Henry B. Walthall

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).

Henry B. Walthall
Walthall in 1934
Born	Henry Brazeale Walthall (1878-03-16)March 16, 1878 Shelby County, Alabama, U.S.
Died	June 17, 1936(1936-06-17) (aged 58) Monrovia, California, U.S.
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1901-1936
Spouses	Isabel Fenton ​ ​ (m. 1904; div. 1918)​ Mary Charleson ​ (m. 1918)​
Children	1

Early life

Henry B. Walthall was born March 16, 1878^[1]: 1437 on a cotton plantation owned by his father in Shelby County, Alabama. His father Junius Leigh Walthall had been a captain in the Confederate States Army.^[2][3] His sister, Anna Mae Walthall (1894–1950) had a film career in the 1920s.^[4]

In 1898, during the Spanish–American War, he enlisted in the First Alabama Regiment.^[5] He contracted malaria while in camp in Jacksonville, Florida, and the war ended before he had recovered.^[3] He served 11 months, and when his regiment was discharged he returned home. Then, with $100, he left for New York to make his career on the stage.^[5] He played small parts with the Murray Hill Theater stock company. Later he became affiliated with the American Theater stock company and soon afterward joined the Providence, Rhode Island, stock company.^[3]

Career

Walthall in The Moving Picture World, 1916

Filming The Escape in 1913

Three Friends (1913)

The Avenging Conscience (1914)

The Birth of a Nation (1915)

The False Faces (1919)

Modern Husbands (1919)

Still from Tol'able David showing (from left) Harlan E. Knight, Peter Richmond, Walthall, Joan Peers, Noah Beery (1930)

Will Rogers and Walthall in Judge Priest (1934)

In New York in 1901,^[2] 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.^[5] 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).^[2][6] His fellow cast member James Kirkwood introduced Walthall to D. W. Griffith,^[5] and at the conclusion of that engagement, Walthall joined the Biograph Company.^[3]

His career in films 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 with Griffith regulars such as Owen Moore, Lionel Barrymore, Harry Carey, Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Blanche Sweet, 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.^[3]

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.^[3]

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 emerged as a leading actor in the years leading up to the 1920s.

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 Sjöström's 1926 adaptation of The Scarlet Letter with Lillian Gish, a role he reprised in the 1934 film adaptation of the novel.

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 and as Captain Buchanan in the American Civil War drama Hearts in Bondage. 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.^[7]: 196

Walthall has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard.

Personal life

Lillian Gish described Walthall as "a slight man, about five feet six, fine-boned, with the face of a poet and a dreamer."^[8]: 135 She recalled his patience while Griffith grappled with technical problems filming the epilogue of Home, Sweet Home (1914), a scene in which Gish, as an angel, lifts Walthall's character out of hell. "There was a long discussion while Walthall and I, encased in leather harness, hung on the guide wires. Wally, a true southern gentleman, didn't raise his voice, didn't complain; he simply fainted and hung there limply."^[8]: 113

Walthall was married twice. His marriage to actress Isabel Fenton (1904–1918) ended in divorce.^[9][10] His second marriage to Irish actress Mary Charleson lasted from 1918 until his death in 1936.

