Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

Hollywood Power Couples

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

"The Gentlemen" and "Slow Horses" return this fall, while the "Reacher" spin-off series "Neagley" makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Streaming Stars, Then and Now

Francis Boggs is an obscure figure in the history of cinema, but an important one. It was he who brought the movies to Los Angeles in 1909 when he established a permanent L. A. film studio for the Chicago-based Selig Polyscope Company. In a four-year film career he wrote and directed nearly 200 one-reel films. Today only three are known to survive. He was also the first victim of movieland murder. Boggs was an actor, who toured mining towns in California and finally in Chicago, where he became associated with former magician and minstrel-show operator William Nicholas Selig in filmmaking. He returned to California to shoot the climactic scenes of The Count of Monte Cristo (1908) and ended up playing the lead role as well. He set up Selig's Los Angeles operation in 1909. In 1911 he was shot and killed by a mentally disturbed employee (the attack also wounded Selig) and was soon forgotten, his work eventually crumbling to dust. But Francis Boggs is as much, if not more, responsible for establishing the American film industry in California as any of the more well-known film pioneers.

On October 27, 1911, Boggs was with producer <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0783152/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">William Nicholas Selig</a> when they were attacked by a mentally disturbed ex-employee - a Japanese gardener who Boggs had recently fired - who shot both men. Selig was seriously wounded and Boggs was killed.

Trivia

Francis Boggs

Contribute to this page

More from this person

More to explore

Recently viewed