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Raymond Walburn
Raymond Walburn
	Third Finger, Left Hand trailer (1940)
Born	September 9, 1887; Plymouth, Indiana, U.S.
Died	July 26, 1969 (aged 81); New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1913–1958
Spouse(s)	Gertrude Steinman ; (m.?-1953; her death) ; Jane Davis ; (m.1955-1969; his death)

Raymond Walburn (September 9, 1887 – July 26, 1969) was an American character actor of stage and screen who appeared in dozens of Hollywood movie comedies and an occasional dramatic role during the 1930s and 1940s.

Stalwart character Raymond Walburn is one of those actors whose name may have slipped through memory over time, although whose valued contribution to 1930s - 1940s comedy films certainly warrants a reminder. He was the archetypal bombastic bumbler or supercilious stuffed shirt with the trademark bulging eyes, snub nose, arched brows and trimmed mustache.

He provided his patented brand of cheeky humor in nearly 100 "A" and "B" films during his career span.

Life and career

Born in Plymouth, Indiana, Walburn in the early 1900s moved to Oakland, California, following high school with his mother and began acting on stage, which was also his mother's profession.

There he was placed in an acting school associated with the Liberty Theatre, the principal stock company in Oakland, and made his professional stage debut at the age of 18, playing the Second Witch in "MacBeth." Following extensive touring in stock shows, he took his first Broadway bow in the opening of the most popular and successful "The Greyhound" in 1912.

After a long period of struggle and a number of theater misfires, his career was interrupted by military service in the United States Army in 1917-1918 where he served in a heavy artillery corps in France during World War I. This was shortly after his being cast as a replacement in the juvenile lead role in "Come Out of the Kitchen" starring Ruth Chatterton.

Following his discharge from military service he resumed his Broadway and stock show career and grew in stature throughout the 1920s. In 1924 he made his London, England, debut as Aubrey Piper in "The Show-Off," a role which keenly established his pompous image and brash, phony-baloney facade on stage and in later film. Over the decades Walburn's plus-sized comic vanity would become a repetitive scene-stealing tactic.

He performed in stock theater for only four years before being cast on Broadway, where he made his debut in Cordelia Blossom in 1914. Over a half century later, in 1965, Walburn acted in his final Broadway production, A Very Rich Woman.^[1]^[2] During his long career, he also toured extensively, performing on stages throughout the United States and in other countries.^[1]

Walburn did not make an impact in films until 1934 with the release of The Count of Monte Cristo starring Robert Donat. His filmography includes nearly 100 films, with his best known roles as a stereotypical bumbler and as a pompous snob. He could also be villainous, as he was when he played Baron Danglars in the 1934 film version of The Count of Monte Cristo, and was a favorite of such celebrated comedy directors as Preston Sturges and Frank Capra, with whom he made several appearances.

Outside of a couple of nondescript roles in silent films, Walburn did not take a serious stab at films until 1929, when he was cast supporting a Ruth Chatterton vehicle (again), this time playing her unfaithful husband in The Laughing Lady (1929). He did not return to films again, however, until five years later following a stage success in The Pursuit of Happiness (1933). From 1934 on he continued to be seen in film and was a main character staple for Columbia. For Frank Capra his highlights included Colonel Pettigrew, the race track tout, in Broadway Bill (1934); the ostentatious valet of Gary Cooper in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936); and the opportunistic Judge Alexander in the Spencer Tracy / Katharine Hepburn starrer State of the Union (1948). He also performed in Capra's pallid musical remake of Broadway Bill entitled Riding High (1950) with Bing Crosby, in which he recreated his Colonel Pettigrew shyster. As a Preston Sturges favorite, Walburn shined as the sarcastic and pompous Dr. Maxford in Christmas in July (1940); the windbag Mayor Noble in the classic Hail the Conquering Hero (1944); and as the boss who fires Harold Lloyd in The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947) [aka Mad Wednesday].

In post-war years, the by-now chunky-framed Walburn was given a great chance to show off by headlining his own "Henry" series of light comedy films. Playing patriarch Henry Latham in its debut Henry, the Rainmaker (1949), he was able to bounce off the droll antics of Walter Catlett's Mayor Colton character. Barbara Brown as his wife and young Gary Gray as son David were around for the entire series. He cavorted in five features ending with Father Takes the Air (1951). Walburn's last film was the rather uneventful western The Spoilers (1955). Following the death of his first wife Gertrude (affectionately known as Trudy), he more or less retired, but found happiness again when he married a family friend, Jane Davis.

In 1962, at the age of 74, he came out of his self-imposed retirement at the urging of Harold Prince to join Zero Mostel and company in the burlesque musical farce "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" playing a senile Roman citizen. He appeared in the show for 18 months, then went on to appear with Ruth Gordon in "A Very Rich Woman" in 1965.

Walburn died in New York City at the age of 81 in 1969 following an extended illness.