Exhausted from months of uninterrupted film work, Walthall collapsed on the Warner Bros. set after completing his scenes in the film China Clipper, in which he portrayed an airplane inventor. He entered the Pasteur Sanitarium at Monrovia, California, and died of an intestinal illness three weeks later on June 17, 1936.^[5]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1908	Rescued from an Eagle's Nest	Woodsman	Short[1]: 1437
1909	A Convict's Sacrifice	The Convict's Friend	Short[1]: 1437
1909	The Mended Lute	Indian	Short
1909	Pranks	Sunbather	Short[1]: 1437
1909	The Sealed Room	The Minstrel	Short[1]: 1437
1909	In Old Kentucky	Robert, the Confederate Son	Short[1]: 1437
1909	The Hessian Renegades		Short
1909	A Corner in Wheat	The wheat king's assistant	Short[1]: 1437
1909	Fools of Fate		Short
1909	A Trap for Santa Claus	Arthur	Short
1909	In Little Italy	Victor	Short
1909	The Day After	Party Guest	Short
1909	Choosing a Husband	Harry	Short[1]: 1437  Lost film
1909	Getting Even	Miner	Short
1910	The Honor of His Family	George Pickett Jr.	Short[1]: 1437  Lost film
1910	In Old California	Perdita's Son	Short[1]: 1437  Lost film
1910	The Two Brothers	Pedro	Short Lost film
1910	The Kid	Walter Holden	Short Lost film
1910	The Gold Seekers	The Prospector	Short[1]: 1437  Lost film
1910	Ramona	Alessandro	Short
1910	In the Border States	Confederate Corporal	Short, Uncredited
1910	The House with Closed Shutters	The Confederate Soldier	Short
1910	The Sorrows of the Unfaithful	Bill	Short[1]: 1437
1910	A Summer Idyl	Albert	Short[1]: 1437  Lost film
1910	The Oath and the Man	Henri Prevost	Short[1]: 1437
1910	Rose O'Salem-Town	The Trapper	Short
1910	The Armorer's Daughter		Short[1]: 1437  Lost film
1911	A Little Child	The Burglar	Short[1]: 1437  Lost film
1912	The Miser's Daughter	The Miser's Daughter's Sweetheart	Short[1]: 1437  Lost film
1912	Home Folks		Short[1]: 1437
1912	The Inner Circle		Short
1912	A Change of Spirit	First Gentleman Thief	Short Lost film
1912	Two Daughters of Eve	The Father	Short
1912	Friends	Dandy Jack	Short[1]: 1437
1912	So Near, Yet So Far		Short
1912	A Feud in the Kentucky Hills	Psalm Singer	Short
1912	In the Aisles of the Wild	Jim Watson	Short Lost film
1912	The One She Loved	The Husband	Short
1912	The Painted Lady	At Ice Cream Festival	Short, Uncredited
1912	My Baby	The Husband	Short
1912	The Informer	The false Brother	Short
1912	Brutality	In Play	Short
1912	My Hero	Indian Charlie	Short Lost film
1912	The Burglar's Dilemma	Householder's Weakling Brother	Short
1912	The God Within	The Woodsman	Short
1913	Three Friends	Ned Billings - the Husband	Short Lost film
1913	Oil and Water	The Idealist	Short[1]: 1437
1913	Love in an Apartment Hotel	The Young Woman's Fiancé	Short Lost film
1913	Broken Ways	The Road Agent	Short[1]: 1437
1913	The Sheriff's Baby	First Bandit	Short Lost film
1913	The Perfidy of Mary	Poet	Short
1913	The Lady and the Mouse	The 1st Rival	Short
1913	If We Only Knew	The Father	Short Lost film
1913	The Wanderer	The Wanderer	Short
1913	The Tenderfoot's Money	The Prospector	Short Lost film
1913	The Stolen Loaf	The Poor Man	Short Lost film
1913	The House of Darkness	Minor Role	Short
1913	Red Hicks Defies the World	In Crowd	Short Lost film
1913	Death's Marathon	The Husband	Short[1]: 1437
1913	The Switch Tower	The Switchman	Short
1913	The Mothering Heart	Club Patron	Short, Uncredited
1913	The Mistake	Jack, the Friend, a Prospector	Short Lost film
1913	A Gambler's Honor	Beth's Brother	Short Lost film
1913	During the Round-Up	The Stranger	Short Lost film
