BIO

William Austin was born in Georgetown, Guyana in 1884.   His father owned a sugar plantation.   After completing his schooling in England, Austin worked in China before being posted to San Francisco, California.

He began acting on the stage and made his silent film debut for Sidney Reynolds in 1920 at the age of 36.   He soon became a sought after character actor and easily made the transition to sound in the late 1920s.

Austin appeared in more than 85 feature films before retiring in 1947.

His brother was the comedic actor and director Albert Austin (1881-1953).

Austin died in Newport Beach, California, in 1975, at the age of 91.

Additional Broadway stage history is available at:

Additional biographical information is available at:

NOTED FILMS