The name may have been forgotten, especially today (seven decades later), but the portly, apoplectic, exasperated figure on the 1930s screen wasnt. 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 Capras 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 Marchs 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. Sotherns 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.
Alexander Andrews
Film 1934
Oliver Webb
Film 1934
James B. Allenbury
Film 1936
Gabby MacArthur
Film 1938
Jones
Film 1932
Mossie Ennis
Film 1932
Uncle
Film 1937
Count Romero
Film 1933
Mr. Borden
Film 1939
John P. Dillingwell
Film 1938
Judge Daly
Film 1934
The 'King'
Film 1939
J.L. Higgins
Film 1934
Michael Steele
Film 1937
Carter Hibbard
Film 1937
Olaf Brand
Film 1939
Hector Courtney
Film 1936
Tobias Bliss
Film 1939
Sam Lewis
Film 1938
Nero Wolfe
Film 1937
Dr. MacAuley
Film 1939
Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria
Film 1936
Bill Holt
Film 1932
Major Adair
Film 1933
Mr. Brown
Film 1938
Victor Herbert
Film 1939
Joe Quinn
Film 1937
Father Brown
Film 1934
Malcolm Bedford
Film 1935
Daniel Van Dyke
Film 1935
John Lawton
Film 1933
Senator Wylie
Film 1932
John Forrester aka Eric Jann aka Peter Korotoff
Film 1934
Dr. Theodore Grauer
Film 1939
Captain Helquist
Film 1934
Ira
Film 1933
Viktor Nilsson
Film 1934
Captain Bourne
Film 1935
Sam Parker
Film 1933
Dr. Walter Selby
Film 1934
Storm
Film 1934
John Mitchell
Film 1935
Carter Hibbard (archive footage) (uncredited)
Film 1938
Film 1934
Humphrey Craig
Film 1936
Self (archive footage)
Film 1975
Dist. Atty. Thomas Mathews
Film 1938