Fred Wheeler(II)
- Actor
Frederick C. Wheeler was not an actor, but a leading labor activist in Los Angeles between 1890 and 1920. He was the first socialist elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1913 and served two terms through 1917. He returned after winning a seat in the 1921 election to serve another two terms as councilman.
He was also president of the Los Angeles Labor Council and a commissioner on the Board of Public Utilities.
Wheeler was born on September 18, 1867, in Rushford, Minnesota, to O.W. Wheeler and Elizabeth Beatty. His early jobs were working as a book binder in Minnesota and as a cowboy on the open range in Montana. He took an apprenticeship as a carpenter in Florida before moving to San Diego where he worked for his uncle, Myron G. Wheeler. He lived in San Diego until 1888 when he moved 100 miles north to Los Angeles.
He soon moved around to work as a mate on a schooner, taking a job as a carpenter for three years in San Francisco and working nine months in an Alaskan saw mill. He settled permanently in Los Angeles by 1890 and worked as a carpenter for the next 12 years.
He rose through the union ranks to become head of the AFL carpenters local in Los Angeles. He became active as a strike leader against the railroad, helped organize Mexican and Japanese farm laborers and was a champion of public ownership of utilities. Wheeler ran for mayor against M.P. Snyder in 1901 and for lieutenant governor of California in 1910, losing both races.
By 1917 he had joined militant socialists in opposing America's entry into World War I.
His only film appearance was in "From Dusk to Dawn" (1913) to help boost the film's pro-labor, socialist-themed message to the public. During this period in 1913 he helped establish the socialist magazine Western Comrade.
On December 12, 1898, he married Lucinda Cook in Pomona, California.
He was also president of the Los Angeles Labor Council and a commissioner on the Board of Public Utilities.
Wheeler was born on September 18, 1867, in Rushford, Minnesota, to O.W. Wheeler and Elizabeth Beatty. His early jobs were working as a book binder in Minnesota and as a cowboy on the open range in Montana. He took an apprenticeship as a carpenter in Florida before moving to San Diego where he worked for his uncle, Myron G. Wheeler. He lived in San Diego until 1888 when he moved 100 miles north to Los Angeles.
He soon moved around to work as a mate on a schooner, taking a job as a carpenter for three years in San Francisco and working nine months in an Alaskan saw mill. He settled permanently in Los Angeles by 1890 and worked as a carpenter for the next 12 years.
He rose through the union ranks to become head of the AFL carpenters local in Los Angeles. He became active as a strike leader against the railroad, helped organize Mexican and Japanese farm laborers and was a champion of public ownership of utilities. Wheeler ran for mayor against M.P. Snyder in 1901 and for lieutenant governor of California in 1910, losing both races.
By 1917 he had joined militant socialists in opposing America's entry into World War I.
His only film appearance was in "From Dusk to Dawn" (1913) to help boost the film's pro-labor, socialist-themed message to the public. During this period in 1913 he helped establish the socialist magazine Western Comrade.
On December 12, 1898, he married Lucinda Cook in Pomona, California.