Archer MacMackin
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Archer MacMackin (7 February 1888, Lake City, Iowa - 8 February 1961, Des Moines Iowa) was an early American silent film director and screenwriter.
He directed 73 films between 1912 and 1916 directing films such as When Empty Hearts Are Filled and the The Altar of Ambition in 1915 working with actors such as Harry von Meter, Louise Lester, Vivian Rich and David Lythgoe. His career reached its height in 1916 where in that year alone he directed a massive 30 films, although most of them if not all were short films.
After 1916 he retired from directing and concentrated on screenwriting until 1920
In 1921 he left the film industry and retreated to his native Iowa where he and his mother lived with his brother (Lawrence MacMackin) and Lawrence's second wife (Cleo Sager MacMackin) in Des Moines, Iowa. At this time, Archer was a landscaper while Lawrence had a thriving business refinishing piano keys. Cleo and Mary (Lawrence and Archer's mother) kept house. After the death of his second wife, Cyrintheus Abraham Sager (father of Cleo) also lived with them and helped Lawrence in his business.
During the 1930s Archer took a job with the WPA traveling throughout Iowa giving week-long workshops on how to construct marionettes, write scripts, and give puppet shows. Work would begin on Monday morning with the partipants constructing the puppets and end on Friday evening with the participants giving puppet shows for the communities. This work lasted for Archer well into the 1940s.
He died in 1961. He and his mother are buried together in the Promise City Cemetery in Wayne County, Iowa. Cleo Sager was from Promise City and Archer, Mary, and Lawrence are buried with her family.
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