William V. Ranous (March 12, 1857 – April 1, 1915) was an American silent film actor and director and Shakespearean stage actor.
William V. Ranous was born in New York State on March 12, 1857.
[citation needed] He married writer and translator Dora Knowlton on May 28, 1881;[1] he later married actress Inez Marcel.
He was the first director at Vitagraph Studios[2] and also directed Hiawatha (1909), the first film produced by Carl Laemmle's Independent Moving Pictures Company.
[3] On Broadway, Ranous appeared in Quo Vadis (1900) and Romeo and Juliet (1903).