Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Walter S. Baldwin Jr. (January 2, 1889 β January 27, 1977) was a prolific character actor whose career spanned five decades and 150 film and television roles, and numerous stage performances.
Baldwin was born in Lima, Ohio from a theatrical family and served in the First World War.
He was probably best known for playing the father of the handicapped sailor in The Best Years of Our Lives. He was the first actor to portray "Floyd the Barber" on The Andy Griffith Show.
Prior to his first film roles in 1939, Baldwin had appeared in more than a dozen Broadway plays. He played Whit in the first Broadway production of Of Mice and Men, and also appeared in the original Grand Hotel in a small role, as well as serving as the production's stage manager. He originated the role of Bensinger, the prissy Chicago Tribune reporter, in the Broadway production of The Front Page.
In the 1960s he had small acting roles in television shows such as Petticoat Junction and Green Acres. He continued to act in motion pictures, and one of his last roles was in Rosemary's Baby.
Baldwin was known for playing solid middle class burghers, although sometimes he gave portrayals of eccentric characters. He played a customer seeking a prostitute in The Lost Weekend and the rebellious prison trusty Orvy in Cry of the City. Walter Baldwin was featured in a lot of John Deere Day Movies from 1949-59 where he played the farmer Tom Gordon. In this series of Deere Day movies over a decade he helped to introduce many new pieces of John Deere farm equipment year-by-year. In each yearly movie he would be shown on his in A Tom Gordon Family Film where he would be buying new John Deere farm equipment or a new green and yellow tractor.A picture of Walter Baldwin playing Tom Gordon can be found on page 108 of Bob Pripp's book John Deere Yesterday & Today
Hal Erickson writes in Allmovie: "With a pinched Midwestern countenance that enabled him to portray taciturn farmers, obsequious grocery store clerks and the occasional sniveling coward, Baldwin was a familiar (if often unbilled) presence in Hollywood films for three decades."
Filmography
all 111
Movies 95
TV Shows 16
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Mannix (1967)
Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
Petticoat Junction (1963)
The Fugitive (1963)
Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962)
Wild in the Country (1961)
The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
Oklahoma Territory (1960)
Wagon Train (1957)
You Can't Run Away from It (1956)
The Harder They Fall (1956)
Glory (1956)
The Desperate Hours (1955)
Gunsmoke (1955)
Interrupted Melody (1955)
Stranger on Horseback (1955)
The Millionaire (1955)
Destry (1954)
Living It Up (1954)
The Long, Long Trailer (1954)
Ride, Vaquero! (1953)
Scandal at Scourie (1953)
General Electric Theater (1953)
Carrie (1952)
The Winning Team (1952)
I Want You (1951)
The Racket (1951)
Storm Warning (1951)
Rough Riders of Durango (1951)
The Jackpot (1950)
Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)
Thieves' Highway (1949)
Come to the Stable (1949)
Special Agent (1949)
The Gay Amigo (1949)
The Man from Colorado (1948)
Return of the Bad Men (1948)
Hazard (1948)
Winter Meeting (1948)
Albuquerque (1948)
The Unsuspected (1947)
Framed (1947)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Sister Kenny (1946)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
The Bride Wore Boots (1946)
Dragonwyck (1946)
Young Widow (1946)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Why Girls Leave Home (1945)
Rhythm Round-Up (1945)
Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
Murder, He Says (1945)
Scared Stiff (1945)
Trail to Vengeance (1945)
The Power of the Whistler (1945)
Bring on the Girls (1945)
I'll Be Seeing You (1944)
Faces in the Fog (1944)
The Missing Juror (1944)
I'm from Arkansas (1944)
The Mark of the Whistler (1944)
Dark Mountain (1944)
Reckless Age (1944)
Wilson (1944)
Mr. Winkle Goes to War (1944)
The Ghost That Walks Alone (1944)
Happy Land (1943)
The Kansan (1943)
Prairie Chickens (1943)
A Stranger in Town (1943)
After Midnight with Boston Blackie (1943)
Reconnaissance Pilot (1943)
The Incredible Stranger (1942)
Powder Town (1942)
Scattergood Rides High (1942)
In This Our Life (1942)
The Remarkable Andrew (1942)
Harvard Here I Come (1941)
They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
Miss Polly (1941)
All That Money Can Buy (1941)
Love at First Fright (1941)
Coffins on Wheels (1941)
The Devil Commands (1941)
Arizona (1940)
Angels Over Broadway (1940)
The Secret of Dr. Kildare (1939)
Those High Grey Walls (1939)
Peaceful Relations (1936)
Gallery
Information
Known ForActing
GenderMale
Birthday1889-01-01
Deathday1977-01-27 (88 years old)
Birth NameWalter Smith Baldwin Jr.
Birth PlaceLima, Ohio, USA
FatherWalter S. Baldwin
MotherPearl Melville
CitizenshipsUnited States of America
Also Known AsWalter S. Baldwin Jr., Walter S. Baldwin, Walter Smith Baldwin Jr.
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