Starting out in dramatic parts, Desmond soon switched to westerns and action serials, and became a major western star. When the sound era began Desmond was almost 50 years old, and was soon relegated to supporting roles.

KNOWN FOR

Phantom of the Opera
1943
Tall in the Saddle
1944
Phantom Lady
1944
The Egg and I
1947
Naughty Marietta
1935
The Mummy's Ghost
1944
Thank Your Lucky Stars
1943
Flash Gordon
1936
The Vigilantes Are Coming
1936
Headin' for the Rio Grande
1936
Code of the West
1947
Gordon of Ghost City
1933

FILMOGRAPHY

All
Movies
TV
Acting
151
Crew
1
1956
Savage Fury
as Allen
1947
Code of the West
as Settler (uncredited)
1947
The Egg and I
as Spectator at Country Dance (Uncredited)
1947
Thunder Mountain
as Townsman (uncredited)
1947
Trail Street
as Townsman (uncredited)
1946
Desert Command
as Capt. Boncour
1945
The Return of the Durango Kid
as Street Ambusher (uncredited)
1945
The Naughty Nineties
as Showboat Customer (uncredited)
1945
Strange Confession
as Peanut Vendor (uncredited)
1944
The Mummy's Ghost
as Museum Tourist (uncredited)
1944
Phantom Lady
as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
1944
The Climax
as Backstage Technician (Uncredited)
1944
Hi, Beautiful
as Passenger (uncredited)
1944
Tall in the Saddle
as Townsman (uncredited)
1943
Phantom of the Opera
as Stagehand (uncredited)
1943
Thank Your Lucky Stars
as Gower Gulch Cowboy (uncredited)
1943
The Lone Star Trail
as Bartender Mike
1943
Cheyenne Roundup
as Pete
1942
Down Rio Grande Way
as Townsman
1942
The Silver Bullet
as Townsman
1942
Overland Mail
as Williams - Banker
1941
Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
as Bartender
1941
Where Did You Get That Girl?
as Tourist
1940
Winners of the West
as Bill Brine
1940
The Boys from Syracuse
as Citizen
1940
Junior G-Men
as Irish Cop (uncredited)
1937
Tim Tyler's Luck
as Dock Official
1936
Song of the Gringo
as Bailiff
1936
The Broken Coin
1936
The Vigilantes Are Coming
as Anderson, Vigilante Member
1936
Custer's Last Stand
as Wagon Master
1936
Treachery Rides the Range
as Bill
1936
Headin' for the Rio Grande
as Mr. Mack (cattle buyer)
1936
Hollywood Boulevard
as Pago Pago Patron (uncredited)
1936
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
as Captain of the 'Viking'
1936
Song of the Saddle
as Tim
1936
Flash Gordon
as Hawkman Lookout Captain
1935
Wild Waters
as Sheriff Manning
1935
Frisco Kid
as Vigilante Hangman (uncredited)
1935
Born to Battle
as John Brownell
1935
Courage of the North
as Gene Travis
1935
The Cowboy and the Bandit
as Sheriff Pete
1935
Cyclone of the Saddle
as Wagon Master
1935
The Call of the Savage
as Allen
1935
The Ghost Rider
as Guard
1935
Social Error
as Policeman
1935
Timber Terrors
as Royce Horter
1935
Tailspin Tommy in The Great Air Mystery
as Foreman Burke
1935
Rustlers of Red Dog
as Ira Dale [Chs. 1-4, 6, 10-12]
1935
Powdersmoke Range
as Happy - Bartender
1935
Naughty Marietta
as Gendarme Chief (uncredited)
1935
The Roaring West
as Jim Parker
1934
When Lightning Strikes
as Marshal Jack Stevens
1934
Crack-Up
as Police Chief
1934
The Vanishing Shadow
as MacDonald
1934
I Can't Escape
as Parole Officer Donovan
1934
Pirate Treasure
as Capt. Jim Carson
1934
Frontier Days
as Sheriff Barnes
1934
The Rawhide Terror
as Tom Blake
1934
Border Guns
as Dr. Jim Wilson
1934
The Red Rider
as Sheriff Campbell
1934
The Way of the West
as 'Cash' Horton (as Wm. Desmond)
1933
The Rustler's Roundup
as San Dimas Sheriff Holden
1933
Mr. Broadway
as 1st Suitor (archive footage)
1933
