Sydney Walker (actor)

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Sydney Walker (born May 5, 1921 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , † September 30, 1994 in San Francisco , California ) was an American stage and film actor whose career lasted over five decades.

Life

Sydney Walker originally studied pantomime at the Conservatoire Nationale de Musique in Paris . During his career he worked mainly as a stage actor. He received his acting practice with Jasper Deeter at the Hedgerow Theater in Rose Valley , Pennsylvania, a repertory theater in which he performed a wide range of roles in the late 1940s.

Walker made his Broadway stage debut in 1960 as Archbishop of Canterbury in the famous production of Jean Anouilh's play Becket or the Glory of God , starring Laurence Olivier and Anthony Quinn . In the 1960s, Walker was one of the well-known Broadway actors. He played a broad stage repertoire that included classical and contemporary theater roles and characters. He has appeared in more than 200 productions in the course of his career. Between 1960 and 1973 he was to be seen as an actor alone in a total of more than 20 Broadway productions.

Between 1966 and 1969, Sydney Walker was a lead actor in the Ellis Rabbs- run APA-Phoenix Repertory Company in New York City , where he worked with fellow actors including Rosemary Harris , Donald Moffet , Keene Curtis , Paul Sparer and Nancy Marchand , all of whom would later become one developed significant careers in film, television and theater. The troupe played u. a. at the Phoenix Theater and the Lyceum Theater. In 1967 he was nominated for the Tony Award in the category "Best Featured Actor in a Play" for his portrayal as Ekdal in The Wild Duck . He was then a member of the "repertory company" at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in Lincoln Center , where he played the Second God in Bertolt Brecht's play The Good Woman of Setzuan (1970), Sir Toby Belch in the Shakespeare comedy Twelfth Night (1972 ) and played the Jew Shylock in Shakespeare's tragic comedy The Merchant of Venice . His last production there was in 1973, Veronica's Room , on standby for Arthur Kennedy .

In 1974 he became a member of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. There he worked in over 60 stage productions, including a. as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol . His other roles there included u. a. Lord Porteus in Somerset Maugham's play The Circle and Ash in The National Health by Peter Nichols . His last stage role was in Molière's comedy Learned Ladies in 1993 .

Walker also went on several theater tours a. a. starring Eugene O'Neill's play Long Day's Journey Into Night , Mary Stuart and Elizabeth the Queen by Maxwell Anderson , with Eva Le Gallienne in the lead as partner. He has also appeared regularly at the Summer Theater at the Olney Theater in Maryland .

In the film, Walker was used as a supporting actor (so-called character actor). He made his film debut in the feature film The Fastest Path to the Hereafter (1968), with Kirk Douglas in the lead role. He was a film actor in the 1970s as Dr. Shapely seen in Love Story (1970); He had other roles in The Way We Live Now (also 1970) and Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1970; as a psychiatrist). He played his best-known role in the 1992 film comedy Body Switch , in which he played an old, seriously ill man with whom the newlywed bride Rita ( Meg Ryan ) swaps her body. In 1993 he had a small role as a bus driver in Mrs. Doubtfire - The Prickly Nanny . He also played a role as Mr. Wankmueller in the Macaulay Culkin comedy Alone with Dad & Co (1994).

He also had numerous television roles and appearances, including a. on The Phil Silvers Show . He also lent his voice to the children's toy Grampa Time , a toy with a night light that read bedtime stories.

In the late 1970s and 1980s, he worked as an acting teacher and lead actor at the Geary Theater in San Francisco. He also taught acting at the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) there.

Walker died of at the age of 73 after a short illness with cancer . He died in a friends house in San Francisco.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1968: The Fastest Way to the Afterlife ( A Lovely Way to Die )
  • 1970: The Skirts of Happy Chance (TV movie)
  • 1970: The Way We Live Now
  • 1970: Puzzle of a Downfall Child
  • 1970: Love Story
  • 1990: Danielle Steel - Preis des Glücks ( Fine Things ; TV movie)
  • 1990: Best Shots
  • 1991: Shadow of a Doubt (TV movie)
  • 1992: Body Switch - A Haunted Kisses ( Prelude to a Kiss )
  • 1993: Mrs. Doubtfire - The Prickly Nanny ( Mrs. Doubtfire )
  • 1994: Getting Even with Dad & Co ( Getting Even with Dad )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Wolfgang Saxon: Sydney Walker, 73, A Character Actor Of Stage and Film . Obituary. In: New York Times, October 29, 1994. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  2. ↑ a b c d Jon. C. Hopwood: SYdney Walker Biography . Short biography in the IMDb . Retrieved September 19, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Walker, Sydney
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film and stage actor
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH September 30, 1994
Place of death San Francisco , California