Lester H. Cuneo (October 25, 1888 – November 1, 1925) was an American stage and silent film actor. He began acting in theatre while still in his teens. His name remains associated with the history of Western film.

Early years

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Cuneo attended Culver Military Academy, and he was a law student at Northwestern University when he turned to acting.

Career

Cuneo's stage career included work with stock theater companies in Brooklyn, Chicago, and Winnepeg. Cuneo began a film career in 1912 with the Chicago-based Selig Polyscope Company then joined Essanay Studios in 1914. Working in early Hollywood, his popularity increased after he switched from comedic roles to the increasingly popular western film genre. However, his career was interrupted when he served with the United States Army during World War I. He served in France from 1917 to 1919 with the 33rd Division from Illinois. At war's end, Lester Cuneo returned to film, and in the early 1920s, he started his own production company, making primarily western films. Lester Cuneo Productions.

Personal life

He married actress Francelia Billington in 1920, and they had two children. The two made 14 films together before their divorce in October 1925.

Death

Despondent over the breakdown of his marriage and the downhill slide of his film career, Lester Cuneo took his own life with a gunshot to the head in 1925. He was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. His year of death is printed on his gravemarker as 1926 which contradicts 1925, the year usually given.

Filmography