Friese-Greene, William

Friese-Greene, William (1855-1921), inventor, b. Bristol, England.

One night in January 1889, a police constable was stopped by an excited man in Holborn, London. 'Please come with me, constable,' he said, and led the way to a house nearby. The man switched off the light and the constable saw on the wall, moving pictures of a scene in Hyde Park. He was utterly amazed for he had never seen such a thing. The man was William Friese-Greene.

He had invented a film camera and a cinematograph projector, and this was the first film he had made. But Friese-Greene was not a businessman. He failed to develop his invention and far from becoming rich, spent some time in prison for debt.

Later he dabbled with many other inventions and died penniless.

See Frederic P. Miller Kinetoscope