Walter Connolly
Encyclopedia
Walter Connolly was an American character actor
who appeared in almost fifty films between 1914 and 1939.
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
. His first film appearances came in two silent films, The Marked Woman (1914) and A Soldier's Oath (1915), and a talkie 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
.
Connolly mostly played supporting roles, but starred occasionally, as Nero Wolfe
in The League of Frightened Men
(1937); in RKO's 1939 5th Ave Girl
, 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.
His hobbies were collecting old books and theatre programmes. Connolly was married to actress Nedda Harrigan from 1923 to his death. They had one daughter, Ann (1924–2006). Connolly died on May 28, 1940, following a stroke
, and was buried in New St. Joseph Cemetery
in Cincinnati
.
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
who appeared in almost fifty films between 1914 and 1939.
Connolly was a successful stage actor who appeared in twenty-two Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
productions between 1916 and 1935, notably revivals of Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author
Six Characters in Search of an Author
Six Characters in Search of an Author is a play by the Italian writer Luigi Pirandello.The play is a satirical tragicomedy. It was first performed in 1921 at the Teatro Valle in Rome, to a very mixed reception, with shouts from the audience of "Manicomio!" .Subsequently the play enjoyed a much...
and Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
's Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski....
. His first film appearances came in two silent films, The Marked Woman (1914) and A Soldier's Oath (1915), and a talkie 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
It Happened One Night
It Happened One Night is a 1934 American romantic comedy film with elements of screwball comedy directed by Frank Capra, in which a pampered socialite tries to get out from under her father's thumb, and falls in love with a roguish reporter . The plot was based on the story Night Bus by Samuel...
(1934) with Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
and Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
; Broadway Bill
Broadway Bill
Broadway Bill is an American horse-racing - comedy film from 1934, directed by Frank Capra and starring Warner Baxter and Myrna Loy. In the UK the film was released as Strictly Confidential...
(1934), supporting Warner Baxter
Warner Baxter
Warner Leroy Baxter was an American actor, known for his role as The Cisco Kid in In Old Arizona , for which he won the second Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1928–1929 Academy Awards. Warner Baxter started his movie career in silent movies...
and Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles...
; and Libeled Lady
Libeled Lady
Libeled Lady is a 1936 screwball comedy film starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy, written by George Oppenheimer, Howard Emmett Rogers, Wallace Sullivan and Maurine Dallas Watkins, and directed by Jack Conway....
(1936) with William Powell
William Powell
William Horatio Powell was an American actor.A major star at MGM, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the popular Thin Man series in which Powell and Loy played Nick and Nora Charles...
and Loy again. Other notable roles included the worthless uncle of Paul Muni
Paul Muni
Paul Muni was an Austrian-Hungarian-born American stage and film actor...
's character in The Good Earth
The Good Earth (film)
The Good Earth is a film about Chinese farmers who struggle to survive. It was adapted by Talbot Jennings, Tess Slesinger, and Claudine West from the play by Donald Davis and Owen Davis, which was in itself based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S...
(1937) and one of the two con men encountered by Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
'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
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
The Bitter Tea of General Yen is a pre-Code 1933 film, directed by Frank Capra based on the novel by Grace Zaring Stone and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Nils Asther....
.
Connolly mostly played supporting roles, but starred occasionally, as Nero Wolfe
Nero Wolfe
Nero Wolfe is a fictional detective, created in 1934 by the American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe's confidential assistant Archie Goodwin narrates the cases of the detective genius. Stout wrote 33 novels and 39 short stories from 1934 to 1974, with most of them set in New York City. Wolfe's...
in The League of Frightened Men
The League of Frightened Men (1937 film)
The League of Frightened Men is a 1937 mystery film based on the second Nero Wolfe novel by Rex Stout. Directed by Alfred E. Green, the Columbia Pictures film stars Walter Connolly as Nero Wolfe, a role played by Edward Arnold in the previous year's Meet Nero Wolfe...
(1937); in RKO's 1939 5th Ave Girl
5th Ave Girl
5th Ave Girl is a 1939 comedy film about a millionaire who feels neglected by his family, so he hires a young woman to stir things up. It stars Ginger Rogers and Walter Connolly.-Plot:...
, opposite Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
; and as the title character
Victor Herbert
Victor August Herbert was an Irish-born, German-raised American composer, cellist and conductor. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I...
in The Great Victor Herbert (1939), his last film.
On radio, Connolly starred as the title character in The Adventures of Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1919. Loosely based on Honolulu detective Chang Apana, Biggers conceived of the benevolent and heroic Chan as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes, such as villains like Fu Manchu...
on NBC Radio from 1932 to 1938.
