James O'Neill on AllMovie

The actor/manager father of playwright Eugene O'Neill (and thus the grandfather of Oona O'Neill Chaplin), James O'Neill starred more than 6,000 times on stage as Edmond Dantès in The Count of Monte Cristo, according to at least one historian, "crippling his status as one of the great tragedians" of American theater. Like several of his contemporaries, O'Neill was persuaded by producer Adolph Zukor to recreate his famous role for the cameras in a five-reel version premiering in November 1913. Edwin Porter directed and O'Neill's co-star was the equally legendary Nance O'Neil (no relation). The Count of Monte Cristo would prove O'Neill's only screen appearance but, confusingly, a different James O'Neill (aka Jim O'Neill), born in Philadelphia in 1863, appeared in scores of films around the same time.