Frenzies (1918).
Larry Semon · Screenshot

(R to L) William Hauber, and Larry Semon in Frauds and Frenzies (1918).
Larry Semon · Youtube
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.
Brownsville.
Birth place
California.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “William Hauber”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3568687: William Hauber
General reference · Wikidata
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.Walker, Brent (2010). Mack Sennett's Fun Factory : A history and filmography of his studio and his Keystone and Mack Sennett comedies, with biographies of players and personnel. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 512. .
- 2."Two Die After Pilot Faints (Continued from first page)". The Los Angeles Times. pt. II, p. 2. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
- 3.Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. 324. September 5, 2016. 978-0-7864-7992-4.
- 4."United States Census, 1900", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9S8-F6P : Tue Aug 13 11:51:22 UTC 2024), Entry for Florian C Hauber and Katherine Hauber, 1900.
- 5."William C. Hauber, Brownsville, Movie Stunt Man, Dead". La Crosse Tribune. July 19, 1926. p. 6. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
- 6."California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP7T-DT2Y : Sun Mar 10 18:31:39 UTC 2024), Entry for William C Hauber and Florian Hauber, 17 July 1929.
- 7."Doings at Vitagraph Plant". Motion Picture News. November 15, 1919. Volume 20, No. 21. p. 3626. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
- 8."'The Midnight Taxi,' With Sound, Comes to the Brooklyn Strand". The Brooklyn Daily Times. November 4, 1928. p. 4B. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
- 9."Vital Statistics—Deaths, Births, Marriages: Marriage Certificates". Los Angeles Evening Express. April 27, 1914. p. 17. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
- 10."Vital Record: Deaths". The Los Angeles Times. April 27, 1914. p. 20. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
- 11."Camera and Stunt Men Killed in Plane Crash". Variety. July 24, 1929. p. 6. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
- 12."Two Movie Men Killed While Preparing Sky Stunt". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. July 18, 1929. p. 6. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
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General reference
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 19 August 2026.
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