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(16 March 1878, Shelby City, Alabama
-17 June 1936, Monrovia, California)
 Henry
Brazeale Walthall began his career as a stage actor, appearing on
Broadway in a supporting role in William Vaughn Moody's The Great
Divide in 1906–1908. His career in movies began in 1908, in the film
Rescued from an Eagle's Nest, which also featured another young
actor named D.W. Griffith. 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 and Jack
and Mary Pickford. He followed Griffith's departure from New York's
Biograph to California's Reliance-Majestic Studios in 1913.
Given the relatively short length of films in the early years,
Walthall frequently found himself cast in dozens of films each year.
For those still unfamiliar with his face however, 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.
He continued through the 1920s, appearing in The Plastic Age with
Gilbert Roland and Clara Bow and a 1926 adaptation of The Scarlet
Letter opposite Lillian Gish. Now in his 40s, he found his roles
increasingly more of the "character" variety. Having experience as a
stage actor, Walthall continued his career into the 1930s.
Wathall appeared in 319 films from 1908 to 1936.
He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6201
Hollywood Boulevard. |
