Fred Niblo was born in Kansas in 1874. He began his acting career in 1897 with a New York stock company but soon traveled abroad as a vaudeville performer and even performed successfully for the British Royal family. He returned to the American stage in 1910. He starred in tours of "Hit the Trail Holiday" and "The Fortune Hunter." He played the lead role of the latter in Seattle in 1911. In 1918, Niblo moved on to directing films. He was the director of such famous films as "Ben Hur," "Blood and Sand" with Rudolph Valentino, "The Three Musketeers," and "Mask of Zorro."