From Wikipedia
He was born Willet Melbourne MacDowell in Little Washington,
New Jersey (now South River, New Jersey).
MacDowell began appearing in silent films in 1917 by which
time he was long a stage veteran. His co-stars were such actors as William S.
Hart, Lon Chaney, Charles Ray, Enid Bennett and numerous others. Though he
lived until the early 1940s, his film career ended in 1928 with the end of
silent films. He returned for one sound film short in 1932, A Fool About Women
with Andy Clyde and Vernon Dent.
Several films that Melbourne MacDowell appeared in survive
today and can be found on DVD, particularly two of his outing with Lon Chaney,
Nomads of the North and Outside the Law.