1913	The Mirror	The Station Agent	Short Lost film
1913	The Vengeance of Galora		Short[1]: 1437  Lost film
1913	Two Men of the Desert	First Partner	Short[1]: 1437  Lost film
1913	A Woman in the Ultimate	Member of the Badger Gang	Short Lost film
1913	The Wedding Gown		[1]: 1437
1913	The Battle at Elderbush Gulch	Indian Chief's Son	Short[1]: 1437
1913	The Little Tease	The Valley Man
1914	Classmates	Duncan Irving	Short[11]
1914	The Green-Eyed Devil		Short Lost film
1914	The Gangsters of New York[1]: 1437	Porky Dugan	Short Lost film[11]
1914	Judith of Bethulia	Holofernes	[12]
1914	Strongheart	Soangataha / Strongheart	Short,[1]: 1437  Lost film
1914	The Floor Above	Stephen Pryde	Short Lost film [12]
1914	Ashes of the Past		Lost film [1]: 1437
1914	Home, Sweet Home	John Howard Payne	[1]: 1437 [11]
1914	The Mountain Rat	Douglas Williams	Short Lost film[1]: 1437 [12]
1914	Lord Chumley	Lord Chumley	Short[11]
1914	Man's Enemy		Short
1914	The Avenging Conscience	The Nephew	[11]
1914	The Odalisque	Joe, in love with May	Short Lost film[1]: 1437
1915	The Birth of a Nation	Col. Benjamin Cameron	[12]
1915	Beulah	Dr. Guy Hartwell	Lost film [11]
1915	Ghosts	Captain Arling / Oswald	[1]: 1437 [12]
1915	The Raven	Edgar Allan Poe	[11]
1915	The Woman Hater		Lost film [1]: 1437
1916	The Misleading Lady	Jack Craigen	Lost film [11]
1916	The Strange Case of Mary Page	Phil Langdon, Attorney	Serial Lost film
1916	The Birth of a Man		Lost film [12]
1916	The Sting of Victory	David Whiting/Walker Whiting	Lost film [11]
1916	The Pillars of Society	Karsten Bernick	Lost film [1]: 1437 [12]
1916	The Truant Soul	Dr. John Lancaster / Dr. Lawson	Lost film [11]
1917	Little Shoes	David Noel	Lost film [11]
1917	Burning the Candle	James Maxwell	Lost film [11]
1917	The Saint's Adventure	Rev. Paul Manson	Lost film [11]
1917	National Association's All-Star Picture		Lost film [12]
1918	His Robe of Honor	Julian Randolph	Lost film [11]
1918	Humdrum Brown	Hector "Humdrum" Brown	[11]
1918	With Hoops of Steel	Emerson Mead	Lost film [11]
1918	The Great Love	Sir Roger Brighton	Lost film [11]
1918	And a Still Small Voice	Clay Randolph	Lost film [11]
1919	The Long Lane's Turning	Harry Sevier	[11]
1919	The False Faces	Michael Lanyard, "The Lone Wolf"	[11]
1919	Modern Husbands	Stephen Duane	Lost film [11]
1919	The Boomerang	George Gray	[11]
1919	The Long Arm of Mannister	George Mannister	Lost film [11]
1920	The Confession	Father Bartlett	[11]
1920	Parted Curtains	Joe Jenkins	Lost film [11]
1920	A Splendid Hazard	Karl Breitman	Lost film [11]
1921	Flower of the North	Philip Whittemore	[11]
1922	The Ableminded Lady	Breezy Bright	Lost film [11]
1922	One Clear Call	Henry Garnett	[11]
1922	The Kickback	Aaron Price	Lost film [11]
1922	The Long Chance	Harley P. Hennage	Lost film [11]
1922	The Marriage Chance	Dr. Paul Graydon	Lost film [11]
1923	The Face on the Bar-Room Floor	Robert Stevens	Lost film [11]
1923	Gimme	John McGimsey	Lost film
1923	The Unknown Purple	Peter Marchmont / Victor Cromport	Lost film [11]
1923	Boy of Mine	William Latimer	Lost film [11]
1924	The Woman on the Jury	Prosecuting Attorney	Lost film [11]
1924	Single Wives	Franklin Dexter	[11]
1924	The Bowery Bishop	Norman Strong	Lost film [11]
1925	The Golden Bed	Colonel Peake	[12]
1925	On the Threshold	Andrew Masters	[11]
1925	The Girl Who Wouldn't Work	William Hale	[11]
1925	Kit Carson Over the Great Divide	Dr. Samuel Webb	[11]
1925	Kentucky Pride	Mr. Beaumont	[11]
1925	Dollar Down	Alec Craig	[11]
1925	Simon the Jester	Brandt	Lost film [11]
