Stuart Walker (director)

Stuart Walker
Walker in 1919
Born
Stuart Armstrong Walker

(1888-03-04)March 4, 1888
DiedMarch 14, 1941(1941-03-14) (aged 53)
Alma materUniversity of Cincinnati
Occupations
  • Director
  • producer

Stuart Armstrong Walker (March 4, 1888 – March 13, 1941) was an American director and producer in theatre and motion pictures.

Biography

Walker reading the stage adaptation of Booth Tarkington's Seventeen with actress Lillian Ross, who played the role of Jane in the Broadway production (1918)

Stuart Walker was born March 4, 1888, in Augusta, Kentucky, the son of Cliff Stuart Walker and Matilda Taliaferro Armstrong Walker. After attending public school in Cincinnati and graduating from the University of Cincinnati, he went to work for David Belasco and made his debut as an actor in 1909. He became a play reader for Belasco, and directed plays including The Governor's Lady (1912). In 1914 Walker joined Jessie Bonstelle as a director in Detroit and Buffalo.[1]

In 1915, Walker organized the Portmanteau Theatre, an independent repertory theatre company. He produced seasons in Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dayton, Indianapolis, Louisville and New York City. He staged the first dramatization of Booth Tarkington's bestselling novel Seventeen,[1] presented on Broadway in 1918 starring Gregory Kelly and his future wife, newcomer Ruth Gordon.[2]

Walker's repertory company was active throughout the 1920s.[3] Its credits include the first American performance of Alberto Casella's supernatural drama Death Takes a Holiday, adapted by Walter Ferris, in 1929.[4]

In 1930, Walker became a screenwriter in Hollywood,[1] and served as dialogue director on films including Brothers and The Last of the Lone Wolf.[5] He directed his first feature film the following year, and in 1936 he became a producer for Paramount Pictures.[1]

Walker died March 13, 1941, at his home in Beverly Hills, California, following a heart attack.[1]

Filmography

Director

Douglass Montgomery, Claude Rains and David Manners in The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935)
Signed drawing of Stuart Walker by Manuel Rosenberg for the Cincinnati Post 1926
Year Title Notes
1931 The Secret Call [5]
1931 The False Madonna [5]
1932 The Misleading Lady [5]
1932 Evenings for Sale [5]
1932 Tonight Is Ours [5]
1933 The Eagle and the Hawk [5]
1933 White Woman [5]
1934 Romance in the Rain [5]
1934 Great Expectations [5]
1935 The Mystery of Edwin Drood [5]
1935 Werewolf of London [5]
1935 Manhattan Moon [5]

Producer

Year Title Notes
1937 Bulldog Drummond Escapes Associate producer, uncredited[5]
1937 Wild Money Uncredited[5]
1937 Sophie Lang Goes West Uncredited[5]
1937 Bulldog Drummond Comes Back Uncredited[5]
1938 Bulldog Drummond's Revenge Uncredited[5]
1938 Bulldog Drummond's Peril Uncredited[5]
1938 Hunted Men Associate producer, uncredited[5]
1938 Prison Farm Associate producer, uncredited[5]
1938 Sons of the Legion Associate producer, uncredited[5]
1938 Arrest Bulldog Drummond [5]
1939 Disbarred Associate producer[5]
1939 King of Chinatown Associate producer, uncredited[5]
1939 Bulldog Drummond's Bride Associate producer[5]
1940 Emergency Squad Associate producer, uncredited[5]
1940 Seventeen Associate producer, uncredited; screenwriter[5]
1940 Opened by Mistake Associate producer, uncredited[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Stuart Walker, 53, Producer, Is Dead". The New York Times. March 14, 1941. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  2. ^ "Seventeen". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  3. ^ "Walker Company Opening". The Indianapolis News. Indiana, Indianapolis. April 28, 1928. p. 9. Retrieved June 6, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ "Gossip of the Rialto". The New York Times. May 26, 1929. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac "Stuart Walker". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2017-05-20.