Henry B. Walthall

Henry Brazeale Walthall (March 16, 1878 – June 17, 1936) was an American stage and film actor. He appeared as the Little Colonel in D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation.

Early life Henry B. Walthall was born March 16, 1878 on a cotton plantation owned by his father in Shelby County, Alabama. His father Junius Leigh Walthall had been a captain in the Confederate States Army. His sister, Anna Mae Walthall (1894–1950) had a film career in the 1920s.

In 1898, during the Spanish–American War, he enlisted in the First Alabama Regiment. He contracted malaria while in camp in Jacksonville, Florida, and the war ended before he had recovered. His fellow cast member James Kirkwood introduced Walthall to D. W. Griffith,

Walthall has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard.

Personal life Lillian Gish described Walthall as "a slight man, about five feet six, fine-boned, with the face of a poet and a dreamer." She recalled his patience while Griffith grappled with technical problems filming the epilogue of Home, Sweet Home (1914), a scene in which Gish, as an angel, lifts Walthall's character out of hell. "There was a long discussion while Walthall and I, encased in leather harness, hung on the guide wires. Wally, a true southern gentleman, didn't raise his voice, didn't complain; he simply fainted and hung there limply." Illinois law required a divorced person to wait one year to marry again, so Walthall fled to Indiana, and there he married Mary Charleson, in November 20, 1918. This marriage lasted from 1918 until his death in 1936.

