Walter Long (actor)

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]

Walter Long
Long in 1924
Born	Walter Huntley Long (1879-03-05)March 5, 1879 Nashua, New Hampshire, U.S.
Died	July 4, 1952(1952-07-04) (aged 73) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Burial place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1900–1950
Spouses	Luray Grace Roblee ​ ​ (m. 1908; died 1919)​ Leta Amanda Held ​ (m. 1923)​
Children	1

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 Hardy shorts 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 and Carol Dempster in the Western drama Scarlet Days (1919)

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]

Filmography

Year	Title	Genre	Role	Notes
1910	The Fugitive	Drama	Unknown role	Short
1911	The Primal Call	Drama	Unknown role	Short
1911	Bobby, the Coward	Drama	Unknown role	Short
1912	The Girl and Her Trust	Drama	Grace's Bashful Suitor (uncredited)	Short
1912	The Painted Lady	Drama	Unknown role	Short
1912	The Musketeers of Pig Alley	Drama	Unknown role	Credited as the first gangster film in history.
1913	The Deerslayer	Drama	Indian (uncredited)	Short
1913	Traffic in Souls	Drama	Policeman
1914	The Broken Bottle	Drama	Unknown role
1914	The Life of General Villa	Action-drama	Federal Officer	Pancho Villa plays himself.
1914	Home, Sweet Home	Drama	himself	Biographical film
1914	The Escape	Drama	Unknown role	Now considered a lost film.
1914	Dan Morgan's Way	Drama	Dick Ramsey	Short
1914	Blue Pete's Escape	Western	Chicago Red	Short
1914	The Avenging Conscience	Drama	Detective (uncredited)	Based on "The Tell-Tale Heart".
1914	Where the Mountains Meet	Unknown role	Himself	Short
1914	The Revenue Officer's Deputy	Drama	Bruner	Short
1914	Ethel Has a Steady	Comedy	Unknown role	Short
1914	Bobby's Medal	Drama	Unknown role	Short
1915	The Birth of a Nation	Drama	Gus – a renegade Negro
1915	A Man and His Mate		Taylor
1915	The Outlaw's Revenge		Federal officer
1915	The Highbinders	Crime	Pat Gallagher	Short
1915	Little Marie			Short
1915	Jordan Is a Hard Road		Agent
1915	Martyrs of the Alamo		Santa Anna
1916	Let Katie Do It	Drama	Pedro Garcia
1916	Daphne and the Pirate	Drama	Jamie d'Arcy	Starring Lillian Gish
1916	Sold for Marriage	Drama	Col. Gregioff
1916	The Children in the House		Al Fellower
1916	The Marriage of Molly-O		Joseph McGuire
1916	Intolerance	Drama	Musketeer of the Slums
1916	Unprotected	Drama	Joshua Craig
1916	The Years of the Locust	Drama	Aaron Roth
1916	Joan the Woman	Epic drama	Executioner	Joan of Arc
1917	The Evil Eye	Drama	Mexican Joe
1917	The Golden Fetter	Romance	McGill
1917	Each to His Kind	Drama	Mulai Singh	Lost film
1917	The Winning of Sally Temple	Drama	Duke of Chatto
1917	The Cost of Hatred	Drama	Jefe Politico
1917	A Romance of the Redwoods	Drama	Sheriff	Starring Mary Pickford
1917	The Little American	Romantic war drama	German Captain
1917	Hashimura Togo	Comedy	Carlos Anthony
1917	The Woman God Forgot	Romance	Taloc (High Priest)
1919	The Poppy Girl's Husband	Drama	Boston Blackie
1919	Chasing Rainbows	Western	Lacy
1919	The Mother and the Law		The Musketeer of the Town
1919	Scarlet Days	Western	King Bagley, aka Knight of the Black Stain
1919	Desert Gold	Horseracing melodrama	Rojas
1919	An Adventure in Hearts	Adventure	Guilamo Sevier	Lost film
1920	The Fighting Shepherdess		Pete Mullendore
1920	Excuse My Dust	Comedy drama	Ritz
1920	The Third Woman		Scar Norton
1920	The Sea Wolf	Drama	Black Harris, the Mate
1920	Go and Get It	Mystery Comedy drama	Jim Hogan
1920	Held In Trust	Romance	Hasbrouck Rutherford	Lost film
1920	What Women Love	Comedy drama	Captain Buck Nelson	Lost film
1921	Tiger True		Old Whitey / the Baboon
1921	The Fire Cat		Gringo Burke
1921	White and Unmarried	Comedy	Chicoq
1921	A Giant of His Race
