Warren William
| Warren William | |
|---|---|
|
from the trailer for the film Goodbye Again (1933) | |
| Born |
Warren William Krech December 2, 1894 Aitkin, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died |
September 24, 1948 (aged 53) Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | multiple myeloma |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1920–1947 |
| Spouse(s) | Helen Barbara Nelson (1923-1948; his death) |
Warren William (born Warren William Krech; December 2, 1894 – September 24, 1948) was a Broadway and Hollywood actor, immensely popular during the early 1930s; he was later nicknamed the "King of Pre-Code".
Early life
Warren William Krech's family originated in Tennstedt, Saxony, Germany. His grandfather, Ernst Wilhelm Krech (born 1819), fled Germany in 1848 during the Revolution, going first to France and later immigrating to the United States. He wed Mathilde Grow in 1851, and had six children. Freeman E. Krech, Warren's father, was born in 1856.
Around the age of 25, Freeman moved to Aitkin, a small town in Minnesota, where he bought a newspaper, The Aitkin Age, in 1885. He married Frances Potter, daughter of a merchant, September 18, 1890. Their son Warren was born December 2, 1894.
Warren William's interest in acting began in 1903, when an opera house was built in Aitkin. He was also an avid and life-long amateur inventor, a pursuit that may have contributed to his death.[1] After high school, William auditioned for, and was enrolled in, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) in New York City in October 1915.[2]
As his senior year at AADA was coming to an end, the First World War had begun, and William enlisted in the United States Army. He was assigned from base to base, in charge of training new men at various locations, and in 1918, was assigned to Fort Dix near New York City, in New Jersey. While in New York, he met his future wife, Helen Barbara Nelson, who was 17 years his senior. In October 1918 he left for France, to enter the war. William left the army in early 1919, after which he began working on his acting career. In 1923, he and Helen were married.
Career
William appeared in his first Broadway play in 1920, and had soon made a name for himself in New York. William appeared in 22 plays on Broadway between 1920 and 1931. During this period he also appeared in two silent films, The Town That Forgot God (1922) and Plunder (1923).
William moved from New York City to Hollywood in 1931. He began as a contract player at Warner Bros. and quickly became a star during what is now known as the 'Pre-Code' period. He developed a reputation for portraying ruthless, amoral businessmen (Under 18, Skyscraper Souls, The Match King, Employees Entrance), crafty lawyers (The Mouthpiece, Perry Mason), and outright charlatans (The Mind Reader). These roles were considered controversial yet they were highly satisfying, as this was the harshest period of the Great Depression, characterised by massive business failures and oppressive unemployment; hence audiences tended to jeer the businessmen, who were portrayed as predators.[2]
William did play some sympathetic roles, including "Dave The Dude" in Frank Capra's Lady for a Day, a loving father and husband cuckolded by Ann Dvorak's character in Three on a Match (1932), Julius Caesar in Cecil B. DeMille's Cleopatra (1934; starring Claudette Colbert in the title role), and with Colbert again the same year as her character's love interest in Imitation of Life (1934). He played the swashbuckling musketeer d'Artagnan in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), directed by James Whale. William was the first to portray Erle Stanley Gardner's fictional defense attorney Perry Mason on the big screen and starred in four Perry Mason mysteries.[3] He played Raffles-like reformed jewel thief The Lone Wolf in nine films for beginning with The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (1939), and appeared as Detective Philo Vance in two of the series films, The Dragon Murder Case (1934) and the comedic The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939).
Other roles include Mae West's manager in Go West, Young Man (1936), a jealous District Attorney in another James Whale film, Wives Under Suspicion (1938), copper-magnate Jesse Lewisohn in 1940's Lillian Russell, the evil Jefferson Carteret in Arizona (also 1940), sympathetic Dr. Lloyd in The Wolf Man (1941), Brett Curtis in cult director Edgar G. Ulmer's modern day version of Hamlet, 1945's Strange Illusion, and as Laroche-Mathieu in The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (1947), which would be William's last film.