His hobbies were collecting old books and theatre programmes. Connolly was married to actress Nedda Harrigan from 1923 to his death. They had one daughter, Ann (1924–2006). Connolly died on May 28, 1940, following a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
, and was buried in New St. Joseph Cemetery
New St. Joseph Cemetery
New St. Joseph Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery located at West Eighth Street and Nebraska Avenue in Cincinnati, Ohio in the Price Hill neighborhood. The original Old St. Joseph's Cemetery was founded at West Eight Street & Enright Avenue, in 1843 by Rev. John Baptist Purcell, for English speaking...
in Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
.
Filmography
- The Marked Woman (1914)
- A Soldier's Oath (1915)
- Many Happy Returns (1930)
- Plainclothes Man (1932)
- Washington Merry-Go-Round (1932)
- Man Against Woman (1932)
- No More OrchidsNo More OrchidsNo More Orchids is a 1932 drama film starring Carole Lombard and Lyle Talbot as mismatched lovers, based on the novel of the same name by Grace Perkins.-Plot:...
(1932) - The Bitter Tea of General YenThe Bitter Tea of General YenThe Bitter Tea of General Yen is a pre-Code 1933 film, directed by Frank Capra based on the novel by Grace Zaring Stone and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Nils Asther....
(1932) - Paddy the Next Best ThingPaddy the Next Best ThingPaddy the Next Best Thing is a film starring Janet Gaynor and Warner Baxter. The screen comedy was written by Edwin J. Burke and Gertrude Page, and directed by Harry Lachman....
(1933) - Lady for a DayLady for a DayLady for a Day is a 1933 American comedy-drama film directed by Frank Capra. The screenplay by Robert Riskin is based on the short story Madame La Gimp by Damon Runyon...
(1933) - Man's CastleMan's CastleMan's Castle is 1933 film directed by Frank Borzage, and starring Spencer Tracy and Loretta Young.-Plot:Well-dressed Bill takes pity on Trina , a starving young woman he meets in a city park and treats her to a dinner in a fancy restaurant. After she is finished, he informs the manager he has no...
(1933) - Master of Men (1933)
- East of Fifth Avenue (1933)
- Eight Girls in a Boat (1934)
- It Happened One NightIt Happened One NightIt Happened One Night is a 1934 American romantic comedy film with elements of screwball comedy directed by Frank Capra, in which a pampered socialite tries to get out from under her father's thumb, and falls in love with a roguish reporter . The plot was based on the story Night Bus by Samuel...
(1934) - Once to Every WomanOnce to Every WomanOnce to Every Woman is a 1934 film adaptation of A. J. Cronin's short story, Kaleidoscope in "K". The film was made by Columbia Pictures and stars Ralph Bellamy and Fay Wray.- Cast :*Ralph Bellamy as Dr. Jim Barclay*Fay Wray as Mary Fanshawe...
(1934) - Twentieth CenturyTwentieth Century (film)Twentieth Century is a 1934 American screwball comedy film. Much of the film is set on the 20th Century Limited train as it travels from Chicago to New York. The film was directed by Howard Hawks, stars John Barrymore and Carole Lombard, and features Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns and Edgar Kennedy...
(1934) - Whom the Gods Destroy (1934)
- Servants' EntranceServants' EntranceServants' Entrance is a comedy film starring Janet Gaynor. The movie was written by Samson Raphaelson from the Sigrid Boo novel and directed by Frank Lloyd, with a cartoon sequence by Walt Disney in which an understandably startled Gaynor sings a song while obstreperous animated singing silverware...
(1934) - Lady by ChoiceLady by ChoiceLady by Choice is a 1934 romantic drama film starring Carole Lombard as a fan dancer and May Robson as a homeless drunk who is asked to pose as the dancer's mother for a publicity stunt, with unexpected consequences.-Plot:...
(1934) - The Captain Hates the SeaThe Captain Hates the SeaThe Captain Hates the Sea is a 1934 comedy film directed by Lewis Milestone and released by Columbia Pictures. The film, which involves a Grand Hotel-style series of intertwining stories involving the passengers on a cruise ship, is notable as the last film starring one-time silent film icon John...
(1934) - Broadway BillBroadway BillBroadway Bill is an American horse-racing - comedy film from 1934, directed by Frank Capra and starring Warner Baxter and Myrna Loy. In the UK the film was released as Strictly Confidential...
