Tom Walls

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Tom Walls (born February 18, 1883 in Kingsthorpe , United Kingdom , † November 27, 1949 in Edwell ) was a British actor (comedian), director and producer for stage and film.

Life

Walls attended Northampton County School and made a living from it for the first five years of the 20th century. a. as a policeman, street musician and jockey. In 1905 he began his stage career in Glasgow. In 1906/07 Walls went on a theater tour through the USA and Canada. In 1907 he made his London debut in the music hall The Empire , after which he went on a musical tour with the Empire Ensemble (1908-10). Another tour took him to Australia in 1910/11. From 1912 Walls could be seen for the next ten years at the London venues Daly's, Adelphi , again The Empire , Gaiety and Hippodrome . In 1922, the British, who had achieved some success as a stage comedian, moved to the management of the Shaftesbury Theater. Since the mid-1920s, he divided his artistic activities between acting and production. He was seen in tabloid comedies and farces such as 'A Cuckoo in the Nest' (1925), 'Rookery Nook' (1926), 'Thark' (1927), 'Plunder' (1928), 'A Cup of Kindness' (1929) , 'Marry the Girl' (1930), 'A Night Like This' (1930) and 'Turkey Time' (1931). Since 1927 he has also worked as a manager of the Fortune Theater in London and in this capacity has performed pieces such as 'On Approval' (1927), 'Mischief' (1928), 'The Last Enemy' (1929) and 'Cape Forlorn' (1930) Performance.

With the advent of the sound film age in Great Britain, cinema began to gain prominence in Walls' career. He made his debut with the film adaptation of his earlier stage success ' Rookery Nook' (which he co-directed) . He also gave the Clive Popkiss in front of the camera. Until shortly before the outbreak of war, Walls made film on film, mostly under his own direction. There he remained loyal to humorous everyday types in funny or boulevard-like stories. He was repeatedly seen in film adaptations of his greatest theater hits ("On Approval", "Plunder", "Thark", "A Night Like This", "A Cuckoo in the Nest", "A Cup of Kindness"). In many of these box office hits, produced by Herbert Wilcox and staged by Walls, he played tempted, brave husbands and bankrupt aristocrats, henpecked heroes and quirky owls, burned-down Irish and gentleman thieves. Even in the 1940s, when he was no longer directing, Walls received leading or at least supporting roles throughout the film.

Tom Walls has also made a name for himself as a racing stable owner, horse breeder and racehorse trainer, his racehorse April the Fifth , which he trained himself, won the English Derby in 1932 .

Filmography

as an actor, unless otherwise stated

  • 1929: Rookery Nook (also co-director)
  • 1930: On Approval (also director)
  • 1930: Canaries Sometimes Sing (also director)
  • 1930: Tons of Money (director only)
  • 1930: Plunder (also director)
  • 1931: A Night Like This (also director)
  • 1932: Thark (also director)
  • 1932: Leap Year (also director)
  • 1932: The Blarney Stone (also director)
  • 1933: Just Smith (also director)
  • 1933: A Cuckoo in the Nest (also director)
  • 1934: A Cup of Kindness (also director)
  • 1934: Lady in Danger (also director)
  • 1934: Dirty Work (director only)
  • 1935: Fighting Stock (also director)
  • 1935: Me and Marlborough
  • 1935: Stormy Weather (also director)
  • 1935: Foreign Affaires (also director)
  • 1936: Pot Luck (also director)
  • 1936: Dishonour Bright (also director)
  • 1937: For Valor (also director)
  • 1937: Second Best Bed (also director)
  • 1938: Stranger Boarders
  • 1938: Crackerjack
  • 1938: Old Iron (also direction and production)
  • 1942: Undercover
  • 1943: Spionagering M ( They Met in the Dark )
  • 1943: Ghost Hotel ( The Halfway House )
  • 1944: Cornwall Rhapsody ( Love Story )
  • 1944: Johnny Frenchman
  • 1946: This Man is Mine
  • 1947: The weavers of Bankdam ( The Master of Bankdam )
  • 1947: While I Live
  • 1948: Dance in the Spring ( Spring in Park Lane )
  • 1948: Maytime in Mayfair
  • 1949: The End of a Journey ( Interrupted Journey )

literature

  • Who Was Who 1941-1950, London 1952, p. 1196 f.
  • The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theater, ed. By Phyllis Hartnoll & Peter Found. Oxford University Press, 2nd ed. 1992. p. 535

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Walls, Tom
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Walls, Tom Kirby (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actor (comedian), stage and film director and producer
DATE OF BIRTH February 18, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Kingsthorpe , United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH November 27, 1949
Place of death Edwell