Walter Connolly

Acting

Walter Connolly

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

Walter Connolly (April 8, 1887 – May 28, 1940) was an American actor. 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), as well as the Carole Lombard/Fredric March screwball farce Nothing Sacred (1937) as news reporter March's hot-headed editor boss are sure-fire examples. 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.

Acting credits

It Happened One Night poster
7.8

A runaway heiress makes a deal with the rogue reporter trailing her but the mismatched pair end up stuck with each other when their bus leaves them behind.

It Happened One Night

1934

Lady for a Day poster
7.1

Apple Annie is an aging New York City fruit seller whose daughter Louise has been raised in a Spanish convent since she was an infant. As she grows up, Louise is led to believe that her mother is a society matron called Mrs. E. Worthington Manville. Annie worries that her lie is in danger of being uncovered when she learns that Louise is sailing to New York with her new fiancé and his nobleman father.

Lady for a Day

1933

The Bitter Tea of General Yen poster
6.3

An American missionary is gradually seduced by a courtly warlord holding her in Shanghai.

The Bitter Tea of General Yen

1932

Libeled Lady poster
7.3

When a major newspaper accuses wealthy socialite Connie Allenbury of being a home-wrecker, and she files a multi-million-dollar libel lawsuit, the publication's frazzled head editor, Warren Haggerty, must find a way to turn the tables on her. Soon Haggerty's harried fiancée, Gladys Benton, and his dashing friend Bill Chandler are in on a scheme that aims to discredit Connie, with amusing and unexpected results.

Libeled Lady

1936

Nothing Sacred poster
6.3

When a small-town girl is incorrectly diagnosed with a rare, deadly disease, an unknowing newspaper columnist turns her into a national heroine.

Nothing Sacred

1937

Start Cheering poster
6.9

After retiring from movies to get an education, a man discovers his ex-staff is trying to have him expelled.

Start Cheering

1938

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn poster
6.7

Huckleberry Finn, a rambunctious boy adventurer chafing under the bonds of civilization, escapes his humdrum world and his selfish, plotting father by sailing a raft down the Mississippi River.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

1939

Too Hot to Handle poster
6.0

While in Shanghai reporting on the Sino-Japanese war, Chris Hunter, a shrewd news reporter, meets pilot Alma Harding. She does not trust him, but he manages to hire her as his assistant. During an adventurous expedition through the jungles of South America, her opinion of him begins to change.

Too Hot to Handle

1938

The Great Victor Herbert poster
5.4

In his last film assignment, portly Walter Connolly fills the title role (in more ways than one) in The Great Victor Herbert. Very little of Herbert's life story is incorporated in the screenplay (a closing title actually apologizes for the film's paucity of cold hard facts); instead, the writers allow the famed composer's works to speak for themselves. In the tradition of one of his own operettas, Herbert spends most of his time patching up the shaky marriage between tenor John Ramsey (Allan Jones) and Louise Hall (Mary Martin). Many of Herbert's most famous compositions are well in evidence, including "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life", "March of the Toys" and "Kiss Me Again", the latter performed con brio by teenaged coloratura Susanna Foster. Evidently, the producers were able to secure the film rights for the Herbert songs, but not for the stage productions in which they appeared, which may explain such bizarre interpolations as having a song from Naughty Marietta.

The Great Victor Herbert

1939

Four's a Crowd poster
5.5

A public relations man falls for his most difficult client's granddaughter.

Four's a Crowd

1938

The Good Earth poster
6.3

China, during the rule of the Qing Dynasty. The arranged marriage between Wang Lung, a humble farmer, and O-Lan, a domestic slave, will endure the many hardships of life over the years; but the temptations of a fragile prosperity will endanger their love and the survival of their entire family.

The Good Earth

1937

Twentieth Century poster
6.8

A temperamental Broadway producer trains an untutored actress, but when she becomes a star, she proves a match for him.