(1934) - Father Brown, DetectiveFather BrownFather Brown is a fictional character created by English novelist G. K. Chesterton, who stars in 52 short stories, later compiled in five books. Chesterton based the character on Father John O'Connor , a parish priest in Bradford who was involved in Chesterton's conversion to Catholicism in 1922...
(1934) - She Couldn't Take ItShe Couldn't Take ItShe Couldn't Take It is a 1935 comedy film made at Columbia Pictures, directed by Tay Garnett, written by C. Graham Baker, Gene Towne and Oliver H.P...
(1935) - So Red the RoseSo Red the Rose (1935 film)So Red the Rose is a 1935 motion picture drama directed by King Vidor. The Civil War-era romance is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Stark Young.-Primary cast:*Margaret Sullavan - Valette Bedford, a plantation mistress...
(1935)
- One-Way Ticket (1935)
- White Lies (1935)
- Soak the Rich (1936)
- The Music Goes 'Round (1936)
- The King Steps Out (1936)
- Libeled LadyLibeled LadyLibeled Lady is a 1936 screwball comedy film starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy, written by George Oppenheimer, Howard Emmett Rogers, Wallace Sullivan and Maurine Dallas Watkins, and directed by Jack Conway....
(1936) - The Good EarthThe Good Earth (film)The Good Earth is a film about Chinese farmers who struggle to survive. It was adapted by Talbot Jennings, Tess Slesinger, and Claudine West from the play by Donald Davis and Owen Davis, which was in itself based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S...
(1937) - Nancy Steele Is Missing! (1937)
- Let's Get Married (1937)
- The League of Frightened MenThe League of Frightened Men (1937 film)The League of Frightened Men is a 1937 mystery film based on the second Nero Wolfe novel by Rex Stout. Directed by Alfred E. Green, the Columbia Pictures film stars Walter Connolly as Nero Wolfe, a role played by Edward Arnold in the previous year's Meet Nero Wolfe...
(1937) - Nothing SacredNothing Sacred (film)Nothing Sacred is a 1937 Technicolor screwball comedy film made by Selznick International Pictures and distributed by United Artists. It was directed by William A. Wellman and produced by David O. Selznick, from a screenplay credited to Ben Hecht, based on a story by James H. Street...
(1937) - First LadyFirst Lady (film)First Lady is a 1937 film about behind-the-scenes political maneuverings in Washington, D.C.. It stars Kay Francis and Verree Teasdale as bitter rivals in their pursuit of the title of First Lady. It is based on the play of the same name by George S...
(1937) - Penitentiary (1938)
- Start CheeringStart CheeringStart Cheering is a musical motion picture starring Jimmy Durante, Walter Connolly and Joan Perry. It is best remember today for a cameo appearance by The Three Stooges as Campus Firemen, who were Columbia Pictures' short subject headliners at the time...
(1938) - Four's a CrowdFour's a CrowdFour's a Crowd is a romantic comedy directed by Michael Curtiz and released by Warner Brothers.-Cast:* Errol Flynn .... Robert Kensington 'Bob' Lansford* Olivia de Havilland.... Lorri Dillingwell* Rosalind Russell .... Jean Christy...
(1938) - Too Hot to HandleToo Hot to Handle (1938 film)Too Hot to Handle is a 1938 film about a newsreel reporter, the aviatrix he is attracted to, and his fierce competitor, played by Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, and Walter Pidgeon respectively...
(1938) - The Girl Downstairs (1938)
- The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939 film)The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a 1939 film adaptation of Mark Twain's classic novel of the same name, starring Mickey Rooney in the title role.-Cast:*Mickey Rooney as Huckleberry Finn*Walter Connolly as the 'King'*William Frawley as the 'Duke'...
(1939) - Bridal Suite (1939)
- Good Girls Go to Paris (1939)
- Coast Guard (1939)
- 5th Ave Girl5th Ave Girl5th Ave Girl is a 1939 comedy film about a millionaire who feels neglected by his family, so he hires a young woman to stir things up. It stars Ginger Rogers and Walter Connolly.-Plot:...
(1939) - These High Gray Walls (1939)
- The Great Victor HerbertThe Great Victor Herbert-Cast:* Allan Jones as John Ramsey* Mary Martin as Louise Hall* Walter Connolly as Victor Herbert* Lee Bowman as Dr. Richard Moore* Susanna Foster as Peggy* Judith Barrett as Marie Clark* Jerome Cowan as Barney Harris* John Garrick as Warner Bryant...
(1939)