Walter Huston

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Walter Huston

Walter Huston , actually Walter Houghston (born April 6, 1884 in Toronto , Ontario , † April 7, 1950 in Hollywood , Los Angeles , California ), was a Canadian actor who was considered an important character actor in American film and theater. Directed by his son John Huston , he won the 1949 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre . Walter Huston was the grandfather of Tony , Anjelica and Danny Huston .

Life

Walter Huston studied engineering before he made a career as an actor. As early as 1905 he was a household name in vaudeville and received his first offers to perform in New York. In the same year he married the journalist Rhea Gore. After the birth of his son John Huston in 1906, he temporarily turned his back on the stage and worked as a power station engineer. In 1909 he returned to vaudeville and quickly became a successful entertainer again. In 1924 he finally had his breakthrough as a dramatic actor with the play Mr. Pitt . Shortly thereafter, he was hailed for his sensational performance in Desire Under the Elms by Eugene O'Neill .

At the height of his Broadway career, he joined the Westward Exodus in 1929 by seeking fortune in Hollywood . Appearances in Gentlemen of the Press alongside Kay Francis and as Abraham Lincoln in DW Griffith 's biography of the same name made him a household name, albeit not one of Hollywood's greatest stars. In 1933 he was seen as US President in the film Between Today and Tomorrow, produced by William Randolph Hearst , which was seen as an advertisement for Franklin D. Roosevelt's politics . Dissatisfied with the roles he got, he returned to Broadway, where he celebrated his greatest success to date with Dodsworth by Sinclair Lewis . In the film adaptation Time of Love, Time of Farewell in 1936, directed by William Wyler , he repeated his role as a successful industrialist who had to cope with a life crisis after he discovered that his wife (played by Ruth Chatterton ) no longer loved him. For its intense depiction 1,936 won Huston as best actor the price of the New York Film Critics .

He had an even greater success as a stage actor in the play Knickerbocker Holiday , whose song September Song was to become Huston's signature tune. His film career alternated between leading roles and larger supporting roles. Among the highlights of his career are his appearances as Teufel in Der Teufel and Daniel Webster , an adaptation of the eponymous story by Stephen Vincent Benét directed by William Dieterle , and as the lover of Ona Munson's character in Josef von Sternberg's late work Abrechnung in Shanghai . In the 1940s, he was an actor in several Allied propaganda films during World War II, including Ambassador to Moscow and The North Star , each of which painted a more romanticized picture of the Stalinist Soviet Union. He was also hired as the narrator of several war documentaries. In 1945 he was seen in the Agatha Christie film adaptation of The Last Weekend as one of the people who are brought to a desert island and killed in rows. In 1949 Walter Huston won a Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of an experienced prospector in the film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , directed by his son John Huston.

Shortly after filming The Furies , in which he played Barbara Stanwyck's father , was finished, the actor died unexpectedly of heart disease the day after his 66th birthday.

Filmography

Awards

literature

  • John Weld: September Song. An Intimate Biography of Walter Huston (= Filmmakers. Vol. 60). Scarecrow Press, Metuchen NJ, et al. a. 1998, ISBN 0-8108-3408-1 .

Web links

Commons : Walter Huston  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Spokane Daily Chronicle - Google News Archive Search. Retrieved September 2, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Huston, Walter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Walter Houghston
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian actor
DATE OF BIRTH April 6, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Toronto , Ontario , Canada
DATE OF DEATH April 7, 1950
Place of death Hollywood , Los Angeles , California , United States