Henry B. Walthall
Henry B. Walthall | |
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![]() Henry B. Walthall (1934)
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Born | Shelby County, Alabama, U.S. |
March 16, 1878
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Monrovia, California, U.S. |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1906–1936 |
Spouse(s) | Isabel Fenton (1907–1917) Mary Charleson (1918–1936), 1 child |
Henry Brazeale Walthall (March 16, 1878 – June 17, 1936) was an American stage and film actor. He appeared as the Little Colonel in D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915).
Early life
Henry B. Walthall was born March 16, 1878,[1]:1437 on a cotton plantation owned by his father in Shelby County, Alabama. His father had been a captain in the Confederate army.[2][3] Walthall worked in the fields and was educated by his parents and an uncle who loaned books to him. He studied at Howard College for six months.[4]
In 1898, during the Spanish–American War, he enlisted in the First Alabama Regiment.[4] He contracted malaria while in camp in Jacksonville, Florida, and the war ended before he had recovered.[3] He served 11 months, and when his regiment was discharged he returned home. Then, with $100, he left for New York to make his career on the stage.[4] He played small parts with the Murray Hill Theater stock company. Later he became affiliated with the American Theater stock company and soon afterward joined the Providence, Rhode Island, stock company.[3]
Career
In New York in 1901,[2] Walthall won a role in Under Southern Skies by Charlotte Blair Parker. He performed in the play for three years, in New York and on tour.[4] With the company of Henry Miller he gained recognition on Broadway in plays including Pippa Passes, The Only Way and William Vaughn Moody's The Great Divide (1906–08).[2][5] His fellow cast member James Kirkwood introduced Walthall to D. W. Griffith,[4] and at the conclusion of that engagement, Walthall joined the Biograph Company.[3]
His career in movies began in 1909 at Biograph Studios in New York with a leading role in the film A Convict's Sacrifice. This film also featured James Kirkwood, and was directed by D.W. Griffith, a director that played a huge part in Walthall's rise to stardom. As the industry grew in size and popularity, Griffith emerged as a director and Walthall found himself a mainstay of the Griffith company, frequently working alongside such Griffith regulars as Owen Moore, Kate Bruce, Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Mae Marsh, Bobby Harron and Jack and Mary Pickford. He followed Griffith's departure from New York's Biograph to California's Reliance-Majestic Studios in 1913. After a few months with Reliance, he joined Pathé for a short period.[3]
He decided to go into the producing business and formed The Union Feature Film Company, the first to be devoted entirely to full-length films. The venture was not successful, however, and he again became associated with Griffith's company.[3]
Given the relatively short length of films in the early years, Walthall frequently found himself cast in dozens of films each year. He gained national attention in 1915 for his role as Colonel Ben Cameron in Griffith's highly influential and controversial epic, The Birth of a Nation. Walthall's portrayal of a Confederate veteran rounding up the Ku Klux Klan won him large-scale fame, and Walthall was soon able to emerge as a leading actor in the years leading up to the 1920s, parting ways with Griffith.
Walthall continued working in films through the 1920s, appearing in The Plastic Age with Gilbert Roland and Clara Bow. He portrayed Roger Chillingworth in Victor Seastrom's 1926 adaptation of The Scarlet Letter opposite Lillian Gish.
Walthall continued his career into the 1930s. After his performance in director John Ford's 1934 film Judge Priest starring Will Rogers he enjoyed a golden period of his career. He portrayed Dr. Manette in A Tale of Two Cities (1935), starring Ronald Colman. In 1936 he appeared as Marcel in The Devil-Doll. He was gravely ill during his final film, China Clipper.
Frank Capra wanted Walthall to portray the High Lama in his 1937 film, Lost Horizon. "Frail and failing, he died before we could test him," Capra wrote.[6]:196
Walthall has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard.
Personal life
Lillian Gish described Walthall as "a slight man, about five feet six, fine-boned, with the face of a poet and a dreamer."[7]:135 She recalled his patience while Griffith grappled with technical problems filming the epilogue of Home, Sweet Home (1914), a scene in which Gish, as an angel, lifts Walthall's character out of hell. "There was a long discussion while Walthall and I, encased in leather harness, hung on the guide wires. Wally, a true southern gentleman, didn't raise his voice, didn't complain; he simply fainted and hung there limply."[7]:113
Walthall was married twice. His marriage to actress Isabel Fenton (1907–1917) ended in divorce. His second marriage, to actress Mary Charleson, lasted from 1918 until his death in 1936.
