Walter Long (actor)
Walter Long | |
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![]() Long in 1924 | |
Born | Walter Huntley Long March 5, 1879 Nashua, New Hampshire, U.S. |
Died | July 4, 1952 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 73)
Burial place | Hollywood Forever Cemetery |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1900–1950 |
Spouses | Luray Grace Roblee (m. 1908; died 1919)Leta Amanda Held (m. 1923) |
Children | 1 |
Walter Huntley Long (March 5, 1879 – July 4, 1952)[1] was an American stage and film character actor who between 1909 and the late 1940s performed in nearly 200 screen productions.[2]
Early life and career
[edit]Born in Nashua, New Hampshire, in 1879, Long was the youngest of six children of Catherine Lucia Jane (née Phillips) and Francis Long, who was a farmer.[1][3]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Birth-of-a-nation-klan-and-black-man.jpg/210px-Birth-of-a-nation-klan-and-black-man.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Kick_In_%281922%29_1.jpg/210px-Kick_In_%281922%29_1.jpg)
After acting on stage for years, Long debuted in motion pictures in 1909 with Broncho Billy Anderson. He disliked the working conditions in film production, so after that screen project he returned to the stage.[4]
Long soon began to act again in motion pictures, over the years gaining recognition among theater audiences for being a popular "hissed-at villain".[5] He can be seen in some of D. W. Griffith's early films, as well as Griffith's later, far more elaborate productions, most notably The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916). In The Birth of a Nation, Long appears in blackface make-up as the African American character "Gus", and in Intolerance he portrays the "Musketeer", who operates within the crime-ridden slums of a modern American city.[6] He was also cast as a supporting character for Rudolph Valentino in the films The Sheik (1921), Moran of the Lady Letty (1922), and Blood and Sand (1922). He also appears as a comic villain in four Laurel and Hardy shorts released in the early 1930s: as an abusive prisoner in Pardon Us (1931), a dissolute hotel owner and boxer in Any Old Port! (1932), an escaped convict Going Bye-Bye! (1933), and as a gruff sea captain in The Live Ghost (1934).
On Broadway, Long performed in Adonis (1899),[7] Leave It to Me! (1938), Very Warm for May (1939), Boys and Girls Together (1940),[8] Follow the Girls (1944),[9] and Toplitzky of Notre Dame (1946).[8]
Although he was often called upon to play antagonists and villains because of his rugged appearance and gravelly voice, many people reported that off-camera he was actually a warm, kindhearted man.[10]
Military service
[edit]Long served in the United States Army during both world wars. During World War I, he was a first lieutenant of Coast Artillery and then promoted in rank to captain by the time the conflict ended in November 1918.[11][5] He remained in the army reserves until World War II, when he was recalled to active duty, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel before officially retiring from service with an honorable discharge in October 1944.[10][11][5]
Personal life and death
[edit]On May 6, 1908, in Escanaba, Michigan, Long married Luray Grace Roblee, a native of Wisconsin and a stenographer, who later became an actress at Triangle/Fine Arts.[12] She died at the Pacific Hospital in downtown Los Angeles in 1919, at age 29, due to bronchial pneumonia contracted during the global "Spanish flu" epidemic.[13] Over four years later in Los Angeles, on October 16, 1923, Long married California native Leta Amanda Held.[9] The couple adopted a son whom they named John Huntley Long.[14]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Walter_Long_and_Carol_Dempster.jpg/220px-Walter_Long_and_Carol_Dempster.jpg)
Long died of a heart attack in California on July 4, 1952, after watching the Independence Day fireworks display at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.[11] In its obituary for the actor published two days after his death, the Los Angeles Times notes, "Long and his wife, Leta, both of 632 North Cahuenga Blvd., had just left the Coliseum when he was stricken."[11] Long's grave is located in the "Garden of Memory" at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.[1]
Filmography
[edit]![]() |
Year | Title | Genre | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1910 | The Fugitive | Drama | Unknown role | Short |
1911 | The Primal Call | Drama | Unknown role | Short |
