Men Of Character Character Star
Walter Brennan
The Westerner/ Judge Roy Bean
Kentucky/ Peter Goodwin
Rio Lobo/ Stumpy
The Far Country/ Ben
Per Quinlan's Character Stars:
This cantankerous looking American actor was born in a town called Swampscott, MA a name exactly suited to the assortment of veteran westerners for which his career will largely be remembered. Usually seen on screen in clothes as crumpled as his face, Brennan's distinctive voice sounded as though it was issuing through a plug of chaw tobaccy.
Walter Brennen was born in 1984 at Swampscott, MA.
He became interested in acting while in school and performed in school plays. He worked a little in vaudeville as well as holding various jobs as clerking in a bank, and as a lumberjack. Brennan also toured in musical comedies before entering into the military in 1917.
After World War I he migrated to Guatemala and raised pineapples. He then came back to Los Angeles where he specialized in real estate.
He started out as a stuntman in 1923 in films and then he moved on to bit roles and moved up to supporting parts.
His big break came in 1936 when he won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for his role as Swedde in Come Ang Get It.
Brennan won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor two more times:
In 1938 for his role as Peter Goodwin in Kentucky and in 1940 for his role as Judge Roy Bean in The Westerner.
He was nominated another time but did not win.
Some of the film roles of Walter Brennan were:
The Calgary Stampede (1925) as Racing Inspector
The Ice Flood (1926) as Lumberjack
Spangles (1926) as Counterman
Tearing Into Trouble (1927) as Billy Martin
Hot Heels (1927) as Pool Hall Habitant
The Cohens And The Kellys At Atlantic City (1929) as Man At Police Station
Smiling Guns ( 1929) as Ranch Foreman
The Lariat Kid (1929) as Pat O'Shea
One Hysterical Night (1929) as Paul Revere
The Long Long Trail (1929) as Skinny Rawlins
The Shannons Of Broadway (1929) as Hez
Honeymoon Lane (1931) as Driver
Dancing Dynamite (1931) as Henchman
Grief Street (1931) as Walt
Is There Justicde? (1931) as Rollins
Neck And Neck (1931) as hector
Texas Cyclone (1932) as Sheriff Lew Collins
Law And Order (1932) as Lanky Smith
The Airmail Mystery (1932) as Holly
Two Fisted Law (1932) as Deputy Sheriff Bendix
Speed Madness (1932) as Joe
Miss Pinkerton (1932) as Police Dispatcher
Fighting For Justice (1932) as Fletcher
The Fourth Horseman (1932) as Toothless Town Drunk
The All American (1932) as News Commentator At Game
Strange Justice (1932) as Eddie - Mechanic
Manhattan Tower (1932) as Mechanic
Sensation Hunters (1933) as Stuttering Waiter
Man Of Action (1933) as Cashier Summers
Girl Missing (1933) as Joe - Garage Attendant
The Rustler's Roundup (1933) as Walt
Lucky Dog (1933) as Drunk #2
The Phantom Of The Air (1933) as Skid
Strange People (1933) as The Radio Repairman
Sing Summer Sing (1933) as henchman Riordan
One Year Later (1933) as Yokel
Saturday's Millions (1933) as Reporter
The Invisible Man (1933) as Bicycle Owner
King For A Night (1933) as Soda Jerk
Fugitive Lovers (1934) as Second Bus Driver
Cross Country Cruise (1934) as Niagara Falls Boatman
Beloved (1934) as Stuttering Boarder
Paradise Valley (1934) as Farmer Hiram
The Poor Rich (1934) as Dr. Johnson The Coroner
The Crosby Case (1934) as Ship's Officer
Good Dame (1934) as Elmer Spicer
Riptide (1934) as Chauffeur
I'll Tell The World (1934) as Otto
Half A Sinner (1934) as radio Announcer
The Life Of Vergie Winters (1934) as Roscoe
Murder In The Private Car (1934) as Switchman
Whom The Gods Destroy (1934) as Clifford
Death On The Diamond (1934) as Hot Dog Vendor
Great Expectations (1934) as Prisoner On Ship
Gridiron Flash (1934) as Diner Owner
There's Always Tomorrow (1934) as Mechanic
Prescott Kid (1934) as Zeke
Helldorado (1935) as Pete The Waiter
Northern Frontier (1935) as Stuttering Cook
Mystery Of Edwin Drood (1935) as First Gossip
Law Beyond The Range (1935) as Abner
The Wedding Night (1935) as Bill Jenkins
Goldiggers of 1935 (1935) as Bellboy/Porter
The Bride Of Frankenstein (1935) as Neighbor
Spring Tonic (1935) as Burn
Lady Tubbs (1935) as Joseph
Man On The Flying Trapeze (1935) as Legs Garnett
Welcome (1935) as Walter
Barbary Coast (1935) as Old Atrocity
Metropolitan (1935) as Grandpa
Seven Keys To Baldplate (1935) as Station
Three Godfathers (1936) as Sam Bartow aka Gus
These Three (1936) as Taxi Driver
The Moon's Our Home (1936) as Len
Fury (1936) as Bugs Meyer
Come And Get It (1936) as Swede Bostrom
Banjo On My Knee (1936) as Newt Holley
