Born in 1888, Cabanne (pronounced CAB-a-nay) started his career on stage as an actor and director. He appeared on-screen in dozens of short films from 1911 to 1915. He became a film director and one of the more prolific directors of his time. He signed with the Fine Arts Film Company and was employed as an assistant to D.W. Griffith. Miriam Cooper credited him with discovering her as an extra in 1912. Cabanne directed child actress Shirley Temple in The Red-Haired Alibi (1932), her first credited role in a feature movie.^[1]

Cabanne earned a reputation for efficiency, capable of making feature films very quickly, often on rugged locations. Like fellow silent-era directors William Beaudine, Elmer Clifton, Harry Fraser, and Lambert Hillyer, Cabanne was resourceful, and he worked for both major and minor studios through the 1930s and 1940s. By the 1940s, Cabanne was usually given low-budget action fare at Universal Pictures, and he finished his career making lower-budget westerns for Monogram Pictures.

Christy Cabanne married Millicent Fisher who was in several of his films. They had two children, William and Audrey. William has two children, William Christy Jr. and Melinda. Audrey married Bill Davisson and they have two children, Monica and Danielle.^{[citation needed]}

• Christy Cabanne at IMDb