1911 | Bobby, the Coward | Drama | Unknown role | Short |
1912 | The Girl and Her Trust | Drama | Grace's Bashful Suitor (uncredited) | Short |
1912 | The Painted Lady | Drama | Unknown role | Short |
1912 | The Musketeers of Pig Alley | Drama | Unknown role | Credited as the first gangster film in history. |
1913 | The Deerslayer | Drama | Indian (uncredited) | Short |
1913 | Traffic in Souls | Drama | Policeman | |
1914 | The Broken Bottle | Drama | Unknown role | |
1914 | The Life of General Villa | Action-drama | Federal Officer | Pancho Villa plays himself. |
1914 | Home, Sweet Home | Drama | himself | Biographical film |
1914 | The Escape | Drama | Unknown role | Now considered a lost film. |
1914 | Dan Morgan's Way | Drama | Dick Ramsey | Short |
1914 | Blue Pete's Escape | Western | Chicago Red | Short |
1914 | The Avenging Conscience | Drama | Detective (uncredited) | Based on "The Tell-Tale Heart". |
1914 | Where the Mountains Meet | Unknown role | Himself | Short |
1914 | The Revenue Officer's Deputy | Drama | Bruner | Short |
1914 | Ethel Has a Steady | Comedy | Unknown role | Short |
1914 | Bobby's Medal | Drama | Unknown role | Short |
1915 | The Birth of a Nation | Drama | Gus – a renegade Negro | |
1915 | A Man and His Mate | Taylor | ||
1915 | The Outlaw's Revenge | Federal officer | ||
1915 | The Highbinders | Crime | Pat Gallagher | Short |
1915 | Little Marie | Short | ||
1915 | Jordan Is a Hard Road | Agent | ||
1915 | Martyrs of the Alamo | Santa Anna | ||
1916 | Let Katie Do It | Drama | Pedro Garcia | |
1916 | Daphne and the Pirate | Drama | Jamie d'Arcy | Starring Lillian Gish |
1916 | Sold for Marriage | Drama | Col. Gregioff | |
1916 | The Children in the House | Al Fellower | ||
1916 | The Marriage of Molly-O | Joseph McGuire | ||
1916 | Intolerance | Drama | Musketeer of the Slums | |
1916 | Unprotected | Drama | Joshua Craig | |
1916 | The Years of the Locust | Drama | Aaron Roth | |
1916 | Joan the Woman | Epic drama | Executioner | Joan of Arc |
1917 | The Evil Eye | Drama | Mexican Joe | |
1917 | The Golden Fetter | Romance | McGill | |
1917 | Each to His Kind | Drama | Mulai Singh | Lost film |
1917 | The Winning of Sally Temple | Drama | Duke of Chatto | |
1917 | The Cost of Hatred | Drama | Jefe Politico | |
1917 | A Romance of the Redwoods | Drama | Sheriff | Starring Mary Pickford |
1917 | The Little American | Romantic war drama | German Captain | |
1917 | Hashimura Togo | Comedy | Carlos Anthony | |
1917 | The Woman God Forgot | Romance | Taloc (High Priest) | |
1919 | The Poppy Girl's Husband | Drama | Boston Blackie | |
1919 | Chasing Rainbows | Western | Lacy | |
1919 | The Mother and the Law | The Musketeer of the Town | ||
1919 | Scarlet Days | Western | King Bagley, aka Knight of the Black Stain | |
1919 | Desert Gold | Horseracing melodrama | Rojas | |
1919 | An Adventure in Hearts | Adventure | Guilamo Sevier | Lost film |
1920 | The Fighting Shepherdess | Pete Mullendore | ||
1920 | Excuse My Dust | Comedy drama | Ritz | |
1920 | The Third Woman | Scar Norton | ||
1920 | The Sea Wolf | Drama | Black Harris, the Mate | |
1920 | Go and Get It | Mystery Comedy drama | Jim Hogan | |
1920 | Held In Trust | Romance | Hasbrouck Rutherford | Lost film |
1920 | What Women Love | Comedy drama | Captain Buck Nelson | Lost film |
1921 | Tiger True | Old Whitey / the Baboon | ||
1921 | The Fire Cat | Gringo Burke | ||
1921 | White and Unmarried | Comedy | Chicoq | |
1921 | A Giant of His Race | |||
1921 | The Sheik | Drama | Omair – the bandit | Starring Rudolph Valentino |
1922 | Moran of the Lady Letty | Captain "Slippery" Kitchel | Lost film | |
1922 | Across the Continent | Dutton Tyler | Lost film | |
1922 | The Dictator | Comedy drama | Mike "Bigg" Dooley | |
1922 | South of Suva | Drama | Sydney Latimer | Lost film |
1922 | Blood and Sand | Drama | Plumitas | Starring Rudolph Valentino |
1922 | To Have and to Hold | Drama | Red Gill | |
1922 | Shadows | Daniel Gibbs | ||
1922 | The Beautiful and Damned | Drama | Hull | |
1922 | Kick In | Drama | Whip Fogarty | |
1922 | Omar the Tentmaker | Drama | Executioner | |
1922 | My American Wife | Drama | Gomez | |
1923 | The Last Hour | Red Brown | ||
1923 | Quicksands | Ring member | ||
1923 | The Isle of Lost Ships | Peter Forbes | ||
1923 | The Little Church Around the Corner | Big Hex Poulon | ||
1923 | The Shock | The captain | ||
1923 | The Huntress | Joe Hagland | ||
1923 | The Call of the Wild | Hagin | ||
1923 | Desire | Bud Reisner | ||
