---
name: "William Frederick Peters"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/william-frederick-peters"
fi1m_id: "william-frederick-peters"
imdb_id: "nm0676733"
tmdb_id: 1550890
roles: ["Composer"]
born: "9 August 1871"
died: "1 December 1938"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-25T05:49:13.219592+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# William Frederick Peters

## Identity

William Frederick Peters

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/william-frederick-peters
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** william-frederick-peters
- **IMDb ID:** nm0676733
- **TMDB ID:** 1550890
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0676733/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1550890

Composer. Born 9 August 1871 in Sandusky, Ohio, USA. Died 1 December 1938.

## Details

- **Work:** Composer
- **Born:** 9 August 1871, Sandusky, Ohio, USA
- **Died:** 1 December 1938
- **Active:** 1920–1921
- **Also known as:** William F. Peters
- **Frequently works with:** [D.W. Griffith](https://film.one/person/d-w-griffith.md), [Lillian Gish](https://film.one/person/lillian-gish.md)
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0676733/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1550890

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Way Down East*](https://film.one/film/way-down-east.md) (78), [*Orphans of the Storm*](https://film.one/film/orphans-of-the-storm.md) (73)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

William Frederick Peters (1871–1938) was an American composer and musical director. Born in Sandusky, Ohio, he studied music in Leipzig, Germany, and began composing commercially in the 1890s. He wrote incidental music for the stage and served as musical director for producers including David Belasco and for actresses Maude Adams and Mrs Leslie Carter.

Peters composed original scores for several D.W. Griffith silent films. His credits include musical accompaniment for *Way Down East* (1920) and, with Louis F. Gottschalk, the score for *Orphans of the Storm* (1921). Other film work encompasses *When Knighthood Was in Flower* (1922), *Under the Red Robe* (1923), *Little Old New York* (1923) and *The Four Feathers* (1929). He also supplied music for Broadway productions such as *The Purple Road* (1913) and *The Passing Show of 1915* (1915).

Peters died in Englewood, New Jersey.

*Sources: imdb.com, doi.org, catalog.afi.com, ibdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Orphans of the Storm* (1921), Fi1m 73, Music, Original Music Composer — [page](https://film.one/film/orphans-of-the-storm.md)
- *Way Down East* (1920), Fi1m 78, Original Music Composer, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/way-down-east.md)

## Complete filmography (9)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Four Feathers* (1929), Original Music Composer
- *Hungarian Rhapsody* (1928), Original Music Composer
- *Yolanda* (1924), Original Music Composer
- *Under the Red Robe* (1923), Original Music Composer
- *Little Old New York* (1923), Original Music Composer
- *Enemies of Women* (1923), Original Music Composer
- *When Knighthood Was in Flower* (1922), Original Music Composer
- *Orphans of the Storm* (1921), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/film/orphans-of-the-storm.md)
- *Way Down East* (1920), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/way-down-east.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/william-frederick-peters