1921	The Sheik	Drama	Omair – the bandit	Starring Rudolph Valentino
1922	Moran of the Lady Letty		Captain "Slippery" Kitchel	Lost film
1922	Across the Continent		Dutton Tyler	Lost film
1922	The Dictator	Comedy drama	Mike "Bigg" Dooley
1922	South of Suva	Drama	Sydney Latimer	Lost film
1922	Blood and Sand	Drama	Plumitas	Starring Rudolph Valentino
1922	To Have and to Hold	Drama	Red Gill
1922	Shadows		Daniel Gibbs
1922	The Beautiful and Damned	Drama	Hull
1922	Kick In	Drama	Whip Fogarty
1922	Omar the Tentmaker	Drama	Executioner
1922	My American Wife	Drama	Gomez
1923	The Last Hour		Red Brown
1923	Quicksands		Ring member
1923	The Isle of Lost Ships		Peter Forbes
1923	The Little Church Around the Corner		Big Hex Poulon
1923	The Shock		The captain
1923	The Huntress		Joe Hagland
1923	The Call of the Wild		Hagin
1923	Desire		Bud Reisner
1923	The Broken Wing		Captain Innocencio Dos Santos
1923	A Shot in the Night
1924	Yankee Madness		Pablo del Gardo
1924	Missing Daughters		Guy Benson
1924	Daring Love		Red Bishop
1924	Wine	Comedy drama	Benedict, Count Montebello
1924	White Man		The River Thief
1924	The Ridin' Kid from Powder River	Western	Steve Lanning
1925	The Lady	drama	Blackie
1925	The Reckless Sex
1925	The Shock Punch	boxing drama	Bull Malarkey
1925	The Verdict	mystery	Convict Fred Windemere
1925	Soul-Fire		Herbert Jones Sailor
1925	Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman		Crawshay
1925	Bobbed Hair		Doc
1925	The Road to Yesterday		Rowdy in Burning-at-the-Stake Scene (uncredited)
1925	Steel Preferred		Redface
1926	Red Dice	Crime drama	Nick Webb
1926	The Highbinders		Bill Dorgan
1926	Things Wives Tell		Ben Felton
1926	Eve's Leaves		Chanz Fang
1926	West of Broadway	Comedy-western	Bad Willie
1926	Jim, the Conqueror	Western	Hank Milford
1927	Jewels of Desire		Pedro, aka Jose Hernandez
1927	The Yankee Clipper		Portuguese Joe
1927	White Pants Willie		Mock Epply
1927	Back to God's Country		Captain Blake
1927	Chicago		Flynn's Thug (uncredited)
1928	Thundergod		Bruce Drossler
1928	Gang War		Mike Luego
1928	Forbidden Grass
1928	Me, Gangster		Gangster (uncredited)
1928	Black Cargoes of the South Seas	Action drama	Fursey
1929	The Black Watch		Harrim Bey
1930	Beau Bandit		Bobcat
1930	Conspiracy	Mystery melodrama	Weinberg
1930	Moby Dick		Stubbs
1931	Sea Devils		Johnson the first mate
1931	Other Men's Women	drama	Bixby
1931	Los presidiarios		El Tigre (uncredited)
1931	The Maltese Falcon		Miles Archer
1931	Pardon Us	comedy	The Tiger	Laurel & Hardy film
1931	Sous les verrous		Le Tigre
1931	Soul of the Slums	Melodrama	Pete Thompson
1931	Dragnet Patrol	Melodrama	Jim Grainger
1932	Ship a Hooey	Comedy	CPO Long
1932	Any Old Port!	Comedy	Mugsie Long	Laurel & Hardy short
1932	Escapade	Crime	Gympy McLane
1932	Cornered	Western	Henchman Slade
1932	I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang	Crime drama	Blacksmith (uncredited)
1932	Women Won't Tell	Drama	Joe Kummer
1932	Call Her Savage		Man Who Tries to Pick Up Nasa (uncredited)
1932	Silver Dollar		Sick Miner Selling Mine to Yates (uncredited)
1933	Laughter in Hell		Chain Gang Member (uncredited)
1933	Blondie Johnson		Artie (uncredited)
1933	Easy Millions
1933	Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men		Red's Prison Cellmate (uncredited)
1934	Fugitive Lovers		Prison Guard (uncredited)
1934	Six of a Kind		Hold-Up Man (uncredited)
1934	The House of Rothschild		Prussian Soldier (uncredited)
1934	Lazy River		Buck – Prisoner (uncredited)
1934	The Thin Man		Stutsy Burke (uncredited)
1934	Operation 13		Operator 55
1934	Going Bye-Bye!	Comedy	Butch Long	Laurel & Hardy short
1934	Lightning Strikes Twice		Policeman (uncredited)
1934	Three Little Pigskins	comedy	Joe Stacks (uncredited)	Three Stooges film
1934	The Live Ghost	Comedy	Sea Captain	Laurel & Hardy short
