Collier ran away from home when only 11 years old to join a touring company run by Eddie Foy and in 1879 he appeared as a juvenile in H.M.S.

[2] After a notable stage career, he tried motion pictures, under producer Mack Sennett.

In 1910 he appeared at the Elitch Theatre in Denver, Colorado, while his adopted son, stage named William Collier Jr., was recovering from scarlet fever that was followed by typhoid.

'"[3] He was married to the actress Louise Allen; she died in 1909 and he married Paula Marr the following year, adopting her son Charles, whom he renamed William Collier Jr. On Broadway he starred as the gambler Gideon Holtz in Rudolf Friml's The Wild Rose at the Martin Beck Theatre in 1926.

[5] He was interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.