
Henry B. Walthall
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.
Acting (168 movies)

A Light in the Window
1927

The Birth of a Nation
1915

42nd Street
1933

The Sealed Room
1909

Judge Priest
1934

The Avenging Conscience
1914

I Am Not a Racist
2019

The Devil-Doll
1936

Viva Villa!
1934

The Scarlet Letter
1934

London After Midnight
1927

A Tale of Two Cities
1935

A Corner in Wheat
1909

The Road to Mandalay
1926

Love Time
1934

The Sheriff's Baby
1913

A Flash of Light
1910

The Trespasser
1929

Ride Him, Cowboy
1932

Stark Mad
1929

Somewhere in Sonora
1933

Two Daughters of Eve
1912

In the Aisles of the Wild
1912

The Scarlet Letter
1927

The Golden Bed
1925

Brutality
1912

Helldorado
1935

Judith of Bethulia
1914

Chandu the Magician
1932

The Misleading Lady
1916

Men in White
1934

Modern Husbands
1919

Dark Hazard
1934

Hearts in Bondage
1936

The Face on the Barroom Floor
1923

Strange Interlude
1932

The Battle at Elderbush Gulch
1913

Death's Marathon
1913

The House with Closed Shutters
1910

Hotel Continental
1932

Klondike
1932

The Barrier
1926

Police Court
1932

Beggars in Ermine
1934

Dante's Inferno
1935

The Wanderer
1913

The Switchtower
1913

Wilful Peggy
1910

The Oath and the Man
1910

Rose o' Salem Town
1910

The Phantom in the House
1929

Friends
1912

The Burglar’s Dilemma
1912

Strongheart
1914

Central Park
1932

Home, Sweet Home
1914

The False Faces
1919

Ramona
1910

The Murder in the Museum
1934

A Child of the Ghetto
1910

A Splendid Hazard
1920

The Flaming Signal
1933

City Park
1934

A Girl of the Limberlost
1934

The Unknown Purple
1923

Her Forgotten Past
1933

Alias Mary Smith
1932

The Wolf Dog
1933

Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
1942

Three Faces East
1926

The Mountain Rat
1914

Abraham Lincoln
1930

Kentucky Pride
1925

The Cabin in the Cotton
1932

The Bridge of San Luis Rey
1929

London After Midnight
2002

Gimme
1923

The Kickback
1922

Rescued from an Eagle's Nest
1908

Pippa Passes
1909

The River of Romance
1929

The Long Arm of Mannister
1919

Everybody's Acting
1926

Getting Even
1909

Anybody's Blonde
1931

Tol'able David
1930

In Old Kentucky
1909

Three Friends
1913

The Great Love
1918

The Mended Lute
1909

The Last Outlaw
1936

A Woman in the Ultimate
1913

A Strange Meeting
1909

Temple Tower
1930

Me and My Gal
1932

The Broken Locket
1909

Love Among the Roses
1910

The Mine with the Iron Door
1936

Wings
1927

Kit Carson Over the Great Divide
1925
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