Starting out in dramatic parts, Desmond soon switched to westerns and action serials, and became a major western star. When the sound era began Desmond was almost 50 years old, and was soon relegated to supporting roles.
The Prince and Betty
John Maude
The Vanishing Rider
Jim Davis / The Vanishing Rider
Peer Gynt
The Parson
Captain of His Soul
Horace
The Rustler's Roundup
San Dimas Sheriff Holden
When Lightning Strikes
Marshal Jack Stevens
Phantom of the Opera
Stagehand (uncredited)
The Mummy's Ghost
Museum Tourist (uncredited)
The Policeman and the Baby
The Policeman
Master of His Home
Carson Stewart
The Return of the Durango Kid
Street Ambusher (uncredited)
Mr. Broadway
1st Suitor (archive footage)
The Lightning Warrior
Townsman (uncredited)
Song of the Gringo
Bailiff
Phantom Lady
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
The Extra Girl
Himself - Actor
The Last Frontier
General Custer
Frisco Kid
Vigilante Hangman (uncredited)
The Vanishing Legion
Milesburg Sheriff
The Vanishing Shadow
MacDonald
Desert Command
Capt. Boncour
Straight Through
Good Deed O'Day
The Burning Trail
Smiling Bill Flannigan
The Meddler
Richard Gilmore
Born to Battle
John Brownell
I Can't Escape
Parole Officer Donovan
The Vigilantes Are Coming
Anderson, Vigilante Member
Pirate Treasure
Capt. Jim Carson
The Strings of Steel
Ned Brown
Courage of the North
Gene Travis
The Three Musketeers
Capt. Boncour
Winners of the West
Bill Brine
Her Code of Honor
Eugene La Salle
Frontier Days
Sheriff Barnes
The Rawhide Terror
Tom Blake
Laughing at Life
Military Cabinet Officer
Perils of the Yukon
Jack Merrill Sr. / Jack Merrill Jr.
Strawberry Roan
Colonel Brownlee
Fargo Express
Sheriff Joe Thompson
Border Guns
Dr. Jim Wilson
No Children
Self
Shadows of the North
Ben 'Wolf' Darby
Battling with Buffalo Bill
John Mills
The Extra Girl
Himself - Actor
The Cowboy and the Bandit
Sheriff Pete
Custer's Last Stand
Wagon Master
Cyclone of the Saddle
Wagon Master
Treachery Rides the Range
Bill
Heroes of the West
John Blaine
Gordon of Ghost City
John Mulford
The Call of the Savage
Allen
Headin' for the Rio Grande
Mr. Mack (cattle buyer)
A Scarlet Week-End
The Ghost Rider
Guard
Social Error
Policeman
Hollywood Boulevard
Pago Pago Patron (uncredited)
Code of the West
Settler (uncredited)
The Red Rider
Sheriff Campbell
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
Captain of the 'Viking'
Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
Bartender
Song of the Saddle
Tim
The Boys from Syracuse
Citizen
Tailspin Tommy in The Great Air Mystery
Foreman Burke
Junior G-Men
Irish Cop (uncredited)
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Gower Gulch Cowboy (uncredited)
Tim Tyler's Luck
Dock Official
The Phantom of the Air
Thomas Edmonds
The Phantom of the West
Martin Blair
Fightin' Mad
Bud McGraw
Society for Sale
Honorable Billy
Down Rio Grande Way
Townsman
The Silver Bullet
Townsman
Overland Mail
Williams - Banker
Rustlers of Red Dog
Ira Dale [Chs. 1-4, 6, 10-12]
The Lone Star Trail
Bartender Mike
Cheyenne Roundup
Pete
No Defense
John Harper
McGuire of the Mounted
Bob McGuire
The Iced Bullet
The Author / Horace Lee
The Child Thou Gavest Me
Tom Marshall
Savage Fury
Allen
Powdersmoke Range
Happy - Bartender
Where Did You Get That Girl?
Tourist
Outwitted
Jack Blaisdel
Ridin' Pretty
Sky Parker
Barriers of the Law
Rex Brandon
A Sage Brush Hamlet
Larry Lang
A Gamble in Souls
The Naughty Nineties
Showboat Customer (uncredited)
The Mystery Rider
Winthrop Lane / The Mystery Rider
Peggy
Rev. Donald Bruce
The Way of the West
'Cash' Horton (as Wm. Desmond)
The Dawn Maker
Bruce Smithson
Kilmeny
Bob Meredith
Naughty Marietta
Gendarme Chief (uncredited)
The Sunset Trail
Happy Hobo
The Majesty of the Law
Jackson Morgan Kent
The Climax
Backstage Technician (Uncredited)
The Roaring West
Jim Parker
Night Life in Hollywood
Self
Strange Confession
Peanut Vendor (uncredited)
Perils of Pauline
Prof. Thompson
The Egg and I
Spectator at Country Dance (Uncredited)
Oklahoma Jim
Lacy
Thunder Mountain
Townsman (uncredited)
The Marriage Bubble
The Actor
The Breathless Moment
Billy Carson
Women Men Love
David Hunter
Clancy of the Mounted
Dave Moran
Flying Colors
Brent Brewster
Married in Name Only
The Ace of Spades
Dan Harvey
The Measure of a Man
John Fairmeadow
Bare-Fisted Gallagher
'Bare-Fisted' Gallagher
Hi, Beautiful
Passenger (uncredited)
The Mints of Hell
Dan Burke
The Sudden Gentleman
Garry Garrity
Paddy O'Hara
Paddy O'Hara
Life's a Funny Proposition
Jimmie Pendleton
The Phantom Fortune
Larry Barclay
Around the World in 18 Days
Phineas Fogg III
Flash Gordon
Hawkman Lookout Captain
Big Timber
Walter Sandry
Tall in the Saddle
Townsman (uncredited)
Trail Street
Townsman (uncredited)
Jungle Mystery
John Morgan
Beasts of Paradise
Phil Grant
The Blue Bandanna
Jerry Jerome
Twin Beds
Harry Hawkins
The Criminal
Donald White
The Pretender
Bob Baldwin