Complete filmography

The Man Hunt (1916 short) as Captain Steadwell
The Tarantula (1916) as Saunders
The Scarlet Runner (1916 serial) as John Brown
Our Other Lives (1916 short)
The Laughing Lady (1929) as Hector Lee
The Great Flirtation (1934) as Henry Morgan
The Defense Rests (1934) as Austin
The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) as Danglars
Lady by Choice (1934) as Front O'Malley
Jealousy (1934) as Phil
Broadway Bill (1934) as Col. Pettigrew
Mills of the Gods (1934) as Willard Hastings
Society Doctor (1935) as Dr. Waverly
Death Flies East (1935) as Evans
I'll Love You Always (1935) as Charlie
It's a Small World (1935) as Julius Clummerhorn
Welcome Home (1935) as Giltedge
Redheads on Parade (1935) as Augustus Twill
She Married Her Boss (1935) as Franklin
She Couldn't Take It (1935) as Party Guest (uncredited)
Thanks a Million (1935) as Judge Culliman
The Lone Wolf Returns (1935) as Jenkins
The Great Ziegfeld (1936) as Sage
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) as Walter, the butler
Absolute Quiet (1936) as Governor Pruden
The King Steps Out (1936) as Col. Von Kempen
The Three Wise Guys (1936) as Doc Brown
They Met in a Taxi (1936) as Mr. Roger Clifton
Craig's Wife (1936) as Billy Birkmire
Mr. Cinderella (1936) as Peter Randolph
Born to Dance (1936) as Captain Dingby
Breezing Home (1937) as Clint Evans
Let's Get Married (1937) as B.B. Harrington
Thin Ice (1937) as Uncle Dornik
It Can't Last Forever (1937) as Dr. Fothergill
High, Wide, and Handsome (1937) as Doc Watterson
Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937) as Herman Whipple
Murder in Greenwich Village (1937) as The Senator
Start Cheering (1938) as Dean Worthington
Battle of Broadway (1938) as Homer C. Bundy
Professor Beware (1938) as Judge James G. Parkhouse Marshall
Gateway (1938) as Mr. Benjamin McNutt
Sweethearts (1938) as Orlando
Let Freedom Ring (1939) as Underwood
It Could Happen to You (1939) as J. Hadden Quigley
The Under-Pup (1939) as Mr. Layton
Eternally Yours (1939) as Mr. Harley Bingham
Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence (1939) as Professor B. Townsend Thayer
Dark Command (1940) as Judge Buckner
Millionaires in Prison (1940) as Bruce Vander
Flowing Gold (1940) as Ellery Q. 'Wildcat' Chalmers
Third Finger, Left Hand (1940) as Mr. Sherwood
Christmas in July (1940) as Dr. Maxford
The San Francisco Docks (1940) as Adm. Andy Tracy
Bachelor Daddy (1941) as George Smith
Puddin' Head (1941) as Harold Montgomery Sr.
Kiss the Boys Goodbye (1941) as Top Rumson
Confirm or Deny (1941) as H. Cyrus Stuyvesant
Rise and Shine (1941) as Colonel Bacon
Louisiana Purchase (1941) as Col. Davis Sr. aka Polar Bear
The Man in the Trunk (1942) as Jim Cheevers
Lady Bodyguard (1943) as Avery Jamieson
Dixie Dugan (1943) as J.J. Lawson
The Desperadoes (1943) as Judge Cameron
Dixie (1943) as Mr. Cook
Let's Face It (1943) as Julian Watson
And the Angels Sing (1944) as Pop Angel
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) as Mayor Everett J. Noble
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) as Drummer at baseball game (uncredited)
Music in Manhattan (1944) as Professor Carl Roberti
Heavenly Days (1944) as Mr. Popham
Honeymoon Abroad (1945) as Rollie Mack
I'll Tell the World (1945) as H.I. Bailey
The Cheaters (1945) as Willie Crawford
Breakfast in Hollywood (1946) as Richard Cartwright
Lover Come Back (1946) as J.P. 'Joe' Winthrop
Rendezvous with Annie (1946) as Everett Thorndyke
Plainsman and the Lady (1946) as Judge Winters
Affairs of Geraldine (1946) as Amos Hartwell
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947) as E.J. Waggleberry
State of the Union (1948) as Judge Alexander
Henry, the Rainmaker (1949) as Henry Latham
Leave It to Henry (1949) as Henry Latham
Red, Hot and Blue (1949) as Alex Ryan Creek
Key to the City (1950) as Mayor Billy Butler
Riding High (1950) as Prof. Pettigrew
Father Makes Good (1950) as Henry Latham
Father's Wild Game (1950) as Henry Latham
Short Grass (1950) as Doctor McKenna
Father Takes the Air (1951) as Henry Latham
Excuse My Dust (1951) as Mayor Fred Haskell
Golden Girl (1951) as Cornelius
She Couldn't Say No (1952) as Judge Hobart
The Spoilers (1955) as Mr. Skinner

References

^ ^a ^b Alden, John (April 25, 1936). "Hollywood Mugs: Raymond Walburn -- A Hollywood Convert". Star Tribune. Minnesota, Minneapolis. p. 15. Retrieved October 23, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Raymond Walburn". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.