Guy Bates Post (September 22, 1875 – January 16, 1968) was an American character actor who appeared in at least 21 Broadway plays and 25 Hollywood films over a career that spanned more than 50 years. He was perhaps best remembered in the role of Omar Khayyám in the 1914 stage and 1922 film productions of Richard Walton Tully's Omar the Tentmaker and for his over 1,500 performances in John Hunter Booth's 1917 play The Masquerader.
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Early life
Guy Bates Post was born in Seattle, Washington, the first of two sons and a daughter (actress Madeline Post) raised by John J. Post and Mary Annette Ostrander. His father, a Canadian of English descent, was a partner in the Seattle lumber firm Stetson and Post. His mother was born in Wisconsin into a family that originally went west from New York. Post received his education at schools in Seattle and later San Francisco, then he dropped out of college to embark on a career in theatre.
Stage
Post made his professional debut in November 1894 at Chicago's Schiller Theatre playing a minor role opposite Cora Urquhart Brown-Potter and Kyrle Bellew in Charlotte Corday. By May 1898, Post was a member of Otis Skinner's Company and married to Sarah Truax, the troupe's leading lady. His big break came early in 1900 when he was chosen to play David Brandon in Liebler and Company's Southern American tour of Israel Zangwill's The Children of the Ghetto.