1923 | The Broken Wing | Captain Innocencio Dos Santos | ||
1923 | A Shot in the Night | |||
1924 | Yankee Madness | Pablo del Gardo | ||
1924 | Missing Daughters | Guy Benson | ||
1924 | Daring Love | Red Bishop | ||
1924 | Wine | Comedy drama | Benedict, Count Montebello | |
1924 | White Man | The River Thief | ||
1924 | The Ridin' Kid from Powder River | Western | Steve Lanning | |
1925 | The Lady | drama | Blackie | |
1925 | The Reckless Sex | |||
1925 | The Shock Punch | boxing drama | Bull Malarkey | |
1925 | The Verdict | mystery | Convict Fred Windemere | |
1925 | Soul-Fire | Herbert Jones Sailor | ||
1925 | Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman | Crawshay | ||
1925 | Bobbed Hair | Doc | ||
1925 | The Road to Yesterday | Rowdy in Burning-at-the-Stake Scene (uncredited) | ||
1925 | Steel Preferred | Redface | ||
1926 | Red Dice | Crime drama | Nick Webb | |
1926 | The Highbinders | Bill Dorgan | ||
1926 | Things Wives Tell | Ben Felton | ||
1926 | Eve's Leaves | Chanz Fang | ||
1926 | West of Broadway | Comedy-western | Bad Willie | |
1926 | Jim, the Conqueror | Western | Hank Milford | |
1927 | Jewels of Desire | Pedro, aka Jose Hernandez | ||
1927 | The Yankee Clipper | Portuguese Joe | ||
1927 | White Pants Willie | Mock Epply | ||
1927 | Back to God's Country | Captain Blake | ||
1927 | Chicago | Flynn's Thug (uncredited) | ||
1928 | Thundergod | Bruce Drossler | ||
1928 | Gang War | Mike Luego | ||
1928 | Forbidden Grass | |||
1928 | Me, Gangster | Gangster (uncredited) | ||
1928 | Black Cargoes of the South Seas | Action drama | Fursey | |
1929 | The Black Watch | Harrim Bey | ||
1930 | Beau Bandit | Bobcat | ||
1930 | Conspiracy | Mystery melodrama | Weinberg | |
1930 | Moby Dick | Stubbs | ||
1931 | Sea Devils | Johnson the first mate | ||
1931 | Other Men's Women | drama | Bixby | |
1931 | Los presidiarios | El Tigre (uncredited) | ||
1931 | The Maltese Falcon | Miles Archer | ||
1931 | Pardon Us | comedy | The Tiger | Laurel & Hardy film |
1931 | Sous les verrous | Le Tigre | ||
1931 | Soul of the Slums | Melodrama | Pete Thompson | |
1931 | Dragnet Patrol | Melodrama | Jim Grainger | |
1932 | Ship a Hooey | Comedy | CPO Long | |
1932 | Any Old Port! | Comedy | Mugsie Long | Laurel & Hardy short |
1932 | Escapade | Crime | Gympy McLane | |
1932 | Cornered | Western | Henchman Slade | |
1932 | I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang | Crime drama | Blacksmith (uncredited) | |
1932 | Women Won't Tell | Drama | Joe Kummer | |
1932 | Call Her Savage | Man Who Tries to Pick Up Nasa (uncredited) | ||
1932 | Silver Dollar | Sick Miner Selling Mine to Yates (uncredited) | ||
1933 | Laughter in Hell | Chain Gang Member (uncredited) | ||
1933 | Blondie Johnson | Artie (uncredited) | ||
1933 | Easy Millions | |||
1933 | Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men | Red's Prison Cellmate (uncredited) | ||
1934 | Fugitive Lovers | Prison Guard (uncredited) | ||
1934 | Six of a Kind | Hold-Up Man (uncredited) | ||
1934 | The House of Rothschild | Prussian Soldier (uncredited) | ||
1934 | Lazy River | Buck – Prisoner (uncredited) | ||
1934 | The Thin Man | Stutsy Burke (uncredited) | ||
1934 | Operation 13 | Operator 55 | ||
1934 | Going Bye-Bye! | Comedy | Butch Long | Laurel & Hardy short |
1934 | Lightning Strikes Twice | Policeman (uncredited) | ||
1934 | Three Little Pigskins | comedy | Joe Stacks (uncredited) | Three Stooges film |
1934 | The Live Ghost | Comedy | Sea Captain | Laurel & Hardy short |
1935 | The Whole Town's Talking | Convict (uncredited) | ||
1935 | Naughty Marietta | Pirate Leader (uncredited) | ||
1935 | Here Comes Cookie | Tramp (uncredited) | ||
1935 | Annie Oakley | Dan – First Indian Hater (uncredited) | ||
1935 | Frisco Kid | Gambling Miner (uncredited) | ||
1936 | Drift Fence | western | Bev Wilson, neighbor | |
1936 | Sutter's Gold | Sailor (uncredited) | ||
1936 | The Glory Trail | Riley – Renegade Leader | ||
1936 | Wedding Present | Gangster (uncredited) | ||
1936 | The Accusing Finger | Convict (uncredited) | ||
1936 | The Bold Caballero | adventure | Guard | |
1937 | Dick Tracy | Whitey (uncredited) | Serial | |
1937 | Pick a Star | musical comedy | Bandit | |
1937 | North of the Rio Grande | Western | Patrick "Buck" O'Hara | |
1937 | Hoosier Schoolboy | Riley | ||
1937 | Federal Bullets | Henchman | ||
1938 | The Painted Trail | Gang Leader Driscoll | ||
1938 | Six Shootin' Sheriff | Western | Gang leader Chuck | |
1938 | Bar 20 Justice | Western | Duke Pierce | |
