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William SeligWilliam Nicholas Selig (born March 14, 1864 - died July 15, 1948 ) was a pioneer of the American motion picture industry. Born in Chicago, Illinois, William Selig worked as a vaudeville performer and was part of a traveling minstrel show. In 1894, he saw Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope at an exhibition in Dallas, Texas and was immediately intrigued. Selig began tinkering with a Lumire brothers camera to make his own version of a film projection system and in 1896, he founded the Selig Polyscope Company in Chicago, one of the first motion picture studios in America. His business was extremely successful but was tied up by litigation with Edison's Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC) until the 1915 United States Supreme Court ruling nullified all MPPC patents. Selig Studios developed new talent such as Fatty Arbuckle who began his career with the company in 1908. Selig was the first to expand to the West coast, setting up facilities in Los Angeles for director, Francis Boggs. His studios shut down production in 1918, but William Selig continued to produce movies into the 1930's. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, William Selig has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6116 Hollywood Blvd. In 1947, Selig, along with several of his pioneering compatriots, was given a special Academy Award to acknowledge his important role in building the film industry. Selig, William Selig, William Selig, William Selig, William Selig, William Selig, William Selig, William
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