Broncho Billy Anderson

Gilbert M. Broncho Billy Anderson was an American actor, writer, film director, and film producer, who is best known as the first star of the Western film genre.

Anderson was born Maxwell Henry Aronson in Little Rock, Arkansas, the sixth child of Henry and Esther Aronson, both natives of New York. His family was Jewish, his fathers parents having emigrated to the United States from Prussia, and his mothers from the Russian Empire. His family moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas when he was three years old. He lived in Pine Bluff until he was 8, when he moved with his family to St. Louis, Missouri. When he was 18, he moved to New York City and appeared in vaudeville and the theater, supplementing his income as a photographers model and newspaper vendor. In 1903, he met Edwin S. Porter, who hired him as an actor and occasional script collaborator.

Source: Wikipedia