Porter, Edwin S.

Porter, Edwin S. (Stanton)

(1869–1941) film director; born in Connellsville, Pa. He held various odd jobs until serving in the navy, and on his return he marketed the Edison Vitascope, setting up the first screening of motion pictures in 1896. The most prominent innovator in early American films, he began with Edison in 1900, directing and editing most of the Edison Company's output. He pioneered trick photography, special effects, double exposures, split screens, and stop-motion. His greatest triumph was The Great Train Robbery (1903).

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.