Exhausted from months of interrupted film work, Walthall collapsed on the Warner Bros. set after completing his scenes in the film China Clipper, in which he portrayed an airplane inventor. He entered the Pasteur Sanitarium at Monrovia, California, and died of an intestinal illness three weeks later, on June 17, 1936.[4]
Selected filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1909 | A Convict's Sacrifice | [1]:1437 | |
1909 | Pranks | [1]:1437 | |
1909 | The Sealed Room | The Minstrel | [1]:1437 |
1909 | In Old Kentucky | Robert, the Confederate Son | [1]:1437 |
1909 | A Corner in Wheat | The wheat king's assistant | [1]:1437 |
1909 | The Hessian Renegades | ||
1909 | Fools of Fate | ||
1909 | A Trap for Santa Claus | Arthur | |
1909 | In Little Italy | Victor | |
1909 | The Day After | Party Guest | |
1909 | The Mended Lute | Indian | |
1909 | Choosing a Husband | Harry | [1]:1437 |
1909 | Getting Even | Miner | |
1910 | The Honor of His Family | [1]:1437 | |
1910 | The Two Brothers | Pedro | |
1910 | The Kid | Walter Holden | |
1910 | Ramona | Alessandro | |
1910 | In the Border States | Confederate Corporal | |
1910 | The House with Closed Shutters | The Confederate Soldier | |
1910 | Rose O'Salem-Town | The Trapper | |
1910 | In Old California | [1]:1437 | |
1910 | The Gold Seekers | [1]:1437 | |
1910 | The Oath and the Man | [1]:1437 | |
1910 | The Sorrows of the Unfaithful | [1]:1437 | |
1910 | A Summer Idyl | [1]:1437 | |
1910 | The Armorer's Daughter | [1]:1437 | |
1911 | A Little Child | [1]:1437 | |
1912 | Home Folks | [1]:1437 | |
1912 | The Miser's Daughter | [1]:1437 | |
1912 | Friends | Dandy Jack | [1]:1437 |
1912 | The Inner Circle | ||
1912 | A Change of Spirit | First Gentleman Thief | |
1912 | Two Daughters of Eve | The Father | |
1912 | So Near, Yet So Far | ||
1912 | A Feud in the Kentucky Hills | Psalm Singer | |
1912 | In the Aisles of the Wild | Jim Watson | |
1912 | The One She Loved | The Husband | |
1912 | The Painted Lady | ||
1912 | My Baby | The Husband | |
1912 | The Informer | The false Brother | |
1912 | Brutality | ||
1912 | My Hero | Indian Charlie | |
1912 | The Burglar's Dilemma | Householder's Weakling Brother | |
1912 | The God Within | The Woodsman | |
1913 | The Vengeance of Galora | [1]:1437 | |
1913 | Oil and Water | The Idealist | [1]:1437 |
1913 | The Wedding Gown | [1]:1437 | |
1913 | Three Friends | The Husband | |
1913 | Love in an Apartment Hotel | The Young Woman's Fiance | |
1913 | Broken Ways | The Road Agent | [1]:1437 |
1913 | The Sheriff's Baby | First Bandit | |
1913 | If We Only Knew | The Father | |
1913 | The Lady and the Mouse | ||
1913 | The Wanderer | The Wanderer | |
1913 | The House of Darkness | ||
1913 | The Tenderfoot's Money | The Prospector | |
1913 | The Stolen Loaf | The Poor Man | |
1913 | Red Hicks Defies the World | ||
1913 | The Switch Tower | The Switchman | |
1913 | The Mothering Heart | Club Patron | |
1913 | The Mistake | Jack, the Friend, a Prospector | |
1913 | A Gambler's Honor | Beth's Brother | |
1913 | During the Round-Up | The Stranger | |
1913 | The Mirror | The Station Agent | |
1913 | Two Men of the Desert | First Partner | [1]:1437 |
1913 | A Woman in the Ultimate | Member of the Badger Gang | |
1913 | The Perfidy of Mary | Poet | |
1913 | The Battle at Elderbush Gulch | Indian Chief's Son | [1]:1437 |
1913 | Death's Marathon | The Husband | [1]:1437 |
1914 | The Green-Eyed Devil | Short film | |
1914 | The Mountain Rat | Douglas Williams | [1]:1437[8] |
1914 | The Floor Above | Stephen Pryde | [8] |
1914 | The Gangsters of New York[1]:1437 | Porky Dugan | [9] |
1914 | Ashes of the Past | [1]:1437 | |
1914 | Judith of Bethulia | Holofernes | [8] |
