Rupert Julian (born Thomas Percival Hayes; 25 January 1879 – 27 December 1943[1]) was a New Zealand cinema actor, director, writer and producer.

He volunteered to serve in the British army during the Boer War, and during his two years' service he was captured twice.

[4] He performed on stage in his native country and Australia before emigrating to the United States in 1911, where he started his career as an actor at the Daly Theatre in New York[citation needed] and touring with Tyrone Power, Sr.,[5] and then worked in silent movies.

This made him a star in Hollywood at the time and opened doors to larger projects with Universal Studios.

Julian moved to Cecil B. DeMille's Producers Distributing Corporation for a series of films, but after directing The Cat Creeps and Love Comes Along (both in 1930), his career faded.