Bacon began his career as an actor in 1913, and was soon appearing in comedies with Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin. By the early '20s he directed shorts for Lloyd Hamilton and Mack Sennett, and in 1926 he graduated to features. Bacon directed the first all-talking film from Hollywood, The Singing Fool with Al Jolson, and made his reputation at Warner Brothers as a reliable director of musicals. Working with choreographer Busby Berkeley, he helmed such landmarks as 42nd Street, Footlight Parade, and Gold Diggers Of 1937. A prolific director, Bacon also brought an assured hand to comedies (It Happens Every Spring), crime films (Marked Woman), and dramas (Knute Rockne -- All American).