Walter Huston
(1884 - 1950)The patriarch of an extremely talented cinematic family, he was an excellent actor first as a lead and later enjoying his biggest success, as a senior and character actor, at the hand of his son, director John Huston. With Irish good looks and a warm demeanor, he was quite a versatile actor playing very diverse parts. He was born Walter Houghston on April 6, 1884 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the son of a contractor, and grew up there. His first passion was engineering for which he studied and worked for a time in Nevada and Missouri. He was married to Rhea Gore who fathered his son John in 1906 in Nevada. His love for performing finally won out and he joined a vaudeville troupe. He developed a song-and-dance act with his future 2nd wife, Bayonne Whipple. After divorcing Gore he married Whipple. His third wife was actress Nan Sunderland. He appeared on the New York stage in the late 1920s in "Desire Under the Elms." With the advent of the sound movies he made his film debut in "Gentlemen of the Press" (1929) as Wickland Snell. His other films include: "The Virginian" (1929) as Trampas; "Abraham Lincoln" (1930) in the title role; "A House Divided" (1931) as Seth Law; "Night Court" (1932) as Judge Moffett; "Rain" (1932) as Rev. Alfred Davidson; "Dodsworth" (1936) as Sam Dodsworth; "Of Human Hearts" (1938) as Ethan Wilkins; "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1941) as Mr. Scratch; "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942) with James Cagney, as Jerry Cohan; "The Outlaw" (1943) as Doc Holliday; "Dragon Seed" (1944) as Ling Tan, a Chinese man, odd casting indeed; "And Then There Were None" (1945) as Dr. Edward G. Armstrong; "Duel in the Sun" (1946) as Preacher; "Dragonwyck" (1946) as Ephraim Wells; "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948) his most memorable role starring Humphrey Bogart and directed by his son, John Huston, as Howard, the role which won him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar; "The Great Sinner" (1949) as Gen. Ostrovsky and "The Furies" (1950) as T.C. Jeffords, his final film. Three generations of Hustons, Walter, John and granddaughter Anjelica, won Oscars for their work in films. He died on April 7, 1950 of an aneurysm in Beverly Hills, California at age 66.
From Great Character Actors, Page 5.
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