Douglas Walton (actor)

Douglas Walton
Publicity Still of Douglas Walton, 1939
Born	John Douglas Duder (1909-10-17)October 17, 1909 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died	November 15, 1961(1961-11-15) (aged 52) New York City, U.S.
Nationality	Canadian American
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1931–1950
Spouses	Florence M. Barnett ​ ​ (m. 1934, divorced)​ Vee W. Roberts ​ ​ (m. 1943, divorced)​ Huguette Suzanne Marie Philomene Boudet ​ ​ (m. 1950)​

Douglas Walton (born John Douglas Duder; October 17, 1909 – November 15, 1961) was a Canadian-born American actor who worked in American films during the 1930s and 1940s. He appeared in 60 films between 1931 and 1950.

Life and career

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on October 17, 1909, Walton began his acting career in the theatres of Chicago and New York City. Tall, blond and elegant, Walton played many aristocratic, intellectual or sophisticated English or European men in films such as The Count of Monte Cristo in 1934; Bride of Frankenstein (1935), in which Walton memorably played the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in the film's prologue; the Clark Gable version of Mutiny on the Bounty (1935); and director John Ford's Mary of Scotland (1936) starring Katharine Hepburn, in which Walton gave his perhaps best performance as the effeminate and cowardly "Lord Darnley".^[1][2] Ford directed Walton in The Lost Patrol (1934) and The Long Voyage Home (1940, starring John Wayne) as well. Walton also acted in Bad Lands, the 1939 Western remake of Ford's The Lost Patrol, directed by Lew Landers.

In 1939, Walton returned to New York to appear on Broadway in the comedy Billy Draws a Horse.^[3]

In the 1940s, Walton's parts were secondary characters or even uncredited roles in B-movies, or sometimes in high-profile films such as King Vidor's Northwest Passage (1940), starring Spencer Tracy, and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945).^[1] One sizable role was "Percival Priceless" in Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1947).^[2] His final film was Three Came Home (1950).^[4]

Walton retired in 1950 and died eleven years later, on November 17, 1961, from a heart attack, at age 52.^[1]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1931	Body and Soul		Uncredited
1931	Always Goodbye	Party Gossip	Uncredited
1931	Over the Hill	Stephen
1931	Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde	Blond Student	Uncredited
1932	Scarface	Cesca's Boyfriend	Uncredited
1933	Cavalcade	Soldier Friend of Joe	Uncredited
1933	The Secret of Madame Blanche	Leonard Junior
1933	Looking Forward	Willie Benton
1934	Madame Spy	Karl
1934	The Lost Patrol	Pearson
1934	Murder in Trinidad	Gregory Bronson
1934	Shock	Gilroy Hayworth
1934	The Count of Monte Cristo	Albert
1934	Charlie Chan in London	Hugh Gray
1935	Captain Hurricane	Jimmy Howell
1935	Bride of Frankenstein	Percy Bysshe Shelley
1935	The Dark Angel	Roulston	Uncredited
1935	Mutiny on the Bounty	Stewart
1935	Hitch Hike Lady	Alfred Bosworth Blake	Uncredited
1936	The Garden Murder Case	Floyd Garden
1936	I Conquer the Sea!	Leonard Ashley
1936	Mary of Scotland	Lord Darnley
1936	Thank You, Jeeves!	Edward McDermott
1936	Camille	Henri	Uncredited
1937	Damaged Goods	George Dupont
1937	Flight from Glory	Garth Hilton
1937	Nation Aflame	Tommy Franklin
1937	Wallaby Jim of the Islands	Norman Brooks
1938	Storm Over Bengal	Terry
1939	Pacific Liner	Engineering Officer Bates	Uncredited
1939	The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle	Student Pilot
1939	The Sun Never Sets	Carpenter
1939	Bad Lands	Bob Mulford
1939	Raffles	Bunny Manders
1940	Northwest Passage	Lieutenant Avery
1940	Too Many Girls	Beverly Waverly
1940	The Long Voyage Home	Second Mate
1940	The Letter	Well Wisher	Uncredited
1941	Singapore Woman	Roy Bennett
1941	One Night in Lisbon	Frank	Uncredited
1941	Hurry, Charlie, Hurry	Michael Prescott
1942	Jesse James, Jr.	Archie McDonald
1942	Desperate Journey	British Officer Playing Dice	Uncredited
1944	Murder, My Sweet	Lindsay Marriott
1945	Bring On the Girls	Edgar	Uncredited
1945	The Picture of Dorian Gray	Allen Campbell
1945	Kitty	Philip	Uncredited
1946	Our Hearts Were Growing Up	Terence Marlowe	Uncredited
1946	Cloak and Dagger	British Pilot	Uncredited
1946	Dick Tracy vs. Cueball	Percival Priceless
1947	High Conquest	Hugo Bunning as a Young man
1947	High Tide	Clinton Vaughn
1947	Green Dolphin Street	Sir Charles Maloney	Uncredited
1947	Forever Amber	Fop	Uncredited
1948	Hills of Home	Minister	Uncredited
1948	Command Decision	Englishman on Loudspeaker	Voice, Uncredited
1948	Trouble Preferred	Slippy Patterson, Pickpocket	Uncredited
1949	The Secret of St. Ives	Allan St. Ives
1949	Calamity Jane and Sam Bass	Bookmaker	Uncredited
1950	Three Came Home	Australian POW	Uncredited, (final film role)

References

1. McPeak, William. "Mini-Biography"
2. Erickson, Hal. "Douglas Walton: Biography" on AllMovies.com
3. Douglas Walton at the Internet Broadway Database
4. "Filmography for Douglas Walton"^{[permanent dead link]} on TCM.com

Bibliography

• Curtis, James (1998). James Whale: A New World of Gods and Monsters. Boston, Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-19285-8.

External links

• Douglas Walton at IMDb
• Douglas Walton at the TCM Movie Database