1925	The Plastic Age	Henry Carver	[11]
1926	Three Faces East	George Bennett	[12]
1926	The Barrier	Gale Gaylord	Lost film [11]
1926	The Unknown Soldier	Mr. Phillips	[11]
1926	The Road to Mandalay	Father James	[11]
1926	The Scarlet Letter	Roger Chillingworth	[11]
1926	Everybody's Acting	Thorpe	Lost film [12]
1927	Fighting Love	Filipo Navarro	[11]
1927	The Enchanted Island	Tim Sanborn	Lost film [11]
1927	Wings	Mr. Armstrong	[11]
1927	The Rose of Kildare	Bob Avery	Lost film [11]
1927	Love Me and the World Is Mine	Van Denbosch	[11]
1927	A Light in the Window	Johann Graff	Lost film [11]
1927	London After Midnight	Sir James Hamlin	Lost film [11]
1928	Retribution	Henry / Tommy Mooney	Short, Vitaphone Varieties 2418
1928	Freedom of the Press	John Ballard	Lost film [11]
1929	The Jazz Age	Mr. Maxwell
1929	Stark Mad	Captain Rhodes	Lost film [11]
1929	Speakeasy	Fuzzy	Lost film [11]
1929	The Bridge of San Luis Rey	Father Juniper	[11]
1929	From Headquarters	Buffalo Bill Ryan	Lost film [11]
1929	River of Romance	Gen. Jeff Rumford	[11]
1929	Black Magic	Dr. Bradbroke	Lost film [11]
1929	Street Corner		Short
1929	In Old California	Don Pedro DeLeón	[1]: 1437 [11]
1929	The Phantom in the House	Boyd Milburn	[11]
1929	The Trespasser	Fuller	[11]
1930	Blaze o' Glory	Burke	Lost film [11]
1930	Temple Tower	Blackton	[11]
1930	Abraham Lincoln	Colonel Marshall	[11]
1930	The Love Trader	Captain Adams	[11]
1930	Tol'able David	Amos Hatburn	[11]
1931	Is There Justice?	District Attorney John Raymond	Lost film [11]
1931	Anybody's Blonde	Mr. Evans	[11]
1932	Police Court	Nat Barry	[11]
1932	Hotel Continental	Winthrop	[11]
1932	Strange Interlude	Professor Leeds	[11]
1932	Alias Mary Smith	Atwell	[11]
1932	Chandu the Magician	Robert Regent	[11]
1932	Ride Him, Cowboy	John Gaunt	[11]
1932	Klondike	Mark Armstrong	[11]
1932	The Cabin in the Cotton	Eph Clinton	[11]
1932	Me and My Gal	Sarge	[11]
1932	Central Park	Eby	[11]
1932	Self Defense	Dr. Borden	[11]
1933	42nd Street	The Actor	Uncredited[11]
1933	The Whispering Shadow	J.D. Bradley - Company President	Serial[1]: 1437
1933	The Flaming Signal	Rev. James	[11]
1933	Somewhere in Sonora	Bob Leadly	[11]
1933	Hold Your Man	Clergyman in Alternate Version	Uncredited
1933	Laughing at Life	Presidente Valenzuela	[11]
1933	Headline Shooter	Judge Beacon	Uncredited[11]
1933	Her Forgotten Past	Mr. Maynard	[11]
1933	The Wolf Dog	Jim Courtney	Serial
1933	The Sin of Nora Moran	Father Ryan	[11]
1934	Dark Hazard	Schultz	Uncredited[11]
1934	Beggars in Ermine	Marchant the Blind Man
1934	Men in White	Dr. McCabe	[2]
1934	Viva Villa!	Francisco I. Madero	[5]
1934	City Park	Colonel Henry Randolph Ransome
1934	The Murder in the Museum	Bernard Latham Wayne, alias Professor Mysto
1934	Judge Priest	Rev. Ashby Brand	[11]
1934	The Scarlet Letter	Roger Chillingworth	[11]
1934	The Lemon Drop Kid	Jonas Deering	[1]: 1437 [5]
1934	A Girl of the Limberlost	Dr. Ammon	[11]
1934	Love Time	Duke Johann von Hatzfeld
1934	Bachelor of Arts	Professor Barth	[11]
1935	Helldorado	Abner Meadows	[1]: 1437
1935	Dante's Inferno	Pop McWade	[11]
1935	A Tale of Two Cities	Dr. Manette	[11]
1936	The Garden Murder Case	Dr. Garden	[1]: 1437
1936	The Mine with the Iron Door	David Burton
1936	Hearts in Bondage	Captain Buchanan
1936	The Last Outlaw	Under Sheriff Calvin Yates	Screening on Broadway when Walthall died[5][11]
1936	The Devil-Doll	Marcel	[11]
1936	China Clipper	Dad Brunn	Walthall collapsed on the set after completing his scenes[11] and died three weeks later[5] (final film role)