
Henry B. Walthall
Born March 15, 1878 · Shelby County, Alabama, USA
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.
Notable Appearances
More Movies

A Tale of Two Cities

The Battle at Elderbush Gulch

The Raven

Abraham Lincoln

Flower of the North

The Devil-Doll

Single Wives

Humdrum Brown

Parted Curtains

The Plastic Age

Judith of Bethulia

The Unknown Soldier

Black Shadows on a Silver Screen

Judge Priest

Dante's Inferno

The Kickback

Ride Him, Cowboy

The Strange Case of Mary Page

Three Friends

Central Park

1776, or The Hessian Renegades

The Golden Bed

Oil and Water

Is There Justice?

Home, Sweet Home

London After Midnight

China Clipper

The Scarlet Letter

Viva Villa!

Her Forgotten Past

Brutality

Ramona

One Clear Call

Ghosts

Strange Interlude

Kentucky Pride

A Flash of Light

My Baby

The River of Romance

Chandu the Magician

Pippa Passes

Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)

Me and My Gal

The Sin of Nora Moran

The Wanderer

Death's Marathon

Beggars in Ermine

Hold Your Man

So Near, Yet So Far

The Misleading Lady

Dark Hazard

The Outer Edge

In the Border States

In the Aisles of the Wild

Anybody's Blonde

The Sting of Victory

The Lady and the Mouse

The Trespasser

Stark Mad

The Road to Mandalay

The Unknown Purple

Pranks

Men in White

Somewhere in Sonora

The Last Outlaw

The Tenderfoot's Triumph

Helldorado

In Old California

The Jazz Age

His Robe of Honor

Boy of Mine

The Call to Arms

The Girl Who Wouldn't Work

Broken Ways

The Avenging Conscience

A Strange Meeting

I Am Not a Racist

A Corner in Wheat

The Burglar’s Dilemma

Hearts in Bondage

The Garden Murder Case

They Would Elope

The Broken Locket

The Wolf Dog

Self Defense

Blaze o' Glory

The Cabin in the Cotton

Strongheart

The Little Darling

The Murder in the Museum

Kit Carson Over the Great Divide

The Woman on the Jury

Two Men of the Desert

The Usurer

Tol'able David

Rose o' Salem Town

The Scarlet Letter

The Bridge of San Luis Rey

The Mountain Rat

A Child of the Ghetto

The Oath and the Man

Friends

If We Only Knew

City Park

Police Court

In Old California

The Whispering Shadow

Wilful Peggy

The Thread of Destiny

The Informer

The Sealed Room

Hotel Continental

The Two Brothers

Fighting Love

The Day After

Freedom of the Press

The House with Closed Shutters

The Mine with the Iron Door

The Lemon Drop Kid

The Face on the Barroom Floor

Alias Mary Smith

Two Daughters of Eve

Headline Shooter

A Trap for Santa Claus

From Headquarters

A Light in the Window

London After Midnight

Love Me and the World Is Mine

Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists

The Sheriff's Baby

The Long Chance

The Little Tease

A Girl of the Limberlost

Thou Shalt Not

Love Time

In Old Kentucky

Getting Even

Fools of Fate

A Woman in the Ultimate

Love Among the Roses

The Barrier

The Newlyweds

The Confession

Black Magic

The False Faces

Speakeasy

The Great Love

Klondike

The Switchtower

The Long Lane's Turning

The Tenderfoot's Money

The Boomerang

A Feud in the Kentucky Hills

Modern Husbands

The Love Trader

The Flaming Signal

The Sorrows of the Unfaithful

The Mended Lute

The Able-Minded Lady

A Splendid Hazard

The Long Arm of Mannister

In Life's Cycle

Retribution

The Phantom in the House

Pillars of Society

Three Faces East

Temple Tower

Gimme




