Biography
Elmer Clifton (also credited as Elmer Clifford, Elmer S. Pond and Elmer Forsyth) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He appeared as Phil, Stoneman's elder son, in D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915) and as The Rhapsode in Intolerance (1916), and served as an assistant director on both films.
Clifton began directing feature films in 1917. His best-known work includes the whaling drama Down to the Sea in Ships (1922), which introduced Clara Bow. He directed numerous silent features and later low-budget westerns and exploitation pictures. His final project, Not Wanted (1949), was completed by Ida Lupino after Clifton fell ill.
He died in Los Angeles on 15 October 1949.
