Fred Walton (July 26, 1865 â€" December 28, 1936) was an English stage
actor who immigrated to the United States in the early part of the
20th century and became a character actor and director in American
silent and early sound films.Born on 26 July 1865 in Brighton,
England, he appeared on the stage in England prior to moving to the
United States. In 1905 he appeared in a production of The Babes and
the Baron, which ran at the Theatre Royal in Birmingham. The following
year, the play was produced by Lee and J.J. Shubert at the Lyric
Theatre in New York City, where Walton reprised his role as The Toy
Soldier. He remained in the United States, and in 1910 and 1911 he
starred in several film shorts, for the Selig Polyscope Company in
Chicago and for the Powers Moving Picture Company, a New York studio
that in 1912 merged with Independent Moving Pictures. Walton also
directed at least two shorts in 1911: April Fool for Edison Studios
and the comedy-fantasy production An Old-Time Nightmare for Powers.In
1911, he would focus on his stage career, during which he appeared in
over a dozen plays on Broadway between 1911 and 1922, before returning
to the screen in 1924 to perform in The Fast Set. Over the next 12
years, Walton would appear in over 40 films, mostly in supporting or
smaller roles. Some of the more notable films in which Walton acted
include: Sin Takes a Holiday, starring Constance Bennett, Kenneth
MacKenna, and Basil Rathbone; the 1935 Frank Capra classic romantic
comedy It Happened One Night, starring Clark Gable and Claudette
Colbert; and Little Lord Fauntleroy in 1936, starring Freddie
Bartholomew, Dolores Costello Barrymore, and C. Aubrey Smith. He would
make his final Broadway appearance in the role of Chester Biddlesby in
the Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach musical The Cat and the Fiddle, which
ran for almost 400 performances in 1931 and 1932. Walton's final
screen performance was in 1936, in the Tyrone Power vehicle Lloyd's of
London, which also starred Freddie Bartholomew and C. Aubrey Smith.
actor who immigrated to the United States in the early part of the
20th century and became a character actor and director in American
silent and early sound films.Born on 26 July 1865 in Brighton,
England, he appeared on the stage in England prior to moving to the
United States. In 1905 he appeared in a production of The Babes and
the Baron, which ran at the Theatre Royal in Birmingham. The following
year, the play was produced by Lee and J.J. Shubert at the Lyric
Theatre in New York City, where Walton reprised his role as The Toy
Soldier. He remained in the United States, and in 1910 and 1911 he
starred in several film shorts, for the Selig Polyscope Company in
Chicago and for the Powers Moving Picture Company, a New York studio
that in 1912 merged with Independent Moving Pictures. Walton also
directed at least two shorts in 1911: April Fool for Edison Studios
and the comedy-fantasy production An Old-Time Nightmare for Powers.In
1911, he would focus on his stage career, during which he appeared in
over a dozen plays on Broadway between 1911 and 1922, before returning
to the screen in 1924 to perform in The Fast Set. Over the next 12
years, Walton would appear in over 40 films, mostly in supporting or
smaller roles. Some of the more notable films in which Walton acted
include: Sin Takes a Holiday, starring Constance Bennett, Kenneth
MacKenna, and Basil Rathbone; the 1935 Frank Capra classic romantic
comedy It Happened One Night, starring Clark Gable and Claudette
Colbert; and Little Lord Fauntleroy in 1936, starring Freddie
Bartholomew, Dolores Costello Barrymore, and C. Aubrey Smith. He would
make his final Broadway appearance in the role of Chester Biddlesby in
the Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach musical The Cat and the Fiddle, which
ran for almost 400 performances in 1931 and 1932. Walton's final
screen performance was in 1936, in the Tyrone Power vehicle Lloyd's of
London, which also starred Freddie Bartholomew and C. Aubrey Smith.
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