Henry B. Walthall

Henry B. Walthall

  • Birthday: 1878-03-15
  • Deathday: 1936-06-17
  • Place of birth: Shelby County, Alabama, USA
  • Also know as: Henry B. Walthal

Biography

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 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). In New York in 1901, 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. 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). His fellow cast member James Kirkwood introduced Walthall to D. W. Griffith, and at the conclusion of that engagement, Walthall joined the Biograph Company. 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. 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. 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. Walthall has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard.

Filmography

The Birth of a Nation

1915

As Col. Ben Cameron

The Avenging Conscience

1914

As The Nephew

The House with Closed Shutters

1910

As Charles Randolph - The Confederate Soldier

The Switchtower

1913

As The Switchman

The Oath and the Man

1910

As Henri Prevost

Strongheart

1914

As Soangataha / Strongheart

Home, Sweet Home

1914

As John Howard Payne

The False Faces

1919

As Michael Lanyard

The Murder in the Museum

1934

As Bernard Latham Wayne, alias Prof. Mysto

Flower of the North

1921

As Philip Whitemore

The Long Arm of Mannister

1919

As George Mannister

In Old Kentucky

1909

As Robert, the Confederate son

Three Friends

1913

As The Husband

Love Among the Roses

1910

As The Lord

Police Court

1932

As Nathaniel "Nat" Barry

Retribution

1928

As Henry / Tommy Mooney

Pillars of Society

1916

As Karsten Bernick

Ghosts

1915

As Captain Alving / Oswald

Broken Ways

1913

As The Road Agent

The Call to Arms

1910

As The Lord

The One She Loved

1912

As The Husband

A Trap for Santa Claus

1909

As Arthur Rogers (uncredited)

The Confession

1920

As Father Bartlett

The God Within

1912

As The Woodsman

The Raven

1915

As Edgar Allan Poe

The Kid

1910

As Walter Holden

The Long Chance

1922

As Harley P. Hennage

The Strange Case of Mary Page

1916

As Phil Langdon, Attorney

The Cloister’s Touch

1910

As The Father

For His Sake

1911

As

Parted Curtains

1920

As Joe Jenkins

Humdrum Brown

1918

As Hector 'Humdrum' Brown

The Able-Minded Lady

1922

As Breezy Bright

A Light in the Window

1927

As Johann Graff

Two Daughters of Eve

1912

As The Father

My Hero

1912

As Indian Charlie

If We Only Knew

1913

As The Father

The Stolen Loaf

1913

As The Poor Man

The Mirror

1913

As The Station Agent

The Misleading Lady

1916

As Jack Craiger

Modern Husbands

1919

As Stephen Duane

A Splendid Hazard

1920

As Karl Breitman

The Unknown Purple

1923

As Peter Marchmont / Victor Cromport

The Old Man

1914

As The Old Man

The Floor Above

1914

As Stephen Pryde

The Mountain Rat

1914

As Douglas Williams

The Gangsters of New York

1914

As Porky Dugan

The Honor of His Family

1910

As George Pickett Jr.

I Am Not a Racist

0000

As Ben

The Face on the Barroom Floor

1923

As Robert Stevens

The Golden Bed

1925

As Col. Peake

Judith of Bethulia

1914

As Holofernes

Death's Marathon

1913

As The Husband

The Burglar’s Dilemma

1912

As The Householder's Weakling Brother

Friends

1912

As Dandy Jack

Ramona

1910

As Alessandro

City Park

1934

As Colonel Henry Randolph Ransome

Classmates

1914

As Duncan Irving

The Kickback

1922

As Aaron Price

Kit Carson Over the Great Divide

1925

As Dr. Samuel Webb

My Baby

1912

As The Husband

Two Men of the Desert

1913

As First Partner

Oil and Water

1913

As The Idealist

The Converts

1910

As

The Call

1910

As Billy Harvey

The Awakening of Donna Isolla

1914

As The President of the Republic

The Sheriff's Baby

1913

As First Bandit

Lord Chumley

1914

As Lord Chumley

The Barrier

1926

As Gale Gaylord

The Sealed Room

1909

As The Minstrel

The Scarlet Letter

1934

As Roger Chillingworth

London After Midnight

1927

As Sir James Hamlin

Somewhere in Sonora

1933

As Bob Leadly

The Scarlet Letter

1927

As Roger Prynne aka Roger Chillingworth

Klondike

1932

As Mark Armstrong

Beggars in Ermine

1934

As Marchant the Blind Man

The Wanderer

1913

As The Wanderer

The Phantom in the House

1929

As Boyd Milburn

Rose o' Salem Town

1910

As The Trapper

Wilful Peggy

1910

As The Lord

Kentucky Pride

1925

As Mr. Beaumont

London After Midnight

2002

As Sir James Hamlin (archive footage)

