[6] He toured and traveled extensively while trying to make a name for himself as an actor, and for a time directed shows at the Asheville Opera House in North Carolina, around the year 1900.

He had some success as a Shakespearean actor on Broadway, working with Margaret Mather and other stars; he appeared in the original 1899 stage production of Ben-Hur.

His family had moved to Asheville but, after his youngest sister Lotta died of typhoid fever in 1901, they all left together for Brooklyn until William went back on tour.

They knew a Bill Hart film from a Broncho Billy through the integration of landscape and action, the characteristic dilemmas of the protagonists and the gritty realism of the studio interiors.

Fascinated by the Old West, he acquired Billy the Kid's "six shooters" and was a friend of legendary lawmen Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson.

His films are noted for their authentic costumes and props, as well as Hart's acting ability, honed on Shakespearean theater stages in the United States and England.

The film was made in New Orleans, and was a departure from Hart's usual roles, as he played a lumberman who was informed he'd inherited a shop selling ladies clothing.

[11] In 1921, Hollywood comic actor Roscoe Arbuckle was charged with rape and manslaughter in the death of aspiring actress Virginia Rappe.

Arbuckle, who was eventually acquitted but saw his career ruined, later wrote a premise for a film parodying Hart as a thief, bully and wife beater, and it was bought by Buster Keaton.

[12][13] By the early 1920s, Hart's brand of gritty, rugged Westerns with drab costumes and moralistic themes gradually fell out of fashion.

The public became attracted by a new kind of movie cowboy, epitomized by Tom Mix, who wore flashier costumes and was involved in more action scenes.

After Tumbleweeds, Hart retired to his Newhall, California, ranch home, "La Loma de los Vientos", which was designed by architect Arthur R. Kelly.

The "Range Rider of the Yellowstone," a statue commissioned by Hart and modeled from life, stands on the Rimrocks in front of the airport at Billings, Montana.

[21] On November 10, 1962, Hart was honored posthumously in an episode of The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show, a short-lived western variety program on ABC.

[23] His former home in Newhall, Santa Clarita, California, has become a satellite of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and is free and open to the public.

[24] The home is a Spanish Colonial Revival style mansion and contains many of the movie star's possessions including Native American artifacts and works by artists Charles Marion Russell, James Montgomery Flagg, and Joe de Yong.

[24] The Museum is an important part of Hart's legacy as he said before he died: "When I was making pictures, the people gave me their nickels, dimes, and quarters.