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A veteran stage actor from Scotland, gray-haired William J. Shea became one of America's earliest and most prominent screen actors, spending his entire film career with Brooklyn's Vitagraph company and the IMP, the forerunner of Universal. Florence Lawrence, who appeared opposite Shea as early as 1907, held him in high regard, pronouncing him "as good-natured, jolly, and friendly as he is on the screen." The veteran actor died from angina pectoris at his home in Brooklyn, NY. He should not be confused with the later film editor of the same name.