BUSY WALTER CONNOLLY

Southland Times, Issue 24001, 16 December 1939, Page 19

BUSY WALTER CONNOLLY

CHARACTER ACTOR IN - DEMAND

Whenever a Hollywood casting director gets that harassed look in his eye, it is almost safe to wager he has been requested to get Walter Connolly for an important part in a motion picture. Reaching for the telephone in a resigned manner, the casting director calls Connolly, fully expecting to hear that he is working on a picture, that he is already cast in another, and is reading the script of a third. Too often the attempts to get Connolly are futile. The man who once thought he was not fitted for films is today among the most sought after actors in Hollywood. Annually, enough roles are written to keep five Connollys busy. He is in demand, not only for pictures at Columbia, the studio which finally persuaded him to forsake Broadway, but also by other film companies in the cinema city. Years ago, when he was one of Broadway’s reigning favourites, Connolly appeared in a silent picture. When he saw himself on the screen he threw up his hands in despair and returned to the stage. For seventeen years after that unfortunate experience, he steadfastly refused flattering offers from picture producers. ■ He finally succumbed to the lure of Hollywood when offered a role in one of Frank Capra’s early pictures. That is the story of Walter Connolly who plays an irascible sea-cap-tain in the Columbia drama ‘Coast Guard” with Randolph Scott and Frances Dee. Connolly is now a famous film personality. He thrives on activity. While he has appeared with most of the greatest stage stars of his period, he gets his greatest personal satisfaction from pictures. The reason is simple. He is intensely interested in creating characters. The variety of roles appeals to him and now that he has a definite place in Hollywood he is happy.