1914 | Strongheart | [1]:1437 | |
1914 | Classmates | Duncan Irving | [9] |
1914 | Lord Chumley | Lord Chumley | [9] |
1914 | Man's Enemy | ||
1914 | The Avenging Conscience | The Nephew | [9] |
1914 | Home, Sweet Home | John Howard Payne | [1]:1437[9] |
1914 | The Odalisque | [1]:1437 | |
1915 | The Birth of a Nation | Col. Ben Cameron | [8] |
1915 | Beulah | Dr. Guy Hartwell | [9] |
1915 | The Raven | Edgar Allan Poe | [9] |
1915 | Ghosts | Captain Arling/Oswald | [1]:1437[8] |
1915 | The Woman Hater | [1]:1437 | |
1916 | The Birth of a Man | [8] | |
1916 | The Pillars of Society | Karsten Bernick | [1]:1437[8] |
1916 | The Sting of Victory | David Whiting/Walker Whiting | [9] |
1916 | The Truant Soul | Dr. John Lancaster/Dr. Lawson | [9] |
1916 | The Misleading Lady | Jack Craigen | [9] |
1916 | The Strange Case of Mary Page | Phil Langdon, Attorney | Serial; lost film |
1917 | Burning the Candle | James Maxwell | [9] |
1917 | The Saint's Adventure | Rev. Paul Manson | [9] |
1917 | Little Shoes | David Noel | [9] |
1917 | National Association's All-Star Picture | [8] | |
1918 | His Robe of Honor | Julian Randolph | [9] |
1918 | With Hoops of Steel | Emerson Mead | [9] |
1918 | The Great Love | Sir Roger Brighton | [9] |
1918 | And a Still Small Voice | Clay Randolph | [9] |
1918 | Humdrum Brown | Hector "Humdrum" Brown | [9] |
1919 | The False Faces | Michael Lanyard, "The Lone Wolf" | [9] |
1919 | Modern Husbands | Stephen Duane | [9] |
1919 | The Boomerang | George Gray | [9] |
1919 | The Long Lane's Turning | Harry Sevier | [9] |
1919 | The Long Arm of Mannister | George Mannister | [9] |
1920 | The Confession | Father Bartlett | [9] |
1920 | Parted Curtains | Joe Jenkins | [9] |
1920 | A Splendid Hazard | Karl Breitman | [9] |
1921 | Flower of the North | Philip Whittemore | [9] |
1921 | The Ableminded Lady | Breezy Bright | [9] |
1922 | The Kickback | Aaron Price | [9] |
1922 | The Long Chance | Harley P. Hennage | [9] |
1922 | The Marriage Chance | Dr. Paul Graydon | [9] |
1922 | One Clear Call | Henry Garnett | [9] |
1922 | Boy of Mine | William Latimer | [9] |
1923 | The Face on the Bar-Room Floor | Robert Stevens | [9] |
1923 | The Unknown Purple | Peter Marchmont/Victor Cromport | [9] |
1924 | The Bowery Bishop | Norman Strong | [9] |
1924 | Single Wives | Franklin Dexter | [9] |
1924 | The Woman on the Jury | Prosecuting Attorney | Lost film[9] |
1925 | The Girl Who Wouldn't Work | William Hale | [9] |
1925 | Kit Carson Over the Great Divide | Dr. Samuel Webb | [9] |
1925 | On the Threshold | Andrew Masters | [9] |
1925 | The Golden Bed | Colonel Peake | [8] |
1925 | The Plastic Age | Henry Carver | [9] |
1925 | Kentucky Pride | Mr. Beaumont | [9] |
1925 | Dollar Down | Alec Craig | [9] |
1925 | Simon the Jester | Brandt | [9] |
1926 | Everybody's Acting | Thorpe | [8] |
1926 | Three Faces East | George Bennett | [8] |
1926 | The Barrier | Gale | [9] |
1926 | The Road to Mandalay | Father James | [9] |
1926 | The Scarlet Letter | Roger Chillingworth | [9] |
1926 | The Unknown Soldier | Mr. Phillips | [9] |
1927 | Wings | Mr. Armstrong | [9] |
1927 | London After Midnight | Sir James Hamlin | [9] |
1927 | The Enchanted Island | Tim Sanborn | [9] |
1927 | Fighting Love | Filipo Navarro | [9] |
1927 | A Light in the Window | Johann Graff | [9] |
1927 | The Rose of Kildare | Bob Avery | [9] |
1928 | Freedom of the Press | John Ballard | [9] |
1928 | Retribution | Vitaphone Varieties 2418 | |
1928 | Love Me and the World Is Mine | Van Denbosch | [9] |
1929 | Speakeasy | Fuzzy | [9] |
1929 | The Jazz Age | Mr. Maxwell | |
1929 | The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Father Juniper | [9] |
