Walter Hampden

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Walter Hampden as Lucentio in The Taming of the Shrew (1904)

Walter Hampden Dougherty (born June 30, 1879 in Brooklyn , New York , † June 11, 1955 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American actor and theater director. He was a major Broadway theater star in New York.

life and career

Walter Hampden was born in Brooklyn to John Hampden Dougherty and Alice Hill, his older brother was the painter Paul Dougherty (1877–1947). He gained his first experience as an actor in England, where he joined Frank Benson 's stage troupe and, among other things, enjoyed a good acting education through Shakespeare plays . In 1907 Hampden returned to the United States, where he appeared alongside Alla Nazimova , among others . From 1908 onwards, Hampden appeared regularly on Broadway , becoming a stage star that was acclaimed by both audiences and critics. His greatest success was the embodiment of Cyrano de Bergerac , which he played for the first time in 1923 and then four times during his Broadway career. He was also known for his brilliant interpretations of Shakespeare: besides Maurice Evans , he is the only actor known to have played Hamlet three times on Broadway. After John Barrymore , he was the leading American Shakespeare actor of his time. At times, Hampden ran his own theater, the Colonial Theater, which was also named after him as the Walter Hampden Theater between 1925 and 1931 .

For more than 27 years, Hampden was President of the renowned Players Club until his death . In March 1929 he even found himself on the cover of Time Magazine . Hampden played his last role on Broadway in 1953 in the world premiere of Arthur Miller's drama Witch Hunt as Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth, who is jointly responsible for the witch burnings during the play.

Walter Hampden made two silent films in 1915 and 1917, but he did not make his third film appearance until 1939 under the direction of William Dieterle in the literary film adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame . Here Hampden played the good-natured Archbishop of Paris. Until his death, Hampden played a long line of dignified authority figures in Hollywood, mostly in larger supporting roles. In The Cicero case he played the British ambassador and in Billy Wilder's comedy Sabrina he was seen as the very rich father of Humphrey Bogart and William Holden . In the Oscar-winning classic film All About Eve parodied Hampden (1950) himself when he a price in the first scene as a pompous old theater star with swollen words at a gala Anne Baxter presented. Walter Hampden also played many guest roles on television in the last years of his life, he even received an Emmy nomination for Best Actor in 1952 .

The actor died of a stroke in 1955 at the age of 75. He had been married to Mabel Moore since 1905 and they had two children.

Filmography

  • 1915: The Dragon's Claw
  • 1917: The Warfare of the Flesh
  • 1939: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
  • 1940: Hell, where is your victory? (All This and Heaven Too)
  • 1940: The Scarlet Horsemen (North West Mounted Police)
  • 1941: His last command (They Died with Their Boots On)
  • 1942: Pirates in the Caribbean Sea (Reap the Wild Wind)
  • 1944: The Adventures of Mark Twain (The Adventures of Mark Twain)
  • 1949: The Philco Television Playhouse (TV series, episode)
  • 1949–1951: The Ford Theater Hour (TV series, three episodes)
  • 1950: All About Eve (All About Eve)
  • 1950–1951: The Billy Rose Show (TV series, three episodes)
  • 1951: Pulitzer Prize Playhouse (TV series, episode)
  • 1951: The Prudential Family Playhouse (TV series, episode)
  • 1951: Lux Video Theater (TV series, episode)
  • 1951: Doctor's Confession - The First Legion
  • 1951–1952: Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (TV series, five episodes)
  • 1952: The Cicero Case (Five Fingers)
  • 1952–1954: Robert Montgomery Presents (TV series, two episodes)
  • 1953: Treasure of the Golden Condor
  • 1953: Sombrero
  • 1953: Danger (TV series, an episode)
  • 1954: The Motorola Television Hour (TV series, episode)
  • 1954: The United States Steel Hour (TV series, episode)
  • 1954: Sabrina
  • 1954: The Silver Chalice (The Silver Chalice)
  • 1954: Studio One (TV series, an episode)
  • 1955: Temple of Temptation (The Prodigal)
  • 1955: From the Life of a Doctor (Strange Lady in Town)
  • 1956: The Vagabond King

literature

  • Geddeth, Smith: Walter Hampden: Dean of the American Theater , 2008

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Walter Hampden | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos | AllMovie. Retrieved September 13, 2018 .
  2. ^ Cover of Time Magazine
personal data
SURNAME Hampden, Walter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hampden Dougherty, Walter (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH June 30, 1879
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York
DATE OF DEATH June 11, 1955
Place of death Los Angeles , California