I was wrapping up a feature story on the history of the Haddock family when William F. Haddock popped up. Born in Portsmouth, NH, “Silent Bill” was a silent film director. He’s known, but rarely, for being the first director to make a movie about the 1836 Battle of the Alamo. That was in 1911. Unfortunately, the film is lost; only a few still images remain.
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Born in 1877, Haddock is credited with a dozen films. His 10-minute short, The Immortal Alamo, was reportedly shot on location in Texas. True to the era, it was an imagined romance story, set against an historical event. It was produced by Gaston Méliès, the brother of French filmmaker George Méliès, a special effects pioneer known for works like A Trip to the Moon (1902).
Details are scarce, and Haddock’s life story is awaiting a willing biographer. We know has father, William, was from Newbury, MA and his mother, Abigail, was from Kittery, ME. Film director Haddock married Rose Viola Koch in 1912 and their only child was a daughter named Elinor.
William Haddock saw himself primarily as an actor and appeared in dozens of films, all of which are listed in an extensive filmography by “The Silent Forgotten,” a film researcher, on the Find-A-Grave website. In a 1914 newspaper article, Haddock declared that he and other actors were ready to fight in the newly declared World War I. His biographer, however, notes that Haddock was drafted but never served. William Frederick Haddock died in New York City in 1969 at age 91.
Did he return to Portsmouth, a city with five thriving silent cinemas downtown? Did his films screened here? William’s mother (died 1916) and father (died 1928) are buried locally in Harmony Grove Cemetery. The research has just begun; enquiring minds want to know.
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