He was born in
Wellsville, Ohio, the son of William A. McIntosh (died 1921) and his wife Minerva
née Bottenberg (died 1883). His father was the president of a public company, New York and Cleveland Gas Coal Company, and a member of the
South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. The club's activities were blamed (but the members were not held legally responsible) for the failure of the
South Fork Dam, which caused the
Johnstown Flood in 1889 that resulted in the loss of over 2,200 lives in
Johnstown, Pennsylvania. His sister
Nancy McIntosh, an operatic
soprano, was the protege, adopted daughter and heiress to the estate of
W. S. Gilbert of
Gilbert and Sullivan. McIntosh graduated from
Lafayette College in 1884, where he was an athlete and became a member of the
Sigma Chi fraternity. He began as a stage actor and then moved into silent films. His most enduring role was Squire Bartlett, who banished the character played by Lillian Gish from his home and into the cold Maine winter in
D.W. Griffith's classic film,
Way Down East (1920). Miss Gish described McIntosh as a gentle giant, "always apologizing for having to treat me so cruelly". He appeared in 53 films between 1914 and 1934. He died in Hollywood on April 28, 1942, aged 79, from a heart attack. ==
The Burr McIntosh Monthly==