Dunbar was a prominent actor in American and British silent films, particularly in westerns,[1] but switched to playing more minor roles after the arrival of sound.
He was one of the first film actors beginning his screen career with Pathe Freres, Paris in 1910.
On 7 March 1926 his wife Blanche was killed in a car collision in the Hollywood Hills.
He had one sister, Miriam Kathleen (Strachan) Dunbar who remained in Petersham, New South Wales.
William James (Bill) returned from the Second World War to Australia and settled with his wife Barbara (Grant) Strachan in Sydney and later in Melbourne, Victoria, bringing up three children, Susan Marion, William Grant and Scott James Strachan.