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Raymond Walburn

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Raymond Walburn
Walburn in 1929
Born(1887-09-09)September 9, 1887
Plymouth, Indiana, U.S.
DiedJuly 26, 1969(1969-07-26) (aged 81)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1913–1958
Spouse(s)Gertrude Steinman
(m.?-1953; her death)
Jane Davis
(m.1955-1969; his death)

Raymond Walburn (September 9, 1887 – July 26, 1969) was an American character actor of stage and screen who appeared in dozens of Hollywood movie comedies and an occasional dramatic role during the 1930s and 1940s.

Life and career

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Walburn was born on September 9, 1887,[1] in Plymouth, Indiana,[2] and left there when he was 16 years old, and joined a stock theater company in California,[3] following high school with his mother and began acting on stage, which was also his mother's profession.[4]

There he was placed in an acting school associated with the Liberty Theatre, the principal stock company in Oakland, and made his professional stage debut at the age of 18, playing the Second Witch in MacBeth.[citation needed] (A published source says that his professional debut came in Soldiers of Fortune when he was 19 in a part that his mother secured for him.[4])

Theatrical troupes with which Walburn acted included the Lakewood Stock Company.[5] Following extensive touring in stock shows, he took his first Broadway bow in the opening of the most popular and successful The Greyhound in 1912.[6] (Another source shows his first Broadway play as Cordelia Blossom (1914).[1])

Walburn appeared in the serial The Scarlet Runner (1916).[5] After a long period of struggle and a number of theater misfires,[citation needed] his career was interrupted by military service during World War I in the artillery[3] in the United States Army in 1917-1918 where he served in France. This was shortly after his being cast as a replacement in the juvenile lead role in "Come Out of the Kitchen" starring Ruth Chatterton.

Following his discharge from military service he resumed his Broadway and stock show career and grew in stature throughout the 1920s. In 1924 he made his London, England, debut as Aubrey Piper in "The Show-Off," a role which keenly established his pompous image and brash, phony-baloney facade on stage and in later film. Over the decades Walburn's plus-sized comic vanity would become a repetitive scene-stealing tactic.

He performed in stock theater for only four years before being cast on Broadway, where he made his debut in Cordelia Blossom in 1914. Over a half century later, in 1965, Walburn acted in his final Broadway production, A Very Rich Woman.[4][7] During his long career, he also toured extensively, performing on stages throughout the United States and in other countries.[4]

Third Finger, Left Hand trailer (1940)

Walburn did not make an impact in films until 1934 with the release of The Count of Monte Cristo starring Robert Donat. His filmography includes nearly 100 films, with his best known roles as a stereotypical bumbler and as a pompous snob. He could also be villainous, as he was when he played Baron Danglars in the 1934 film version of The Count of Monte Cristo, and was a favorite of such celebrated comedy directors as Preston Sturges and Frank Capra, with whom he made several appearances.

Outside of a couple of nondescript roles in silent films, Walburn did not take a serious stab at films until 1929,[citation needed] when he was cast supporting a Ruth Chatterton vehicle (again), this time playing her unfaithful husband in The Laughing Lady (1929).[8] He did not return to films again, however, until five years later following a stage success in The Pursuit of Happiness (1933). From 1934 on he continued to be seen in film and was a main character staple for Columbia. For Frank Capra his highlights included Colonel Pettigrew, the race track tout, in Broadway Bill (1934); the ostentatious valet of Gary Cooper in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936); and the opportunistic Judge Alexander in the Spencer Tracy / Katharine Hepburn starrer State of the Union (1948). He also performed in Capra's pallid musical remake of Broadway Bill entitled Riding High (1950) with Bing Crosby, in which he recreated his Colonel Pettigrew shyster. As a Preston Sturges favorite, Walburn shined as the sarcastic and pompous Dr. Maxford in Christmas in July (1940); the windbag Mayor Noble in the classic Hail the Conquering Hero (1944); and as the boss who fires Harold Lloyd in The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947) [aka Mad Wednesday].

In post-war years, the by-now chunky-framed Walburn was given a great chance to show off by headlining his own "Henry" series of light comedy films. Playing patriarch Henry Latham in its debut Henry, the Rainmaker (1949), he was able to bounce off the droll antics of Walter Catlett's Mayor Colton character. Barbara Brown as his wife and young Gary Gray as son David were around for the entire series. He cavorted in five features ending with Father Takes the Air (1951). Walburn's last film was the rather uneventful western The Spoilers (1955).

In 1962, at the age of 74, he came out of his self-imposed retirement at the urging of Harold Prince to join Zero Mostel and company[citation needed] in the burlesque musical farce A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum[3] playing a senile Roman citizen. He appeared in the show for 18 months,[citation needed] then went on to appear with Ruth Gordon in A Very Rich Woman in 1965.[3]

Personal life and death

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Following the death of his first wife, the former Gertrude Steinman,[3] (affectionately known as Trudy), Walburn more or less retired, but found happiness again when he married a family friend,[citation needed] Jane Davis, in 1955. He died on July 26, 1969, in LeRoy Hospital in New York City at the age of 81 following an extended illness.[3]

Complete filmography

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References

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  1. 1 2 "Raymond Walburn". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on October 8, 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2026.
  2. ↑ Davis, Richard P. (April 20, 1925). "The 'Show Off' muses on Plymouth and South Bend". The South Bend Tribune. p. 8. Retrieved August 14, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Raymond Walburn Dead at 81; I Stage and Film Actor 59 Years". The New York Times. July 28, 1969. p. 31. Retrieved August 14, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Alden, John (April 25, 1936). "Hollywood Mugs: Raymond Walburn -- A Hollywood Convert". Star Tribune. Minnesota, Minneapolis. p. 15. Retrieved October 23, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 "Raymond Walburn in the Movies". The Independent-Reporter. Maine, Skowhegan. April 5, 1917. p. 5. Retrieved August 14, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Walburn, 81, Actor, Dead". Daily News. New York, New York City. July 28, 1969. p. 48. Retrieved August 14, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Raymond Walburn". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Raymond Walburn Deserts Gotham for Talkie Studios". Cleveland Plain Dealer. June 3, 1934. p. 59. Retrieved August 14, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
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