Walter Connolly
Walter Connolly | |
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![]() as Doctor Grauer in Bridal Suite (1939) | |
Born | Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | April 8, 1887
Died | May 28, 1940 | (aged 53)
Occupation | Film, stage and radio actor |
Years active | 1914–1939 |
Spouse(s) | (his death) |
Children | Ann Connolly (1924–2006) |
Walter Connolly (April 8, 1887 – May 28, 1940) was an American character actor who appeared in almost 50 films between 1914 and 1939. His best known film is It Happened One Night (1934).
Early years[]
Connolly attended St. Xavier College and acted in amateur theatrical productions in Cincinnati.[1]
Career[]
Connolly was a successful stage actor who appeared in twenty-two Broadway productions between 1916 and 1935, notably revivals of Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author and Chekhov's Uncle Vanya.[2] His first film appearances came in two silent films, The Marked Woman (1914) and A Soldier's Oath (1915), and his first talkie film came in 1930, Many Happy Returns, but his Hollywood film career really began in 1932, when he appeared in four films. His trademark role was that of the exasperated business tycoon or newspaperman, often as the father of the female lead character, as in It Happened One Night (1934) with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert; Broadway Bill (1934), supporting Warner Baxter and Myrna Loy; and Libeled Lady (1936) with William Powell and Loy again. Other notable roles included the worthless uncle of Paul Muni's character in The Good Earth (1937) and one of the two con men encountered by Mickey Rooney's Huckleberry Finn in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939). Connolly starred as General Yen's American advisor in The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933).
Connolly mostly played supporting roles, but starred occasionally, as Nero Wolfe in The League of Frightened Men (1937), in RKO's 5th Ave Girl (1939), opposite Ginger Rogers, and as the title character in The Great Victor Herbert (1939), his last film.
On radio, Connolly starred as the title character in The Adventures of Charlie Chan on NBC Radio from 1932 to 1938.[3]
Personal life[]
![]() | This section does not cite any sources. (May 2021) |
Connolly's hobbies were collecting old books and theater programs. Connolly was married to actress Nedda Harrigan from 1921 to his death. They had one daughter, Ann (1924–2006), who was a performer in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1943 and the 1954 Broadway production of Peter Pan.
Death[]
Connolly died on May 28, 1940, following a stroke, and was buried in New St. Joseph Cemetery in Cincinnati.
Complete filmography[]
- The Marked Woman (1914) - Prince Ching
- A Soldier's Oath (1915) - Raoul de Reyntiens
- Many Happy Returns (1930, Short)
- Washington Merry-Go-Round (1932) - Wylie
- (1932) - Mossie Ennis
- No More Orchids (1932) - Bill Holt
- The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933) - Jones
- (1932)
- Paddy the Next Best Thing (1933) - Major Adair
- Lady for a Day (1933) - Count Romero
- Man's Castle (1933) - Ira
- East of Fifth Avenue (1933) - John Lawton
- Master of Men (1933) - Sam Parker
- Eight Girls in a Boat (1934) - Storm
- It Happened One Night (1934) - Alexander Andrews
- Once to Every Woman (1934) - Dr. Selby
- Twentieth Century (1934) - Webb
- Whom the Gods Destroy (1934) - John Forrester aka Eric Jann aka Peter Korotoff
- Servants' Entrance (1934) - Viktor Nilsson
- Lady by Choice (1934) - Judge Daly
- The Captain Hates the Sea (1934) - Capt. Helquist
- Broadway Bill (1934) - J. L. Higgins
- Father Brown, Detective (1934) - Father Brown
- So Red the Rose (1935) - Malcolm Bedford
- She Couldn't Take It (1935) - Daniel Van Dyke
- One Way Ticket (1935) - Captain Bourne
- White Lies (1935) - John Frank Mitchell
- Soak the Rich (1936) - Humphrey Craig
- The Music Goes 'Round (1936) - Hector Courtney
- The King Steps Out (1936) - Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria
- Libeled Lady (1936) - Mr. James B. Allenbury
- The Good Earth (1937) - Uncle
- Nancy Steele Is Missing! (1937) - Michael Steele
- Let's Get Married (1937) - Joe Quinn
- The League of Frightened Men (1937) - Nero Wolfe
- Nothing Sacred (1937) - Oliver Stone
- First Lady (1937) - Carter Hibbard
- Penitentiary (1938) - Dist. Atty. Thomas Mathews
- Start Cheering (1938) - Sam Lewis
- Four's a Crowd (1938) - John P. Dillingwell
- Too Hot to Handle (1938) - 'Gabby' MacArthur
- The Girl Downstairs (1938) - Mr. Brown
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939) - The 'King'
- Bridal Suite (1939) - Doctor Grauer
- Good Girls Go to Paris (1939) - Olaf Brand
- Coast Guard (1939) - Tobias Bliss
- 5th Ave Girl (1939) - Timothy Borden
- Those High Grey Walls (1939) - Dr. MacAuley
- The Great Victor Herbert (1939) - Victor Herbert (final film role)
Notes[]
- ^ "Walter Connolly Returns to Stage After Two Years". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. November 25, 1934. p. 61. Retrieved 24 July 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Walter Connolly at the Internet Broadway Database
- ^ Cox, Jim, Radio Crime Fighters, 2002, p. 9, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, ISBN 0-7864-1390-5
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Walter Connolly. |
- Walter Connolly at the Internet Broadway Database
- Walter Connolly at IMDb
- Walter Connolly at AllMovie
- Walter Connolly at the TCM Movie Database
- Walter Connolly at Find a Grave
- Literature on Walter Connolly
- 1887 births
- 1940 deaths
- American male film actors
- American male stage actors
- American male radio actors
- American male silent film actors
- 20th-century American male actors
- American film actor, 1880s birth stubs
- American theatre actor, 19th-century birth stubs
- American radio people stubs