Twentieth Century

1934

She Couldn't Take It poster
5.3

The wealthy Van Dyke family are constantly in the media for outrageous behavior, much to the frustration of the patriarch, Dan Van Dyke. His self-centered wife has a fondness for foreign imports, including "pet projects" like dancers and such and his spoiled children Tony and Carol have constant run-ins with the law. When Dan himself ends up in the clink for five years for tax evasion, he becomes bunk-mates with ex-bootlegger Joe "Spots" Ricardi. Ricardi lectures him on being such a push-over for an out-of-control family, so a dying Dan makes Ricardi his estate trustee once he is released from prison. Ricardi is then thrust into high society and must do everything he once nagged Dan to do.

She Couldn't Take It

1935

Fifth Avenue Girl poster
7.0

A wealthy man hires a poor girl to play his mistress in order to get more attention from his neglectful family.

Fifth Avenue Girl

1939

So Red the Rose poster
7.7

During the American Civil War, Valette Bedford waits patiently for her husband Duncan Bedford, to return home, praying that she will not become a widow.

So Red the Rose

1935

Coast Guard poster
6.0

Steady, dependable Coast Guard Lieutenant Raymond "Ray" Dower and reckless aviator Thomas "Speed" Bradshaw are the closest of friends. Ray saves the life of Captain Tobias Bliss, tramp steamer skipper, in a daring rescue at sea. Speed flies the injured man back to the base hospital, where the two officers later visit him. There Ray meets Nancy Bliss, Bliss' grand-daughter, and falls in love with her. Speed meets her at a dance and urges Ray to propose before some other guy does. Ray is assigned to flood rescue duty, and Speed and Nancy start going out together and discover they are in love.

Coast Guard

1939

Hollywood on Parade No. B-1 poster
7.3

Short film in which Frankie Darro as a Telegram delivery boy visits various Hollywood locations to make deliveries. He visits the Los Angeles Pier and a Gala Hollywood Premiere.

Hollywood on Parade No. B-1

1934

Broadway Bill poster
6.0

Tycoon J.L. Higgins controls his whole family, but one of his sons-in-law, Dan Brooks, and his daughter Alice are fed up with that. Brooks quits his job as manager of J.L.'s paper box factory and devotes his life to his racing horse Broadway Bill, but his bankroll is thin and the luck is against him. He is arrested because of $150 he owes somebody for horse food, but suddenly a planned fraud by somebody else seems to offer him a chance...

Broadway Bill

1934

Those High Grey Walls poster
6.4

Dr. MacAuley, a kindly, beloved country doctor, is sent to Fillmore Prison. His crime was for removing a bullet from a young man who was escaping from the police.

Those High Grey Walls

1939

Soak the Rich poster
8.0

Tycoon Humphrey Craig is fearful that a "soak the rich" bill will pass in the United States Senate.

Soak the Rich

1936

Breakdowns of 1938 poster
5.8

Flubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1938.

Breakdowns of 1938

1938

The Girl Downstairs poster
4.7

A wealthy playboy surreptitiously romances a scullery maid to gain access to her mistress with whom he is in love, but doesn't count on the maid falling in love with him.

The Girl Downstairs

1938

Man's Castle poster
6.8

Bill takes Trina into his depression camp cabin. Later, just as he finds showgirl LaRue who will support him, Trina becomes pregnant.

Man's Castle

1933

A Soldier's Oath poster
NR

While engaged in battle, Pierre Duval, a French soldier, stumbles onto the mortally wounded Count de Morave. Before dying, the count begs Pierre to deliver some family jewels and papers to the Vicomte Raoul de Reyntiens. At home, Pierre places the jewels in a box that also contains a necklace given to Margot, his wife, by the Duke D'Auberg. While stealing the box, Lazare, a war correspondent who witnessed Pierre's scene with the count, attacks and kills Margot. Found guilty of the crime, Pierre is sentenced to life imprisonment but is pardoned after performing a dangerous jailhouse rescue. Mavis, his daughter, who has been adopted by the duke, falls in love with the poor vicomte but is courted by Lazare, now posing as the Count de Morave. To win her love, Lazare gives her some of the stolen jewels, including the duke's necklace, but when Pierre sees the necklace later, he exposes Lazare and wins retribution.

A Soldier's Oath

1915