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A former reporter for the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, Howell Hansel made his stage debut as Corin opposite Madame Modjeska in an 1886 New York production of As You Like It, the beginning of a stage career that, in his own (probably somewhat inflated) estimate, would eventually be "more than 500 plays." Hansel went into films as an actor with Biograph in 1913 and later functioned as script editor for the New Jersey-based Solax company. In late 1913, he was hired to direct "Big Productions" for the Thanhouser company, the "biggest" of which would prove to be The Million Dollar Mystery. Released in 23 chapters, the serial cost the company a mint -- if not quite the advertised million dollars -- but was well worth the expenditure in terms of box-office returns. Not quite as successful, to put it mildly, was a sequel, Zudora, a financial disaster in 20 episodes, of which Hansel directed the final 11. The debacle caused him to leave Thanhouser in early 1915 and he later directed for Lubin, Arrow, and Fox. Sadly, the veteran director came down with a severe cold while filming snow scenes for Paramount's The Long Trail (1917), succumbing to pneumonia at his New York home six months later. He was married to Lucille Lee, a former actress turned drama critic for the Boston Globe.