Motion Picture Director, Actor, Film Industry Pioneer. He is recognized as a pioneer in the Hollywood film industry, debuting in 1914 as an actor before gaining fame as a 52-year-career director. He gained recognition being a producer and screenwriter. In 1915, he had the role of John Wilkes Booth in the silent film "The Birth of a Nation," and in the same film, he was assistant director to D.W. Griffith. Starting about 1913, Griffith became his mentor. As a director, his first feature-length film was "The Regeneration" in 1915, which he was also credited as screenwriter. He was often "uncredited" for his screenwriting. During World War I (WWI), he served as an officer in the United States Army. While filming the 1928 Academy Award-nominated film, "In Old Arizona," he was in an auto accident, losing his right eye. After the accident, he worn a patch over the eye the rest of his life, ending his acting career but continuing as a prolific film director. He directed John Wayne in his debut film, "The Big Trail' in 1930. After leaving Paramount Pictures in 1939, his career bloomed at Warner Brothers Studios with the film "The Roaring Twenties." He is credited with directing at least 69 films with sound, the most being with Warner Bros. Pictures. His films include "High Sierra" in 1941, "White Heat" in 1949," and "Distant Drums" in 1951, which was his last Warner Brothers film. In the 1950s, he freelanced, making his next seven films at five different studios, including Universal Studios' "The World in His Arms" in 1952, RKO's "Sea Devils" in 1953 and "Metro-Golden-Mayer's "Battle Cry" in 1955, which he is credited as co-producer. In 1927, he was one of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) with the first Academy Award (Oscar) being presented in 1929. Although he received awards from film festivals for "Best Director," he never was nominated for an Academy Award, yet ten of his films that he directed received Oscar nominations for "Best Picture." Born one of four sons as Albert Edward Walsh, he changed his name to Raoul Walsh in 1913. His two-year-younger brother, George Walsh was a silent film actor. After attending Seton Hall University, a Roman Catholic college, he traveled to Texas for various jobs before performing first on stage in 1907 in San Antonio. He began acting on the stage in New York City in 1909, which led him to film opportunities within five years. He and his brother, George, were successfully invested in horse racing. He died of a heart attack. He was married three times and divorced twice. His first wife was Miriam Cooper, an actress, who starred with him in "The Birth of a Nation." The couple married in February of 1916, divorced in 1926, and Cooper never remarried. In 1960, he was honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6135 Hollywood Blvd. Walsh's autobiography, "Each Man in His Time," was published in 1974.