1938 | Man's Country | Lex Crane / Buck Crane | ||
1938 | Prison Break | Convict (uncredited) | ||
1938 | Wild Horse Canyon | Western | Roscoe | |
1939 | Union Pacific | Irishman (uncredited) | ||
1939 | Daughter of the Tong | Henchman (uncredited) | ||
1939 | Flaming Lead | Western | Big Jim Greely | |
1939 | Fighting Mad | Frenchy | ||
1940 | Dark Command | Townsman (uncredited) | ||
1940 | Men Without Souls | Fireman (uncredited) | ||
1940 | Hidden Gold | Henchman Sanford (uncredited) | ||
1940 | When the Daltons Rode | Deputy on Train (uncredited) | ||
1941 | Ridin' on a Rainbow | Three Feathers Bartender (uncredited) | ||
1941 | A Man Betrayed | Henchman Asking About Pete and Louie (uncredited) | ||
1941 | City of Missing Girls | drama | Officer Larkin | |
1941 | Lady from Louisiana | Lottery Thug (uncredited) | ||
1941 | Silver Stallion | Action adventure | Benson | |
1941 | I Was a Prisoner on Devil's Island | Captain Quinez (uncredited) | ||
1945 | Dillinger | Mug in Police Lineup (uncredited) | ||
1948 | No More Relatives | Comedy | Joe | Edgar Kennedy short |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Wilson, Scott (19 August 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 453. ISBN 978-1-4766-2599-7. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
- ^ Strausbaugh, John (16 August 2007). Black Like You: Blackface, Whiteface, Insult & Imitation in American Popular Culture. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-101-21605-7. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
- ^ "United States Census, 1880", image of original enumeration sheet, Walter H. Long, son in household of Francis and Lucia Long, Milford, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, June 22, 1880; Enumeration District (ED) 141, sheet 378; National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. Retrieved via subscribed online service FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, March 29, 2023.
- ^ "Walter Long Back on Screen". Pittsburgh Daily Post. Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh. January 4, 1920. p. 43. Retrieved May 31, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "Walter Long as a Stage Captain Wears His Genuine War Ribbons", New York Herald Tribune (New York City), February 25, 1945, p. C2. Retrieved via ProQuest Historical Newspapers, April 7, 2023.
- ^ Smith, Valerie (1997). Representing Blackness: Issues in Film and Video. Rutgers University Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-8135-2314-9. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
- ^ "Walter Long". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
- ^ a b "Walter Long". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on August 24, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
- ^ a b "Walter Long". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on September 30, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
- ^ a b Erickson, Hal. "Walter Long". AllMovie. Archived from the original on June 12, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Walter H. Long, Film and Stage Actor, Dies", obituary, Los Angeles Times, July 6, 1952, p. 16. Retrieved via ProQuest Historical Newspapers database (Ann Arbor, Michigan), subscription access through The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, March 28, 2023.
- ^ "Michigan Marriages, 1822-1995", database, entry number 3285, marriage license and certificate of Lwray [sic] Roblee and Walter H. Long, May 6, 1908, Escanaba, Delta County, Michigan. Retrieved via FamilySearch (Salt Lake City, Utah), April 2, 2023.
- ^ "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994", image of original death certificate of Luray Roblee Long at Pacific Hospital, January 2, 1919, Los Angeles, California; Bureau of Vital Statistics, California State Board of Health, Sacramento. Record retrieved via FamilySearch, April 2, 2023.
- ^ "Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930 Population Schedule", database with image of original enumeration page, "John H. Long", 7 years old, "Adopted son" in household of Leta A. and Walter H. Long, recorded April 2, 1930; ED [Enumeration District] 162, sheet 23B, line 55, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California; Bureau of the Census records, National Archives and Records Administration (Washington D.C.). Census page retrieved via FamilySearch, April 2, 2023.
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Walter Long at IMDb
- Walter Long at the TCM Movie Database
- Walter Long at Find a Grave