Career Highlights: The Woman, The King of Kings, Love Hungry
First Major Screen Credit: Where the Trail Divides (1914)
Biography
A dignified stage actor who had earned accolades for The Senator, a play apparently written especially for him, James Neill entered films in the early 1910s with the pioneering Jesse J. Lasky Company (later Paramount). A top supporting actor in the early silent era, Neill portrayed Louis XIII to Murdock MacQuarrie's Richelieu (1914), played General Warren in the first version of William de Mille's The Warrens of Virginia (1915), was Aaron in The Ten Commandments (1923), and played Bessie Love's father in The Idle Rich (1929). The husband of character actress Edythe Chapman (1863-1948), James Neill died of heart disease. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
James Neill (29 September 1860 – 16 March 1931) was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 113 films between 1913 and 1930. He was buried in Savannah's Bonaventure Cemetery. His wife, and frequent costar on stage and screen, was Edythe Chapman. In 1902 the couple starred on Broadway in the play The Red Knight. Neill is not to be confused with James O'Neill, the actor of Monte Cristo fame and father of playwright Eugene O'Neill.