1935	The Whole Town's Talking		Convict (uncredited)
1935	Naughty Marietta		Pirate Leader (uncredited)
1935	Here Comes Cookie		Tramp (uncredited)
1935	Annie Oakley		Dan – First Indian Hater (uncredited)
1935	Frisco Kid		Gambling Miner (uncredited)
1936	Drift Fence	western	Bev Wilson, neighbor
1936	Sutter's Gold		Sailor (uncredited)
1936	The Glory Trail		Riley – Renegade Leader
1936	Wedding Present		Gangster (uncredited)
1936	The Accusing Finger		Convict (uncredited)
1936	The Bold Caballero	adventure	Guard
1937	Dick Tracy		Whitey (uncredited)	Serial
1937	Pick a Star	musical comedy	Bandit
1937	North of the Rio Grande	Western	Patrick "Buck" O'Hara
1937	Hoosier Schoolboy		Riley
1937	Federal Bullets		Henchman
1938	The Painted Trail		Gang Leader Driscoll
1938	Six Shootin' Sheriff	Western	Gang leader Chuck
1938	Bar 20 Justice	Western	Duke Pierce
1938	Man's Country		Lex Crane / Buck Crane
1938	Prison Break		Convict (uncredited)
1938	Wild Horse Canyon	Western	Roscoe
1939	Union Pacific		Irishman (uncredited)
1939	Daughter of the Tong		Henchman (uncredited)
1939	Flaming Lead	Western	Big Jim Greely
1939	Fighting Mad		Frenchy
1940	Dark Command		Townsman (uncredited)
1940	Men Without Souls		Fireman (uncredited)
1940	Hidden Gold		Henchman Sanford (uncredited)
1940	When the Daltons Rode		Deputy on Train (uncredited)
1941	Ridin' on a Rainbow		Three Feathers Bartender (uncredited)
1941	A Man Betrayed		Henchman Asking About Pete and Louie (uncredited)
1941	City of Missing Girls	drama	Officer Larkin
1941	Lady from Louisiana		Lottery Thug (uncredited)
1941	Silver Stallion	Action adventure	Benson
1941	I Was a Prisoner on Devil's Island		Captain Quinez (uncredited)
1945	Dillinger		Mug in Police Lineup (uncredited)
1948	No More Relatives	Comedy	Joe	Edgar Kennedy short

References

1. Wilson, Scott (19 August 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 453. ISBN 978-1-4766-2599-7. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
2. Strausbaugh, John (16 August 2007). Black Like You: Blackface, Whiteface, Insult & Imitation in American Popular Culture. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-101-21605-7. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
3. "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.
4. "Walter Long Back on Screen". Pittsburgh Daily Post. Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh. January 4, 1920. p. 43. Retrieved May 31, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Walter Long as a Stage Captain Wears His Genuine War Ribbons", New York Herald Tribune (New York City), February 25, 1945, p. C2. Retrieved via ProQuest Historical Newspapers, April 7, 2023.
6. Smith, Valerie (1997). Representing Blackness: Issues in Film and Video. Rutgers University Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-8135-2314-9. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
7. "Walter Long". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
8. "Walter Long". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on August 24, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
9. "Walter Long". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on September 30, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
10. Erickson, Hal. "Walter Long". AllMovie. Archived from the original on June 12, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
11. "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.
12. "Michigan Marriages, 1822-1995", 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.
13. "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.
14. "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.

External links

• Walter Long at IMDb
• Walter Long at the TCM Movie Database
• Walter Long at Find a Grave