Walter Huntley Long (March 5, 1879 – July 4, 1952)[1] was an American stage and film character actor who between 1909 and the late 1940s performed in nearly 200 screen productions.[2] He appeared in blackface in The Birth of a Nation, a film depicting black characters, such as the one portrayed by Long, as savage sexual predators and the Ku Klux Klan as society’s righteous protector.
Among his many other roles in both the silent and sound eras, he portrayed mostly crooks, tough guys, and comic villains, including in four short comedies with Laurel and Hardy. He played Miles Archer, Sam Spade's partner, in the first film of The Maltese Falcon (1931).
Early life and career
Born in Nashua, New Hampshire, in 1879, Long was the youngest of six children of Catherine Lucia Jane (née Phillips) and Francis Long, who was a farmer.[1][3]
Hooded Klansmen catch "Gus", portrayed in blackface by Long, in The Birth of a Nation (1915)Long (sixth from left) with other cast members of the crime drama film Kick In (1922)
After acting on stage for years, Long debuted in motion pictures in 1909 with Broncho Billy Anderson. He disliked the working conditions in film production, so after that screen project he returned to the stage.[4]
Long soon began to act again in motion pictures, over the years gaining recognition among theater audiences for being a popular "hissed-at villain".[5] He can be seen in some of D. W. Griffith's early films, as well as Griffith's later, far more elaborate productions, most notably The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916). In The Birth of a Nation, Long appears in blackface make-up as the African American character "Gus", and in Intolerance he portrays the "Musketeer", who operates within the crime-ridden slums of a modern American city.[6] He was also cast as a supporting character for Rudolph Valentino in the films The Sheik (1921), Moran of the Lady Letty (1922), and Blood and Sand (1922). He also appears as a comic villain in four Laurel and Hardyshorts released in the early 1930s: as an abusive prisoner in Pardon Us (1931), a dissolute hotel owner and boxer in Any Old Port! (1932), an escaped convict in Going Bye-Bye! (1933), and as a gruff sea captain in The Live Ghost (1934).
On Broadway, Long performed in Adonis (1899),[7]Leave It to Me! (1938), Very Warm for May (1939), Boys and Girls Together (1940),[8]Follow the Girls (1944),[9] and Toplitzky of Notre Dame (1946).[8]
Although he was often called upon to play antagonists and villains because of his rugged appearance and gravelly voice, many people reported that off-camera he was actually a warm, kindhearted man.[10]
Military service
Long served in the United States Army during both world wars. During World War I, he was a first lieutenant of Coast Artillery and then promoted in rank to captain by the time the conflict ended in November 1918.[11][5] He remained in the army reserves until World War II, when he was recalled to active duty, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel before officially retiring from service with an honorable discharge in October 1944.[10][11][5]
Personal life and death
On May 6, 1908, in Escanaba, Michigan, Long married Luray Grace Roblee, a native of Wisconsin and a stenographer, who later became an actress at Triangle/Fine Arts.[12] She died at the Pacific Hospital in downtown Los Angeles in 1919, at age 29, due to bronchial pneumonia contracted during the global "Spanish flu" epidemic.[13] Over four years later in Los Angeles, on October 16, 1923, Long married California native Leta Amanda Held.[9] The couple adopted a son whom they named John Huntley Long.[14]
Long died of a heart attack in California on July 4, 1952, after watching the Independence Day fireworks display at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.[11] In its obituary for the actor published two days after his death, the Los Angeles Times notes, "Long and his wife, Leta, both of 632 North Cahuenga Blvd., had just left the Coliseum when he was stricken."[11] Long's grave is located in the "Garden of Memory" at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.[1]
↑ "United States Census, 1880", image of original enumeration sheet, Walter H. Long, son in household of Francis and Lucia Long, Milford, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, June 22, 1880; Enumeration District (ED) 141, sheet 378; National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. Retrieved via subscribed online service FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, March 29, 2023.
↑ "Walter Long". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
1 2 "Walter Long". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on August 24, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
1 2 "Walter Long". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on September 30, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
1 2 Erickson, Hal. "Walter Long". AllMovie. Archived from the original on June 12, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
1 2 3 4 "Walter H. Long, Film and Stage Actor, Dies", obituary, Los Angeles Times, July 6, 1952, p. 16. Retrieved via ProQuest Historical Newspapers database (Ann Arbor, Michigan), subscription access through The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, March 28, 2023.
↑ "Michigan Marriages, 182–1995", database, entry number 3285, marriage license and certificate of Lwray [sic] Roblee and Walter H. Long, May 6, 1908, Escanaba, Delta County, Michigan. Retrieved via FamilySearch (Salt Lake City, Utah), April 2, 2023.
↑ "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994", image of original death certificate of Luray Roblee Long at Pacific Hospital, January 2, 1919, Los Angeles, California; Bureau of Vital Statistics, California State Board of Health, Sacramento. Record retrieved via FamilySearch, April 2, 2023.
↑ "Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930 Population Schedule", database with image of original enumeration page, "John H. Long", 7 years old, "Adopted son" in household of Leta A. and Walter H. Long, recorded April 2, 1930; ED [Enumeration District] 162, sheet 23B, line 55, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California; Bureau of the Census records, National Archives and Records Administration (Washington D.C.). Census page retrieved via FamilySearch, April 2, 2023.
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