1929 | The Trespasser | Fuller | [9] |
1929 | Black Magic | Dr. Bradbroke | [9] |
1929 | In Old California | Don Pedro DeLeón | [1]:1437[9] |
1929 | From Headquarters | Buffalo Bill Ryan | [9] |
1929 | The Phantom in the House | Boyd Milburn | [9] |
1929 | River of Romance | Gen. Jeff Rumford | [9] |
1929 | Stark Mad | Captain Rhodes | Lost film[9] |
1929 | Street Corner | Short film | |
1930 | Temple Tower | Blackton | [9] |
1930 | Abraham Lincoln | Colonel Marshall | [9] |
1930 | The Love Trader | Captain Adams | [9] |
1930 | Tol'able David | Amos Hatburn | [9] |
1930 | Blaze o' Glory | Burke | Lost film[9] |
1931 | Anybody's Blonde | The Editor | [9] |
1931 | Is There Justice? | District Attorney John Raymond | [9] |
1932 | Chandu the Magician | Robert Regent | [9] |
1932 | Police Court | Nat Barry | [9] |
1932 | The Cabin in the Cotton | Eph Clinton | [9] |
1932 | Ride Him, Cowboy | John Gaunt | [9] |
1932 | Strange Interlude | Professor Leeds | [9] |
1932 | Me and My Gal | Sarge | [9] |
1932 | Central Park | Eby | [9] |
1932 | Alias Mary Smith | Atwell | [9] |
1932 | Klondike | Mark Armstrong | [9] |
1932 | Hotel Continental | Winthrop | [9] |
1932 | Self-Defense | Dr. Borden | [9] |
1932 | The Flaming Signal | Rev. James | [9] |
1933 | 42nd Street | The Actor | [9] |
1933 | Headline Shooter | Judge Beacon | [9] |
1933 | Laughing at Life | Presidente Valenzuela | [9] |
1933 | The Sin of Nora Moran | Father Ryan | [9] |
1933 | Somewhere in Sonora | Bob Leadly | [9] |
1933 | Her Forgotten Past | Mr. Maynard | [9] |
1933 | The Whispering Shadow | Serial[1]:1437 | |
1933 | The Wolf Dog | Jim Courtney | Serial |
1934 | Judge Priest | Rev. Ashby Brand | [9] |
1934 | A Girl of the Limberlost | Dr. Ammon | [9] |
1934 | Viva Villa! | Francisco I. Madero | [4] |
1934 | The Scarlet Letter | Roger Chillingworth | [9] |
1934 | Men in White | Dr. McCabe | [2] |
1934 | Bachelor of Arts | Professor Barth | [9] |
1934 | Dark Hazard | Schultz | [9] |
1934 | The Murder in the Museum | Bernard Latham Wayne, alias Professor Mysto | |
1934 | Beggars in Ermine | Marchant the Blind Man | |
1934 | The Lemon Drop Kid | [1]:1437[4] | |
1935 | A Tale of Two Cities | Dr. Manette | [9] |
1935 | Dante's Inferno | Pop McWade | [9] |
1935 | Helldorado | [1]:1437 | |
1936 | The Devil-Doll | Marcel | [9] |
1936 | The Garden Murder Case | Dr. Garden | [1]:1437 |
1936 | Hearts in Bondage | Captain Buchanan | |
1936 | The Last Outlaw | Under Sheriff Calvin Yates | Screening on Broadway when Walthall died[4][9] |
1936 | China Clipper | Dad | Walthall collapsed on the set after completing his scenes[9] and died three weeks later[4] |
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 9.000 9.001 9.002 9.003 9.004 9.005 9.006 9.007 9.008 9.009 9.010 9.011 9.012 9.013 9.014 9.015 9.016 9.017 9.018 9.019 9.020 9.021 9.022 9.023 9.024 9.025 9.026 9.027 9.028 9.029 9.030 9.031 9.032 9.033 9.034 9.035 9.036 9.037 9.038 9.039 9.040 9.041 9.042 9.043 9.044 9.045 9.046 9.047 9.048 9.049 9.050 9.051 9.052 9.053 9.054 9.055 9.056 9.057 9.058 9.059 9.060 9.061 9.062 9.063 9.064 9.065 9.066 9.067 9.068 9.069 9.070 9.071 9.072 9.073 9.074 9.075 9.076 9.077 9.078 9.079 9.080 9.081 9.082 9.083 9.084 9.085 9.086 9.087 9.088 9.089 9.090 9.091 9.092 9.093 9.094 9.095 9.096 9.097 9.098 9.099 9.100 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
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- 1878 births
- 1936 deaths
- People from Shelby County, Alabama
- American male film actors
- American male silent film actors
- Male actors from Alabama
- Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
- Vaudeville performers
- 20th-century American male actors