Henry B. Walthall
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1878-03-15
Day of Death
1936-06-17 (58 years old)
Place of Birth
Shelby County, Alabama, USA
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
(2019)
I Am Not a Racist
as Ben
(2002)
London After Midnight
as Sir James Hamlin (archive footage)
(1998)
Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists
as Col. Ben Cameron (archive footage)
(1975)
Black Shadows on a Silver Screen
as Self (archive footage)
(1942)
Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
as Self (archive footage)
(1936)
The Devil-Doll
as Marcel
(1936)
Hearts in Bondage
as Capt. Buchanan
(1936)
The Last Outlaw
as Cal Yates
(1936)
China Clipper
as Dad Brunn
(1936)
The Garden Murder Case
as Dr. Garden
(1936)
The Mine with the Iron Door
as David Burton
(1935)
A Tale of Two Cities
as Dr. Manette
(1935)
Dante's Inferno
as Pop McWade
(1935)
Helldorado
as Abner Meadows
(1934)
Judge Priest
as Reverend Ashby Brand
(1934)
Viva Villa!
as Francisco Madero
(1934)
Men in White
as enry B. Walthall
(1934)
Beggars in Ermine
as Marchant the Blind Man
(1934)
The Scarlet Letter
as Roger Chillingworth
(1934)
Dark Hazard
as Schultz
(1934)
City Park
as Colonel Henry Randolph Ransome
(1934)
Love Time
as Duke Johann von Hatzfeld
(1934)
The Murder in the Museum
as Bernard Latham Wayne, alias Prof. Mysto
(1934)
A Girl of the Limberlost
as Dr. Amon
(1934)
The Lemon Drop Kid
as Jonas Deering
(1933)
42nd Street
as Stage Actor (uncredited)
(1933)
The Sin of Nora Moran
as Father Ryan
(1933)
Hold Your Man
as Clergyman in Alternate Version (uncredited)
(1933)
Her Forgotten Past
as Mr. Maynard
(1933)
Somewhere in Sonora
as Bob Leadly
(1933)
The Flaming Signal
as Rev. Mr. James
(1933)
Headline Shooter
as Judge Beacon (uncredited)
(1933)
The Wolf Dog
as Jim Courtney
(1933)
The Whispering Shadow
as J. D. Bradley
(1932)
Ride Him, Cowboy
as John Gaunt
(1932)
Me and My Gal
as Sarge
(1932)
Central Park
as Eby
(1932)
Police Court
as Nathaniel "Nat" Barry
(1932)
Alias Mary Smith
as Atwell
(1932)
Chandu the Magician
as Robert Regent
(1932)
Self Defense
as Doctor Borden
(1932)
Hotel Continental
as Winthrop
(1932)
Strange Interlude
as Professor Leeds
(1932)
Klondike
as Mark Armstrong
(1932)
The Cabin in the Cotton
as Eph Clinton
(1931)
Anybody's Blonde
as Mr. Evans
(1930)
Abraham Lincoln
as Colonel Marshall
(1930)
The Love Trader
as Captain Adams
(1930)
Tol'able David
as Amos Hatburn
(1930)
Temple Tower
as Blackton
(1929)
The River of Romance
as General Jeff Rumford
(1929)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
as Father Juniper
(1929)
The Trespasser
as Fuller
(1929)
Stark Mad
as Capt. Rhodes - Yacht Commander
(1929)
Speakeasy
as Piano player
(1929)
The Phantom in the House
as Boyd Milburn
(1929)
Black Magic
as Dr. Bradbroke
(1929)
From Headquarters
as Buffalo Bill Ryan
(1929)
Blaze o' Glory
as Burke
(1928)
Retribution
as Henry / Tommy Mooney
(1928)
Freedom of the Press
as John Ballard
(1927)
Wings
as Mr. Armstrong
(1927)
The Scarlet Letter
as Roger Prynne aka Roger Chillingworth
(1927)
London After Midnight
as Sir James Hamlin
(1927)
Fighting Love
as Filipo Navarro
(1927)
Love Me and the World Is Mine
as Van Denbosch
(1927)
A Light in the Window
as Johann Graff
(1926)
The Road to Mandalay
as Father James
(1926)
The Unknown Soldier
as John Phillips
(1926)
Everybody's Acting
as Thorpe
(1926)
The Barrier
as Gale Gaylord
(1926)
Three Faces East
as George Bennett
(1925)
The Plastic Age
as Henry Carver
(1925)
Kentucky Pride
as Mr. Beaumont
(1925)
The Girl Who Wouldn't Work
as William Hale
(1925)
The Golden Bed
as Col. Peake
(1925)
Kit Carson Over the Great Divide
as Dr. Samuel Webb
(1924)
The Woman on the Jury
as Prosecuting Attorney
(1923)
Gimme
as John McGimsey
(1923)
The Face on the Barroom Floor
as Robert Stevens
(1923)
The Unknown Purple
as Peter Marchmont / Victor Cromport
(1923)
Boy of Mine
as William Latimer
(1922)
The Long Chance
as Harley P. Hennage
(1922)
The Able-Minded Lady
as Breezy Bright
(1922)
One Clear Call
as Henry Garnett
(1922)
The Kickback
as Aaron Price
(1921)
Flower of the North
as Philip Whitemore
(1920)
A Splendid Hazard
as Karl Breitman
(1920)
The Confession
as Father Bartlett
(1920)
Parted Curtains
as Joe Jenkins
(1919)
The False Faces
as Michael Lanyard
(1919)
The Long Arm of Mannister
as George Mannister
(1919)
Modern Husbands
as Stephen Duane
(1919)
The Long Lane's Turning
