Henry Hull

Henry Hull
Hull in 1923
Born	Henry Watterson Hull (1890-10-03)October 3, 1890 Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	March 8, 1977(1977-03-08) (aged 86) Cornwall, England, UK.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1910–1966
Spouse(s)	Juliet van Wyck Fremont ​ ​ (m. 1913; died 1971)​
Children	3

From the original Broadway production of Grand Hotel, L-R: Henry Hull, William Nunn, Eugenie Leontovich, Lester Alden, and Rafaela Ottiano (1930).

Henry Watterson Hull (October 3, 1890 – March 8, 1977) was an American character actor perhaps best known for playing the lead in Universal Pictures's Werewolf of London (1935).^[1] For most of his career he was a lead actor on stage and a character actor on screen.^[2]

Early years[]

Hull was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the youngest of four children born to William Madison Hull, a theater manager^[3] and his wife, Elinor Bond Vaughn.^[4] He was named for his godfather, Pulitzer Prize-winning Louisville journalist Henry Watterson.

William Hull had been a drama critic in Louisville,^[1] and became a press agent for David Belasco after the family moved to New York City in 1902. Hull attended DeWitt Clinton High School and The High School of Commerce. Hull studied engineering at Columbia and was graduated from Cooper Union.^[3] In 1910 the family later settled in Barkhamsted, Connecticut.

Career[]

Stage[]

Impressed by his brother Shelly's acting career, in 1912 Henry joined the Greek Repertory Company run by his sister-in-law, Margaret Anglin, who was married to his brother Howard. Anglin's touring company specialized in productions of Greek tragedies. In 1913, he returned to New York to appear on Broadway in John Frederick Ballard's Believe Me, Xantippe with John Barrymore.^[5]

Early in his career, Hull appeared frequently on Broadway. In 1916, Hull and his wife, Juliet Fremont, appeared in The Man Who Came Back at the Playhouse Theatre. The play was very successful and ran for more than a year.^[6] In 1919 he was at the Broadhurst Theatre in 39 East with Tallulah Bankhead.^[7]

Hull created the role of Jeeter Lester in the long-running play Tobacco Road (1933), based on the novel by Erskine Caldwell.^[1] In 1956, Hull toured in a one-man show, doing readings from the works of Mark Twain, whom Hull had met when Twain was in Louisville visiting Henry Watterson.^[5]

Film[]

Hull appeared in 74 films between 1917 and 1966, often playing supporting characters like the uncle of Tyrone Power's love interest Nancy Kelly in Jesse James (1939). He appeared as Charles Rittenhouse, a wealthy industrialist in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944). Other notable roles were as Abel Magwitch in the 1934 version of Great Expectations and in the last film of director Tod Browning, Miracles for Sale (1939). He starred in Werewolf of London in 1935.^{[citation needed]}

Hull memorably portrayed a doctor whom Humphrey Bogart goes to for help in High Sierra, and was also cast in Colorado Territory, a western remake of the High Sierra story that starred Joel McCrea. He played a desert prospector who comes to Robert Ryan's rescue in Inferno in 1953.

He guest starred on CBS's Appointment with Adventure, John Payne's NBC western series, The Restless Gun, and the syndicated crime drama, . In 1958, he was featured in Robert Culp's western series, Trackdown as "Moss" in episode "Three Legged Fox".

In 1960, Hull appeared on Bonanza twice: in the episode "The Gunmen" as Sheriff B. Banneman and he portrayed a scout for General John Charles Fremont (who, in real life, was the grandfather of Hull's wife) in the episode "The Mission".^[3]

On December 13, 1960, Hull guest-starred on NBC's Laramie as an embittered rancher, Ben Parkinson, who challenges Slim Sherman, played by series star John Smith, to a duel after Parkinson's youngest son accidentally kills himself on Sherman ranch land. Ron Harper portrays Parkinson's other son, Tom.^{[citation needed]}

Hull also guest-starred in the series finale of Laramie, the episode "The Road to Helena" (May 21, 1963). Series character Slim Sherman, while in Cody, Wyoming, is hired by David Franklin, played by Hull, and his barmaid daughter, Ruth, portrayed by Maggie Pierce, to guide the pair to Helena, Montana, so that Franklin can return money that he had previously stolen. John M. Pickard also appears in this episode.^{[citation needed]}

Hull's last film was The Chase (1966) with Marlon Brando and Robert Redford.^[2]

Family[]

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Hull was married to Juliet Van Wyck Fremont from 1913 until her death in 1971. She was a granddaughter of Civil War general and explorer John C. Frémont and Jessie Ann Benton, the daughter of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton. The couple had three children, Henry Jr., Shelley, (named after Henry's late brother) and Joan. When his wife died in 1971, Hull went to Britain to spend his last years with his daughter. He died in Cornwall at his daughter's residence on March 8, 1977.^[2]

Hull had two brothers who were also actors. Shelley Hull was a popular leading man, who died in 1919 during the Spanish influenza epidemic. Shelley's wife, Josephine Hull, was an Oscar-winning character actress. Hull's other brother, Howard, the eldest brother, was also an actor. He was married, until his death in 1937, to stage star Margaret Anglin.^{[citation needed]} Henry Hull was quoted as saying he owed all his dramatic training to Anglin, with whom he had acted on stage.^[8]

Selected filmography[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Henry Hull.

• Henry Hull at IMDb
• Henry Hull at the Internet Broadway Database
• Henry Hull at preservehollywood.org
• "Henry Hull", Internet Broadway Database