Walter Connolly

Walter Connolly

The name may have been forgotten, especially today (seven decades later), but the portly, apoplectic, exasperated figure on the 1930s screen wasn't. While his film career, save a couple of silents, lasted a paltry seven years (1932-1939), character actor Walter Connolly certainly ran the distance. While some film historians complain that a number of his performances were annoying or overbaked, he was for the most part applauded for his zesty contributions to a number of comedy classics. Frank Capra's Lady for a Day (1933), Broadway Bill (1934) and It Happened One Night (1934), not to mention the Carole Lombard/Fredric March screwball farce Nothing Sacred (1937) as news reporter March's hot-headed editor boss are sure-fire examples. The Cincinnati, Ohio native was born on April 8, 1887 and schooled there. The son of the head of the Western Union relay office, he attended St. Xavier College and the University of Dublin in Ireland before making his New York debut in 1910 in an outdoor presentation of "As You Like It". For the next year or so he was a member of E.H. Sothern's touring company and played supporting roles in a number of Shakespearean shows on the road. After a few silent pictures left him unimpressed with film-making, he turned to the Broadway stage in the 1920s and scored quite well. Somewhat short and tubby, it was not difficult for the jowly, mustachioed actor to seize laughs and he found his share in such outings as "The Talking Parrot" (1923), "Applesauce" (1925), "The Springboard" (1927), "The Happy Husband" (1928), "Stepping Out" (1929), "Your Uncle Dudley" (1930), "Anatol" (1931), "Six Characters in Search of an Author" (1931), "The Good Fairy" (1932) and "The Late Christopher Bean" (1932). With his talents as a stage farceur firmly established, it was time to make a second attempt at a film career and Hollywood (specifically, Columbia) wisely opened their doors to him. Interestingly, his debut in a full-length talking picture came at age 45 in the form of a drama, Washington Merry-Go-Round (1932), where he was third-billed as a rather benign senator. For the next seven years Connolly, often playing older than he really was, could be found everywhere giving good fluster to the greatest and glossiest of stars -- Janet Gaynor, Carole Lombard, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, Paul Muni, Spencer Tracy, and Ginger Rogers, among hordes of others. His hobbies were collecting old books and theatre programmes. Connolly was married to actress Nedda Harrigan from 1923 to his death. They had one daughter, Ann (1924–2006). Connolly suffered a fatal stroke on May 28, 1940, and was buried in New St. Joseph Cemetery in Cincinnati.

Known For: Acting

Born: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 1887-04-08

Died: 1940-05-28

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1932	Washington Merry-Go-Round	Senator Wylie	67
2	1932	Man Against Woman	Mossie Ennis	35
3	1932	No More Orchids	Bill Holt	68
4	1932	The Bitter Tea of General Yen	Jones	62
5	1933	Paddy the Next Best Thing	Major Adair	10
6	1933	Lady for a Day	Count Romero	70
7	1933	Man's Castle	Ira	68
8	1933	East of Fifth Avenue	John Lawton	60
9	1933	Master of Men	Sam Parker	0
10	1934	Eight Girls in a Boat	Storm	0
11	1934	It Happened One Night	Alexander Andrews	78
12	1934	Hollywood on Parade No. B-1		60
13	1934	Once to Every Woman	Dr. Selby	60
14	1934	Twentieth Century	Oliver Webb	68
15	1934	Whom the Gods Destroy	John Forrester aka Eric Jann aka Peter Korotoff	55
16	1934	Servants' Entrance	Viktor Nilsson	0
17	1934	Lady by Choice	Judge Daly	63
18	1934	The Captain Hates the Sea	Captain Helquist	65
19	1934	Broadway Bill	J.L. Higgins	60
20	1934	Father Brown, Detective	Father Brown	65
21	1935	She Couldn't Take It	Daniel Van Dyke	45
22	1935	One Way Ticket	Captain Bourne	50
23	1935	So Red the Rose	Malcolm Bedford	65
24	1935	White Lies	John Mitchell	60
25	1936	Soak the Rich	Humphrey Craig	0
26	1936	The Music Goes 'Round	Hector Courtney	0
27	1936	The King Steps Out	Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria	59
28	1936	Libeled Lady	James B. Allenbury	73
29	1937	Nancy Steele Is Missing!	Michael Steele	50
30	1937	Let's Get Married	Joe Quinn	50
31	1937	The League of Frightened Men	Nero Wolfe	60
32	1937	The Good Earth	Uncle	63
33	1937	Nothing Sacred	Oliver Stone	62
34	1937	First Lady	Carter Hibbard	62
35	1938	Penitentiary	Dist. Atty. Thomas Mathews	0
36	1938	Start Cheering	Sam Lewis	70
37	1938	Four's a Crowd	John P. Dillingwell	51
38	1938	Too Hot to Handle	Gabby MacArthur	58
39	1938	The Girl Downstairs	Mr. Brown	45
40	1938	Breakdowns of 1938	Carter Hibbard (archive footage) (uncredited)	50
41	1939	The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn	The 'King'	65
42	1939	Bridal Suite	Dr. Theodore Grauer	51
43	1939	Good Girls Go to Paris	Olaf Brand	71
44	1939	Coast Guard	Tobias Bliss	50
45	1939	Those High Grey Walls	Dr. MacAuley	62
46	1939	Fifth Avenue Girl	Mr. Borden	70
47	1939	The Great Victor Herbert	Victor Herbert	50
48	1975	Black Shadows on a Silver Screen	Self (archive footage)	0

Walter Connolly

Film

Television