as Harry Sevier
(1919)
The Boomerang
as George Gray
(1918)
The Great Love
as Sir Roger Brighton
(1918)
Humdrum Brown
as Hector 'Humdrum' Brown
(1916)
The Misleading Lady
as Jack Craiger
(1916)
Pillars of Society
as Karsten Bernick
(1916)
The Strange Case of Mary Page
as Phil Langdon, Attorney
(1915)
The Birth of a Nation
as Col. Ben Cameron
(1915)
The Raven
as Edgar Allan Poe
(1915)
The Outer Edge
as Dr. Rownlee
(1915)
Ghosts
as Captain Alving / Oswald
(1915)
Temper
as Frank Bradbury
(1915)
Rod of Wrath
as Erickson's Son
(1915)
The Circular Path
as Reverend Darwin Kirby
(1914)
The Avenging Conscience
as The Nephew
(1914)
Home, Sweet Home
as John Howard Payne
(1914)
The Gangsters of New York
as Porky Dugan
(1914)
Judith of Bethulia
as Holofernes
(1914)
Lord Chumley
as Lord Chumley
(1914)
Strongheart
as Soangataha / Strongheart
(1914)
The Floor Above
as Stephen Pryde
(1914)
(1914)
The Mountain Rat
as Douglas Williams
(1914)
The Odalisque
as Joe, in love with May
(1914)
The Old Man
as The Old Man
(1914)
The Awakening of Donna Isolla
as The President of the Republic
(1914)
The Mysterious Shot
as The Gopher
(1914)
Classmates
as Duncan Irving
(1913)
The Perfidy of Mary
as The Poet
(1913)
The Sheriff's Baby
as First Bandit
(1913)
Love in an Apartment Hotel
as The Young Woman's Fiance
(1913)
If We Only Knew
as The Father
(1913)
Death's Marathon
as The Husband
(1913)
Three Friends
as The Husband
(1913)
Her Mother's Oath
as The Actor
(1913)
Two Men of the Desert
as First Partner
(1913)
The Little Tease
as The Valley Man
(1913)
The Tenderfoot's Money
as The Prospector
(1913)
The Wanderer
as The Wanderer
(1913)
Oil and Water
as The Idealist
(1913)
Broken Ways
as The Road Agent
(1913)
A Gambler's Honor
as Beth's Brother
(1913)
The Lady and the Mouse
as The First Rival
(1913)
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch
as The Indian Chief's Son
(1913)
The Switchtower
as The Switchman
(1913)
A Woman in the Ultimate
as Badger Gang Member
(1913)
During the Round-Up
as The Stranger
(1913)
The Mirror
as The Station Agent
(1913)
The Stolen Loaf
as The Poor Man
(1912)
My Baby
as The Husband
(1912)
A Feud in the Kentucky Hills
as A Psalm Singer
(1912)
Two Daughters of Eve
as The Father
(1912)
The Informer
as The False Brother
(1912)
The One She Loved
as The Husband
(1912)
So Near, Yet So Far
as In Club
(1912)
Friends
as Dandy Jack
(1912)
My Hero
as Indian Charlie
(1912)
The God Within
as The Woodsman
(1912)
In the Aisles of the Wild
as Jim Watson
(1912)
Brutality
as Actor In Oliver Twist
(1912)
The Burglar’s Dilemma
as The Householder's Weakling Brother
(1911)
(1911)
The Command from Galilee
as The Lover
(1911)
(1910)
The Two Brothers
as Pedro
(1910)
In the Border States
as Confederate Corporal
(1910)
Love Among the Roses
as The Lord
(1910)
The Call to Arms
as The Lord
(1910)
A Child of the Ghetto
as The Farmer
(1910)
(1910)
(1910)
(1910)
The House with Closed Shutters
as Charles Randolph - The Confederate Soldier
(1910)
(1910)
(1910)
The Thread of Destiny
as Estrada
(1910)
(1910)
On the Reef
as Mr. Wilson
(1910)
Ramona
as Alessandro
(1910)
The Kid
as Walter Holden
(1910)
In Old California
as Perdita's Son
(1910)
Rose o' Salem Town
as The Trapper
(1910)
(1910)
The Armorer’s Daughter
as Macennas
(1910)
A Flash of Light
as Younger John Rogers
(1910)
The Usurer
as One of the Second Debtors
(1910)
(1910)
The Honor of His Family
as George Pickett Jr.
(1910)
The Call
as Billy Harvey
(1910)
The Cloister’s Touch
as The Father
(1910)
The Oath and the Man
as Henri Prevost
(1910)
The Newlyweds
as A Friend / At Station Reception
(1910)
(1910)
(1910)
(1910)
In Life's Cycle
as Vincent, as an Adult
(1910)
Wilful Peggy
as The Lord
(1909)
Getting Even
as Miner
(1909)
In Old Kentucky
as Robert, the Confederate son
(1909)
The Day After
as Party Guest
(1909)
(1909)
The Mended Lute
as Indian
(1909)
A Corner in Wheat
as Wheat King's Assistant
(1909)
In Little Italy
as Victor Ratazzi
(1909)
(1909)
The Sealed Room
as The Minstrel
(1909)
The Broken Locket
as Mexican Man
(1909)
The Heart of an Outlaw
as The Mexican Lover
(1909)
(1909)
The Slave
as Alachus' Friend
(1909)
A Strange Meeting
as A Thief
(1909)
(1909)
Pranks
as Sunbather
(1909)
The Little Darling
as In Boarding House
(1909)
A Trap for Santa Claus
as Arthur Rogers (uncredited)
(1908)
Rescued from an Eagle's Nest
as Woodsman
Crew
(1915)
The Birth of a Nation
Assistant Director