Fred Niblo (1874-1948), whose real life name was Frederick Liedtke, was an American actor and film director who developed remarkable silent films including the epic story 'Ben-Hur.'

Fred Niblo was born on January 6, 1874 in York, Nebraska. His mother was French and his father served as a captain during the the American Civil War and was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Fred’s film career started with a passion for film editing that steered him to Broadway where he met and married Josephine Cohan in 1901. Josephine was a talented Broadway actress and is the older sister of legendary American entertainer George M. Cohan who is regarded as the father of American musical comedy.

Josephine died in 1916 and that same year, Fred began his acting career using the stage name Fred Niblo. Their son, Fred Niblo Jr. (1903-1972), would later become a successful Hollywood screenwriter.

Fred was seventy-four when he died of pneumonia on November 11, 1948 in New Orleans, Louisiana. His body is buried at Forrest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Career Years

For twenty years, Fred Niblo traveled the world participating in vaudeville as well as acting in several small theater productions. In 1916, he decided to try his luck in the field of directing and his first silent film, 'Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford,' was filmed in Australia. The film was released on January 31st of that year.

His second effort was a 40-minute silent film entitled 'Officer 666.' In this movie, Niblo appeared with two of the top talents of the time, Enid Bennet (who would become his second wife) and her brother, George Bryant. The movie was a comedy and its original script is preserved at the National Screen and Sound Archive in Canberra, Australia.

As his Hollywood journey continued, Fred worked on several significant films such as 'The Mask of Zorro' (1920) and 'The Three Musketeers' (1921) both starring Douglas Fairbanks. He also directed, what many feel is the greatest silent screen epic of all time, 'Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ' in 1925. This motion picture, which had a running time of one hundred forty-three minutes and was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, was hailed as one of the most expensive films of its time. The movie is about the inspiring and fascinating life of Ben-Hur and his deceiving Roman Centurion friend, Messala. Ben-Hur was portrayed by Ramon Novarro with Francis X. Bushman as Messala.

Fred Niblo also had the good fortune to team up with two more giants of film industry, John Gilbert and Renée Adorée, in the 1930’s classic 'Redemption.'

As one of the more notable directors in the movie industry, Fred founded the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and directed his last picture 'Diamond Cut Diamond,' in 1932. With at least sixty films under his belt, he retired the next year.

Fred Niblo had made his mark on the film industry. His many significant contributions guaranteed his place in Hollywood history.