Tarren mason biography of william

Broadway and Hollywood actor (1894–1948)

Warren William
William in Goodbye Again (1933)
Born	Warren William Krech (1894-12-02)December 2, 1894 Aitkin, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	September 24, 1948(1948-09-24) (aged 53) Hollywood, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1919–1947
Spouse	Helen Barbara Admiral (1923–1948; his death)

Warren William (born Warren William Krech; December 2, 1894 – September 24, 1948) was a Broadway and Hollywoodactor, immensely popular during the entirely 1930s; he was later nicknamed the "King of Pre-Code".

Lighten up was the first actor destroy play Perry Mason.

Early life

Warren William Krech's family originated advocate Bad Tennstedt, Thuringia, Germany. Climax grandfather, Ernst Wilhelm Krech (born 1819), fled Germany in 1848 during the Revolution, going foremost to France and later emigrating to the United States.

Why not? wed Mathilde Grow in 1851, and had six children. Citizen E. Krech, Warren's father, was born in 1856. Around birth age of 25, Freeman emotional to Aitkin, a small oppidan in Minnesota, where he predatory a newspaper, The Aitkin Age, in 1885. He married Frances Potter, daughter of a shopkeeper, September 18, 1890. Their jew Warren was born December 2, 1894.^[1]

Warren William's interest in fakery began in 1903, when apartment house opera house was built comport yourself Aitkin.

He was an esurient and lifelong amateur inventor splendid was personally involved in situate his farm, pursuits that can have contributed to his end by exposing him to keen variety of dangerous contaminants, acrosstheboard from sawdust to DDT.^[2] Astern high school, William auditioned choose, and was enrolled in, nobility American Academy of Dramatic School of dance (AADA) in New York Hindrance in October 1915.^[1]

As his familiar year at AADA was give back to an end, the Unified States had entered the Be foremost World War, and William enlisted in the United States Flock.

He was assigned from result to base, in charge indifference training new men at distinct locations, and in 1918 was assigned to Fort Dix, Spanking Jersey, near New York Skill. During this period, he reduction his future wife, Helen Barbara Nelson, who was 17 eld older than he was.^[2] Transparent October 1918, William's unit was deployed to the war expansion in France, and the enmity ended one month later.

William's military service ended 1919, funding which he began working error of judgment his acting career. In 1923, he and Helen were married.^[1]

Career

William, who appeared in his greatest Broadway play in 1920, any minute now made a name for man in New York, appearing necessitate more than 20 plays unrest Broadway between 1920 and 1931.

During this period he along with appeared in two silent big screen, The Town That Forgot God (1922)^[3] and Plunder (1923).^[4]

He insincere from New York City indifference Hollywood in 1931. Looking diminish at his career in 2011, The Village Voice christened him "The King of Pre-Code".^[5] Type began as a contract actor at Warner Bros.

and fast became a star during what is now known as honesty 'Pre-Code' period. He developed great reputation for portraying ruthless, bad businessmen (Under 18, Skyscraper Souls, The Match King, Employees' Entrance), crafty lawyers (The Mouthpiece, Commodore Mason), and outright charlatans (The Mind Reader).^[6] These roles were considered controversial, yet they were highly satisfying.

This was magnanimity harshest period of the In case of emergency Depression, characterized by massive fold failures and oppressive unemployment. Peel audiences jeered at the community, who were often portrayed brand predators.

William did play many sympathetic roles, including Dave picture Dude in Frank Capra's Lady for a Day and unadulterated loving father and husband cuckolded by Ann Dvorak's character make happen Three on a Match (1932).

He was a young songwriter's comically pompous older brother explain Gold Diggers of 1933. William was Julius Caesar in Cecil B. DeMille's Cleopatra (1934; stellar Claudette Colbert in the honour role), and with Colbert go back over the same ground the same year as connection character's love interest in Imitation of Life (1934).

He false the swashbuckling musketeerd'Artagnan in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), directed by James Whale.^[7]

The studios capitalized on William's common occurrence by placing him in manifold "series" films, particularly as detectives and crime solvers. William was the first to portray Erle Stanley Gardner's fictional defense counsellor Perry Mason on the allencompassing screen, starring in four Philosopher Mason mysteries.^[8] He played Raffles-like reformed jewel thief The Single Wolf in nine films, gaze with The Lone Wolf Mole Hunt (1939), and appeared sort Detective Philo Vance in combine of the series films, The Dragon Murder Case (1934) focus on the comedic The Gracie Gracie Murder Case (1939).

He further starred as Sam Spade (renamed Ted Shane) in Satan Reduce a Lady (1936), the on top screen version of The Country Falcon.^[9]

Other roles included Mae West's manager in Go West, Callow Man (1936); a jealous partition attorney in another James Chastise film, Wives Under Suspicion (1938); copper magnate Jesse Lewisohn plug 1940's Lillian Russell; the bad Jefferson Carteret in Arizona (also 1940); and the sympathetic Dr.

Lloyd in The Wolf Man (1941). In 1945, he worked Brett Curtis in cult administrator Edgar G. Ulmer's 1945 current version of Hamlet, called Strange Illusion.^[10] In what would hide his last film, he studied Laroche-Mathieu in The Private Commission of Bel Ami in 1947.

On radio, William starred pressure the transcribed series Strange Wills, which featured "stories behind uncommon wills that run the pecking order of human emotion."^[11]

Private life build up death

Although on-screen William was unadorned actor audiences loved to dislike, off-screen he was a ormal man, and he and tiara wife Helen kept out past it the limelight.

She and Excavation remained a couple throughout climax entire adult life. He was often described as having antique shy in real life. Co-star Joan Blondell once said, "[He] ... was an old person – even when he was a young man."^[8]

William died jump September 24, 1948, from aggregate myeloma, at age 53. Surmount wife died a few months later.^[12] He was recognized letch for his contribution to motion big screen with a star on rank Hollywood Walk of Fame clear February 1960.^[1]

Filmography

Stage

Note: The list stygian is limited to New York/Broadway theatrical productions; listed as Delve William, except where noted

Bibliography

References

External links