Temple Tower

1930

As Blackton

A Woman in the Ultimate

1913

As Badger Gang Member

Anybody's Blonde

1931

As Mr. Evans

The Mine with the Iron Door

1936

As David Burton

The Unknown Soldier

1926

As John Phillips

The Thread of Destiny

1910

As Estrada

In Life's Cycle

1910

As Vincent, as an Adult

The Informer

1912

As The False Brother

The Girl Who Wouldn't Work

1925

As William Hale

The Love Trader

1930

As Captain Adams

One Clear Call

1922

As Henry Garnett

Boy of Mine

1923

As William Latimer

In Little Italy

1909

As Victor Ratazzi

The Command from Galilee

1911

As The Lover

During the Round-Up

1913

As The Stranger

Love in an Apartment Hotel

1913

As The Young Woman's Fiance

The Tenderfoot's Money

1913

As The Prospector

A Gambler's Honor

1913

As Beth's Brother

The Mysterious Shot

1914

As The Gopher

Her Forgotten Past

1933

As Mr. Maynard

Three Faces East

1926

As George Bennett

Her Mother's Oath

1913

As The Actor

Judge Priest

1934

As Reverend Ashby Brand

The Road to Mandalay

1926

As Father James

The Trespasser

1929

As Fuller

Ride Him, Cowboy

1932

As John Gaunt

Hotel Continental

1932

As Winthrop

Dante's Inferno

1935

As Pop McWade

Central Park

1932

As Eby

A Girl of the Limberlost

1934

As Dr. Amon

River of Romance

1929

As General Jeff Rumford

Tol'able David

1930

As Amos Hatburn

The Last Outlaw

1936

As Cal Yates

Black Magic

1929

As Dr. Bradbroke

In Old California

1910

As Perdita's Son

Speakeasy

1929

As Piano player

Love Me and the World is Mine

1927

As Van Denbosch

Freedom of the Press

1928

As John Ballard

Blaze o' Glory

1929

As Burke

The Woman on the Jury

1924

As Prosecuting Attorney

On the Reef

1910

As Mr. Wilson

Stark Mad

1929

As Capt. Rhodes - Yacht Commander

In the Aisles of the Wild

1912

As Jim Watson

The Odalisque

1914

As Joe, in love with May

Hearts in Bondage

1936

As Capt. Buchanan

The Flaming Signal

1933

As Rev. Mr. James

The Wolf Dog

1933

As Jim Courtney

The Heart of an Outlaw

1909

As The Mexican Lover

From Headquarters

1929

As Buffalo Bill Ryan

The Little Tease

1913

As The Valley Man

The Plastic Age

1925

As Henry Carver

The Slave

1909

As Alachus' Friend

Everybody's Acting

1926

As Thorpe

Love Time

1934

As Duke Johann von Hatzfeld

Viva Villa!

1934

As Francisco Madero

Chandu the Magician

1932

As Robert Regent

The Bridge of San Luis Rey

1929

As Father Juniper

The Two Brothers

1910

As Pedro

The Lady and the Mouse

1913

As The First Rival

Self Defense

1932

As Doctor Borden

Brutality

1912

As Actor In Oliver Twist

Helldorado

1935

As Abner Meadows

The Devil-Doll

1936

As Marcel

A Tale of Two Cities

1935

As Dr. Manette

A Corner in Wheat

1909

As Wheat King's Assistant

A Child of the Ghetto

1910

As The Farmer

Alias Mary Smith

1932

As Atwell

The Great Love

1918

As Sir Roger Brighton

Me and My Gal

1932

As John Collins

The Whispering Shadow

1933

As J. D. Bradley

A Feud in the Kentucky Hills

1912

As A Psalm Singer

The Lemon Drop Kid

1934

As Jonas Deering

The Sin of Nora Moran

1933

As Father Ryan

Pranks

1909

As Sunbather

In the Border States

1910

As Confederate Corporal

A Flash of Light

1910

As Younger John Rogers

The Perfidy of Mary

1913

As The Poet

Strange Interlude

1932

As Professor Leeds

The Mended Lute

1909

As Indian

The Day After

1909

As Party Guest

Gimme

1923

As John McGimsey

Men in White

1934

As enry B. Walthall

Dark Hazard

1934

As Schultz

The Little Darling

1909

As In Boarding House

The Battle at Elderbush Gulch

1913

As The Indian Chief's Son

The Cabin in the Cotton

1932

As Eph Clinton

A Strange Meeting

1909

As A Thief

China Clipper

1936

As Dad Brunn

Wings

1927

As Mr. Armstrong

So Near, Yet So Far

1912

As In Club

The Garden Murder Case

1936

As Dr. Garden

Pippa Passes

1909

As

Hold Your Man

1933

As Clergyman in Alternate Version (uncredited)

Getting Even

1909

As Miner

The Broken Locket

1909

As Mexican Man

Abraham Lincoln

1930

As Colonel Marshall

42nd Street

1933

As Stage Actor (uncredited)

Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists

1998

As Col. Ben Cameron (archive footage)

Headline Shooter

1933

As Judge Beacon

Black Shadows on a Silver Screen

1975

As Self (archive footage)

The Usurer

1910

As One of the Second Debtors

Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)

1942

As Self (archive footage)

Disclosure

2020

As Holofernes (archive footage)

Production

The Birth of a Nation

1915

As Assistant Director

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