The Three Musketeers
as Capt. Boncour
1933
Laughing at Life
as Military Cabinet Officer
1933
Strawberry Roan
as Colonel Brownlee
1933
Fargo Express
as Sheriff Joe Thompson
1933
Gordon of Ghost City
as John Mulford
1933
The Phantom of the Air
as Thomas Edmonds
1933
Perils of Pauline
as Prof. Thompson
1933
Clancy of the Mounted
as Dave Moran
1932
The Last Frontier
as General Custer
1932
Heroes of the West
as John Blaine
1932
A Scarlet Week-End
1932
Jungle Mystery
as John Morgan
1931
The Lightning Warrior
as Townsman (uncredited)
1931
The Vanishing Legion
as Milesburg Sheriff
1931
Battling with Buffalo Bill
as John Mills
1931
Oklahoma Jim
as Lacy
1931
Hell-Bent for Frisco
as The Editor
1931
First Aid
as Chief of Police
1930
The Phantom of the West
as Martin Blair
1929
No Children
as Self
1929
No Defense
as John Harper
1928
The Vanishing Rider
as Jim Davis / The Vanishing Rider
1928
The Mystery Rider
as Winthrop Lane / The Mystery Rider
1928
The Devil's Trademark
as Morgan Gray
1927
The Return of the Riddle Rider
as Randolph Parker / The Riddle Rider
1926
The Strings of Steel
as Ned Brown
1925
Straight Through
as Good Deed O'Day
1925
The Burning Trail
as Smiling Bill Flannigan
1925
The Meddler
as Richard Gilmore
1925
Outwitted
as Jack Blaisdel
1925
Ridin' Pretty
as Sky Parker
1925
Barriers of the Law
as Rex Brandon
1925
The Ace of Spades
as Dan Harvey
1925
Red Clay
as Chief John Nisheto
1925
Duped
as John Morgan
1924
Hello, 'Frisco
as William Desmond
1924
The Sunset Trail
as Happy Hobo
1924
The Breathless Moment
as Billy Carson
1924
The Measure of a Man
as John Fairmeadow
1924
Big Timber
as Walter Sandry
1924
The Riddle Rider
as Randolph Parker / The Riddle Rider
1923
The Extra Girl
as Himself
1923
Shadows of the North
as Ben 'Wolf' Darby
1923
The Extra Girl
as Himself - Actor
1923
McGuire of the Mounted
as Bob McGuire
1923
The Phantom Fortune
as Larry Barclay
1923
Around the World in 18 Days
as Phineas Fogg III
1923
Beasts of Paradise
as Phil Grant
1922
Perils of the Yukon
as Jack Merrill Sr. / Jack Merrill Jr.
1922
Night Life in Hollywood
as Self
1921
The Policeman and the Baby
as The Policeman
1921
Fightin' Mad
as Bud McGraw
1921
The Child Thou Gavest Me
as Tom Marshall
1921
Women Men Love
as David Hunter
1921
The Parish Priest
as Reverend John Whalen
1920
Twin Beds
as Harry Hawkins
1919
The Prince and Betty
as John Maude
1919
Her Code of Honor
as Eugene La Salle
1919
A Sage Brush Hamlet
as Larry Lang
1919
Bare-Fisted Gallagher
as 'Bare-Fisted' Gallagher
1919
The Mints of Hell
as Dan Burke
1919
Life's a Funny Proposition
as Jimmie Pendleton
1919
The Blue Bandanna
as Jerry Jerome
1919
Whitewashed Walls
as Larry Donovan
1918
Captain of His Soul
as Horace
1918
Society for Sale
as Honorable Billy
1918
The Marriage Bubble
as The Actor
1918
An Honest Man
as Benny Boggs
1918
The Pretender
as Bob Baldwin
1917
Master of His Home
as Carson Stewart
1917
Paws of the Bear
as Ray Bourke
1917
The Last of the Ingrams
as Jules Ingram
1917
The Iced Bullet
as The Author / Horace Lee
1917
Flying Colors
as Brent Brewster
1917
Married in Name Only
1917
The Sudden Gentleman
as Garry Garrity
1917
Paddy O'Hara
as Paddy O'Hara
1917
Time Locks and Diamonds
as Silver Jim Farrel
1916
A Gamble in Souls
1916
Peggy
as Rev. Donald Bruce
1916
The Dawn Maker
as Bruce Smithson
1916
Bullets and Brown Eyes
as Prince Carl
1916
The Criminal
as Donald White
1915
Peer Gynt
as The Parson
1915
Kilmeny
as Bob Meredith
1915
The Majesty of the Law
as Jackson Morgan Kent
1904
The Sign of the Cross