In the USA from 1906, Donald Crisp was a leading man in silents by 1910 and went on to have a long and varied career as an actor, and until 1930 as a director; later featured as a fatherly character performer in allegedly over 400 movies by 1963. At the Biograph studios, Crisp appeared in numerous D.W. Griffith films, portraying General Grant in "Birth of a Nation" (1915), playing Lillian Gish's brutal father in "Broken Blossoms" (1919) and serving as Griffith's assistant director on both. He also directed a good number of silents including "Don Q, Son of Zorro" (1925) starring Douglas