She's Dangerous as Ote O'Leary
When Love Is Young (1937) as Uncle Hugo
Affairs Of Cappy Ricks (1937) as Cappy Ricks
Wild And Woolly (1937) as Gramp Hercules Flynn
The Buccaneer (1938) as Ezra Peavey
The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer (1938) as Muff Potter
The Texans (1938) as Chuckawalla
Mother Carey's Chickens (1938) as Mr. Ossian Popham
The Cowboy And The lady (1938) as Sugar
Kentucky (1938) as Peter Goodwin
The Story Of Vernon And Irene Castle (1939) as Walter
They Shall Have Music (1939) as Professor Lawson
Stanley And Livingstone (1939) as Jeff Slocum
Joe And Ethel Turp Call On The President (1939) as Jim
Northwest Passage (1940) as Hunk Marriner
Maryland (1940) as William Stewart
The Westerner 1940) as Judge Roy Bean
Nice Girl ? (1941) as Hector Titus
Meet John Doe (1941) as The Colonel
Sergeant York (1941) as Pastor Rosie Pile
This Woman Is Mine (1941) as Captain Jonathan Thorne
Swamp Water (1941) as Tom Keefer
Rise And Shine (1941) as Grandpa
The Pride Of The Yankees (1942) as Sam Blake
Stand By For Action (1942) as Chief Yeoman Henry Johnson
Hangman Also Die (1943) as Professor Stephen Novotny
Slightly Dangerous (1943) as Cornelius VBurden
The North Star (1943) as Karp
Home In Indiana (1944) as J F "Thunder" Bolt
To Have And Have Not (1944) as Eddie
The Princess And The Pirate (1944) as Featherhead
Dakota (1945) as Captain Bounce
A Stolen Life (1946) as Eben Folger
Centennial Summer (1946) as Jesse Rogers
My Darling Clementine (1946) as Old Man Clanton
Nobody Lives Forever (1946) as Pop Gruber
Driftwood (1947) as Murph
Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948) as Tony Maule
Red River (1948) as Nadine Groot
Blood On The Moon (1948) as Chris Barden
The Green Promise (1949) as Mr. Matthews
Brimstone (1949) as Brimstone "Pop" Courteen
Task Force (1949) as Pete Richard
Singing Guns (1950) as Dr. Jonathan Mark
A Ticket To Tomahawk (1950) as Terence Sweeney
Curtain Call At Cactus Creek (1950) as Rimrock Thomas
The Showdown (1950) as Cap McKellar
Surrender (1950) as Sheriff Bill Howard
Along The Great Divide (1951) as Pop Keith
Best Of The Badmen (1951) as Doc Butcher
The Wild Blue Yonder (1951) as Major Gen. Wolfe
Return Of The Texan (1952) as Grandpa Firth Crockett
Lure Of The Wilderness (1952) as Jim Harper
Sea Of Lost Ships (1953) as CPO Chief O'Malley
Drums Across The River (1954) as Sam Brannon
The Far Country (1954) as Ben Tatum
Four Guns To The Border (1954) as Simon Buhmer
Bad Day At Black Rock (1955) as Doc Velie
At Gunpoint (1955) as Doc Lacy
Glory (1956) as ned Otis
Come Next Spring (1956) as Jeffrey Storys
The Proud Ones (1956) as Jake
Good Bye My Lady (1956) as Uncle Jesse Jackson
Tammy And The Bachelor (1957) as Grandpa
The Way To The Gold (1957) as Uncle George Williams
God Is My Partner (1057) as Dr. Charles Grayson
Rio Bravo (1962) as Stumpy
Shootout At Big Sag (19620 as Preacher Hawker
How The West Was Won (1962) as Colonel Jeb hawkins
Those Calloways (1965) as Alf Simes
The Oscar (1966) as Oren C. Quentin
The Gnome Mobile (1967) as D L Mulrooney/ Knobby
The One And Only Genuine Original Family Band (1968) as Grandpa Bower
Support Your Local Sheriff (1969) as Pa Danby
The Over The Hill Gang (1969-TV) as Nash Crawford
The Young Country (1970-TV) as Sheriff Matt Fenley
The Over The Hill Gang Rides Again (1970-TV) as Nash Crawford
Two For The Money (1972-TV) as Cody Guilford
Home For The Holidays (1972-TV) as Benjamin Morgan
Smoke In The Wind (1975) as H P Kingman
Mr. Brennan starred in his own TV sitcom from 1957 until 1963 as Grandpa Amos McCoy in The Real McCoys.
He also starred in the TV western series The Guns Of Will Sonnett from 1967 to 1969 as the title character.
Other TV programs that Mr. Brennan appeared on were Screen Directors Playhouse, Lux Video Theater, Schlitz Playhouse Of Stars, Zane Grey Theater, The Tycoon ( as Walter Andrews), To Rome With Love, Alias Smith And Jones, The Red Skelton Hour and The Tim Conway Comedy Hour.
Mr. Brennan was married to Ruth Wells from 1920 until his death. The couple had three children.
Walter Brennan passed away in 1974 from emphysema.
The films that I enjoyed Walter Brennan in were Come & get It, The Pride Of The Yankees, The Westerner, Sergeant York, The Far Country, Rio Bravo, Blood On The Moon, Along The Great Divide, Drums Across The River, Bad Day At Black Rock, Support Your Local Sheriff, The Over The Hill Gang, To Have And Have Not as well as his two TV series The Guns Of Will Sonnett and The Real McCoys.
One of my favorites and a great actor!
Louie The Movie Buff