American art director, director and producer of silent films, trained in Rome. Began with Goldwyn Pictures in New Jersey in 1917. Many of his films starred his wife, the actress
Mabel Ballin. He was also a renowned painter and muralist. His designs include the commemorative medallion for the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. He also painted the murals at the Griffith Park Observatory in 1934. Ballin retired from the film industry shortly after the advent of sound.
