William Bertram (born William Benjamin Switzer, January 19, 1880 – May 1, 1933) was a Canadian-born actor, director, and producer of films in the United States, working predominantly during the silent era. He performed in 68 motion pictures between 1912 and 1931 and directed 64 films for various studios between 1915 and 1927. Bertram was also an accomplished singer in stage productions. Early life Born in 1880 in Walkerton, Ontario, William Bertram was the oldest of seven children of Mary Porter (née Robinson) and Daniel J. Switzer, a blacksmith. After receiving his early public-school education in Canada, William immigrated with his parents and siblings to the United States in 1890, settling in Chelan, Washington. Later, he became interested in acting, so around 1900 he joined a stock company at the Auditorium Theater in Spokane while working as a hotel porter in the city under the name "W. T. Switzer". Stage and film career In its January 29, 1916, issue, the trade magazine Motion Picture News provides a brief biography of Bertram in its semiannual "Studio Directory". With regard to Bertram's acting career, the magazine highlights his specialty for playing "Indian" (Native American) roles in films: Among the many films that Bertram directed are a series of two-reel and five-reel comedies and dramas by "Babie Marie" Osborne, who by age five in 1916 had become a star in a series of shorts. Bertram directed 14 of her subsequent productions between September 1917 and November 1919, accounting for nearly half of Babie Marie’s motion pictures when she was a child. Those films directed by Bertram include Tears and Smiles (1917), The Little Patriot (1917), Daddy's Girl (1918), Dolly Does Her Bit (1918), A Dollar of the West (1918), The Voice of Destiny (1918), Cupid by Proxy (1918), Milady o' the Beanstalk (1918), Winning Grandma (1918), Dolly's Vacation (1918), The Sawdust Doll (1919), The Old Maid's Baby (1919), Baby Marie's Round-Up (1919), and Miss Gingersnap (1919) After working extensively as a director between 1916 and 1919, Bertram returned to acting in films, although he continued to direct as well. He appears in the role of Sam Singer in the 1922 Universal Western The Long Chance and as Jack Barton in another Western in 1924, The Smoking Trail. By the end of 1927, however, Bertram’s career as a director had effectively ended; but he periodically acted in films until 1931, just two years before