On radio, William starred in the transcribed series Strange Wills, which featured "stories behind strange wills that run the gamut of human emotion."[4]
Death
Although on-screen William was an actor audiences loved to hate, off-screen William was a private man; and he and his wife, Helen, kept out of the limelight. Warren and Helen remained a couple throughout his entire adult life. He was often described as shy, and co-star Joan Blondell once said, "[He] ... was an old man – even when he was a young man."[3]
Warren William died on September 24, 1948, from multiple myeloma, at age 53. His wife would die a few months later.[1] He was recognized for his contribution to motion pictures with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February 1960.[5]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1922 | The Town that Forgot God | Eben |
| 1923 | Plunder (serial) | Mr. Jones |
| 1931 | Honor of the Family | Captain Boris Barony |
| Expensive Women | Neil Hartley | |
| Under 18 | Raymond Harding | |
| 1932 | The Woman from Monte Carlo | Lieutenant d'Ortelles |
| Beauty and the Boss | Baron Josef von Ullrich | |
| The Mouthpiece | Vincent "Vince" Day | |
| The Dark Horse | Hal Samson Blake | |
| Skyscraper Souls | David "Dave" Dwight | |
| Three on a Match | Robert Kirkwood | |
| The Match King | Paul Kroll | |
| 1933 | Just Around the Corner (short film) | Mr. Sears |
| Employees' Entrance | Kurt Anderson | |
| The Mind Reader | "Chandra" Chandler | |
| Gold Diggers of 1933 | J. Lawrence Bradford | |
| Goodbye Again | Kenneth L. "Ken" Bixby | |
| Lady for a Day | Dave the Dude | |
| 1934 | Bedside | Bob Brown |
| Upper World | Alexander "Alex" Stream | |
| Smarty | Tony Wallace | |
| Dr. Monica | John Braden | |
| The Dragon Murder Case | Philo Vance | |
| The Case of the Howling Dog | Perry Mason | |
| Cleopatra | Julius Caesar | |
| Imitation of Life | Stephen "Steve" Archer | |
| The Secret Bride | Robert "Bob" Sheldon | |
| 1935 | Living on Velvet | Walter "Gibraltar" Pritcham |
| The Case of the Curious Bride | Perry Mason | |
| Don't Bet on Blondes | Oscar "Odds" Owen | |
| The Case of the Lucky Legs | Perry Mason | |
| The Widow from Monte Carlo | Major Allan Chepstow | |
| 1936 | Times Square Playboy | Victor "Vic" Arnold |
| Satan Met a Lady | Ted Shane | |
| The Case of the Velvet Claws | Perry Mason | |
| Stage Struck | Fred Harris | |
| Go West, Young Man | Morgan | |
| 1937 | Outcast | Dr. Wendell Phillips / Phil Jones |
| Midnight Madonna | Blackie Denbo | |
| The Firefly | Colonel de Rouchemont | |
| Madame X | Bernard Fleuriot | |
| 1938 | Arsène Lupin Returns | Steve Emerson |
| The First Hundred Years | Harry Borden | |
| Wives Under Suspicion | District Attorney Jim Stowell | |
| 1939 | The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt | Michael Lanyard/"The Lone Wolf" |
| The Gracie Allen Murder Case | Philo Vance | |
| The Man in the Iron Mask | d'Artagnan | |
| Day-Time Wife | Bernard "Barney" Dexter | |
| 1940 | The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady | Michael Lanyard |
| Lillian Russell | Jesse Lewisohn | |
| The Lone Wolf Strikes | Michael Lanyard | |
| Arizona | Jefferson Carteret | |
| The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date | Michael Lanyard | |
| 1941 | Trail of the Vigilantes | Mark Dawson / George Trent |
| The Lone Wolf Takes a Chance | Michael Lanyard | |
| Wild Geese Calling | Blackie Bedford | |
| Secrets of the Lone Wolf | Michael Lanyard | |
| The Wolf Man | Dr. Lloyd | |
| 1942 | Wild Bill Hickok Rides | Harry Farrel |
| Counter-Espionage | Michael Lanyard | |
| 1943 | One Dangerous Night | Michael Lanyard |
| Passport to Suez | Michael Lanyard | |
| 1945 | Strange Illusion | Brett Curtis |
| 1946 | Fear | Police Capt. Burke |
| 1947 | The Private Affairs of Bel Ami | Laroche-Mathieu |
Broadway performances
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1920 | Mrs. Jimmie Thompson | Edgar Blodgett |
| 1921 | John Hawthorne | John Hawthorne |
| We Girls | Doctor Tom Brown | |
| 1924 | The Wonderful Visit | Sir John Gotch, K.B.E. |
| Expressing Willie | George Cadwalder | |
| 1925 | Nocture | Keith Reddington |
| The Blue Peter | David Hunter | |
| Rosmersholm | Johannes Rosmer | |
| 1926 | Twelve Miles Out | Gerald Fey |
| Easter One More Day | Elis | |
| Fanny | Joe White | |
| 1928 | Paradise | Dr. Achilles Swain |
| Veils | Mr. Robert Sloan | |
| The Golden Age | The Stranger | |
| 1929 | Sign of the Leopard | Captain Leslie |
| Let Us Be Gay | Bob Brown | |
| Week-End | Brett Laney | |
| 1930 | Out of a Blue Sky | Paul Rana |
| The Vikings | Sigurd | |
| Stepdaughters of War | Geoffrey Hilder | |
| 1931 | The Vinegar Tree | Max Lawrence |
References
- 1 2 Stangeland, John (2010). Warren William: Magnificent Scoundrel of Pre-Code Hollywood. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6182-0.
- 1 2 Wagner, Laura (March 8, 2013). "Book Points: January 2013". Classic Images. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
- 1 2 Fristoe, Roger. "William Warren Profile". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
- ↑ "(Teleways ad)" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 21, 1946. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
- ↑ "Warren William". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Warren William. |
- Warren William at the Internet Broadway Database
- Warren William at the Internet Movie Database
- Photographs and literature
- Fansite
Warren William at Find a Grave
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