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Elmer Clifton, (March 14, 1890, Toronto - October 15, 1949, Los Angeles) was an American writer, director, and actor from the early silent days. A collaborator of D. W. Griffith, he appeared in The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916) before giving up acting in 1919 to concentrate on work behind the camera. Clifton was the first film-maker to discover the talents of Clara Bow, who he successfully cast in Down to the sea in ships, released on March 4, 1923. In the sound era, Clifton wrote and directed many low-budget Westerns, along with anti-marijuana Assassin of Youth (1937)... MORE

Elmer Clifton, (March 14, 1890, Toronto - October 15, 1949, Los Angeles) was an American writer, director, and actor from the early silent days. A collaborator of D. W. Griffith, he appeared in The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916) before giving up acting in 1919 to concentrate on work behind the camera. Clifton was the first film-maker to discover the talents of Clara Bow, who he successfully cast in Down to the sea in ships, released on March 4, 1923. In the sound era, Clifton wrote and directed many low-budget Westerns, along with anti-marijuana Assassin of Youth (1937) and Not Wanted (1949), which was finished by Ida Lupino. Clifton became ill during the filming of Not Wanted and died in 1949 of a cerebral hemorrhage shortly after the film's release. LESS