Exhausted from months of uninterrupted film work, Walthall collapsed on the Warner Bros. set after completing his scenes in the film China Clipper, in which he portrayed an airplane inventor. He entered the Pasteur Sanitarium at Monrovia, California, and died of an intestinal illness three weeks later on June 17, 1936. 1914 Judith of Bethulia Holofernes 1914 Lord Chumley Lord Chumley Short 1914 Man's Enemy Short 1914 The Avenging Conscience The Nephew 1914 The Odalisque Joe, in love with May Short Lost film 1915 The Birth of a Nation Col. Benjamin Cameron 1915 Beulah Dr. Guy Hartwell Lost film 1915 Ghosts Captain Arling / Oswald 1915 The Raven Edgar Allan Poe 1915 The Woman Hater Lost film 1916 The Misleading Lady Jack Craigen Lost film 1916 The Strange Case of Mary Page Phil Langdon, Attorney Serial Lost film 1916 The Birth of a Man Lost film 1916 The Sting of Victory David Whiting/Walker Whiting Lost film 1916 The Pillars of Society Karsten Bernick Lost film 1916 The Truant Soul Dr. John Lancaster / Dr. Lawson Lost film 1917 Little Shoes David Noel Lost film 1917 Burning the Candle James Maxwell Lost film 1917 The Saint's Adventure Rev. Paul Manson Lost film 1917 National Association's All-Star Picture Lost film 1918 His Robe of Honor Julian Randolph Lost film 1918 Humdrum Brown Hector "Humdrum" Brown 1918 With Hoops of Steel Emerson Mead Lost film 1918 The Great Love Sir Roger Brighton Lost film 1918 And a Still Small Voice Clay Randolph Lost film 1919 The Long Lane's Turning Harry Sevier 1919 The False Faces Michael Lanyard, "The Lone Wolf" 1919 Modern Husbands Stephen Duane Lost film 1919 The Boomerang George Gray 1919 The Long Arm of Mannister George Mannister Lost film 1920 The Confession Father Bartlett 1920 Parted Curtains Joe Jenkins Lost film 1920 A Splendid Hazard Karl Breitman Lost film 1921 Flower of the North Philip Whittemore 1922 The Ableminded Lady Breezy Bright Lost film 1922 One Clear Call Henry Garnett 1922 The Kickback Aaron Price Lost film 1922 The Long Chance Harley P. Hennage Lost film 1922 The Marriage Chance Dr. Paul Graydon Lost film 1923 The Face on the Bar-Room Floor Robert Stevens Lost film 1923 Gimme John McGimsey Lost film 1923 The Unknown Purple Peter Marchmont / Victor Cromport Lost film 1923 Boy of Mine William Latimer Lost film 1924 The Woman on the Jury Prosecuting Attorney Lost film 1924 Single Wives Franklin Dexter 1924 The Bowery Bishop Norman Strong Lost film 1925 The Golden Bed Colonel Peake 1925 On the Threshold Andrew Masters 1925 The Girl Who Wouldn't Work William Hale 1925 Kit Carson Over the Great Divide Dr. Samuel Webb 1925 Kentucky Pride Mr. Beaumont 1925 Dollar Down Alec Craig 1925 Simon the Jester Brandt Lost film 1925 The Plastic Age Henry Carver 1926 Three Faces East George Bennett 1926 The Barrier Gale Gaylord Lost film 1926 The Unknown Soldier Mr. Phillips 1926 The Road to Mandalay Father James 1926 The Scarlet Letter Roger Chillingworth 1926 Everybody's Acting Thorpe Lost film 1927 Fighting Love Filipo Navarro 1927 The Enchanted Island Tim Sanborn Lost film 1927 Wings Mr. Armstrong 1927 The Rose of Kildare Bob Avery Lost film 1927 Love Me and the World Is Mine Van Denbosch 1927 A Light in the Window Johann Graff Lost film 1927 London After Midnight Sir James Hamlin Lost film 1928 Retribution Henry / Tommy Mooney Short, Vitaphone Varieties 2418 1928 Freedom of the Press John Ballard Lost film 1929 The Jazz Age Mr. Maxwell 1929 Stark Mad Captain Rhodes Lost film 1929 Speakeasy Fuzzy Lost film 1929 The Bridge of San Luis Rey Father Juniper 1929 From Headquarters Buffalo Bill Ryan Lost film 1929 River of Romance Gen. Jeff Rumford 1929 Black Magic Dr. Bradbroke Lost film 1929 Street Corner Short 1929 In Old California Don Pedro DeLeón 1929 The Phantom in the House Boyd Milburn 1929 The Trespasser Fuller 1930 Blaze o' Glory Burke Lost film 1930 Temple Tower Blackton 1930 Abraham Lincoln Colonel Marshall 1930 The Love Trader Captain Adams 1930 Tol'able David Amos Hatburn 1931 Is There Justice? District Attorney John Raymond Lost film 1931 Anybody's Blonde Mr. Evans 1932 Police Court Nat Barry 1932 Hotel Continental Winthrop 1932 Strange Interlude Professor Leeds 1932 Alias Mary Smith Atwell 1932 Chandu the Magician Robert Regent 1932 Ride Him, Cowboy John Gaunt 1932 Klondike Mark Armstrong 1932 The Cabin in the Cotton Eph Clinton 1932 Me and My Gal Sarge 1932 Central Park Eby 1932 Self Defense Dr. Borden 1933 42nd Street The Actor Uncredited 1933 The Whispering Shadow J.D. Bradley - Company President Serial 1933 The Flaming Signal Rev. James 1933 Somewhere in Sonora Bob Leadly 1933 Hold Your Man Clergyman in Alternate Version Uncredited 1933 Laughing at Life Presidente Valenzuela 1933 Headline Shooter Judge Beacon Uncredited 1933 Her Forgotten Past Mr. Maynard 1933 The Wolf Dog Jim Courtney Serial 1933 The Sin of Nora Moran Father Ryan 1934 Dark Hazard Schultz Uncredited 1934 Beggars in Ermine Marchant the Blind Man 1934 Men in White Dr. McCabe 1934 Viva Villa! Francisco I. Madero 1934 City Park Colonel Henry Randolph Ransome 1934 The Murder in the Museum Bernard Latham Wayne, alias Professor Mysto 1934 Judge Priest Rev. Ashby Brand 1934 The Scarlet Letter Roger Chillingworth 1934 The Lemon Drop Kid Jonas Deering 1934 A Girl of the Limberlost Dr. Ammon 1934 Love Time Duke Johann von Hatzfeld 1934 Bachelor of Arts Professor Barth 1935 Helldorado Abner Meadows 1935 Dante's Inferno Pop McWade 1935 A Tale of Two Cities Dr. Manette 1936 The Garden Murder Case Dr. Garden 1936 The Mine with the Iron Door David Burton 1936 Hearts in Bondage Captain Buchanan 1936 The Last Outlaw Under Sheriff Calvin Yates Screening on Broadway when Walthall died 1936 The Devil-Doll Marcel 1936 China Clipper Dad Brunn Walthall collapsed on the set after completing his scenes and died three weeks later (final film role)