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Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh.jpg
Walsh, c. 1918
Born
Albert Edward Walsh

March 11, 1887
New York City, U.S.
Died December 31, 1980(1980-12-31) (aged 93)
Simi Valley, California, U.S.
Resting place Assumption Catholic Cemetery, Simi Valley, Ventura County, California
Occupation
  • Film director
  • actor
Years active 1909–1964
Spouse(s)
Miriam Cooper
​
​
(m. 1916; div. 1926)​

Lorraine Miller
​
​
(m. 1928; div. 1947)​

Mary Simpson
​
(m. 1947)​
Relatives George Walsh (brother)
Awards Founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887 – December 31, 1980) was an American film director and actor. He was one of the first members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. His brother, George Walsh, was also a famous actor in silent movies.

Raoul Walsh was known for playing John Wilkes Booth in the silent film The Birth of a Nation (1915). He also directed many popular movies. These include the wide-screen movie The Big Trail (1930), which was John Wayne's first main role. He also directed The Roaring Twenties (1939) and White Heat (1949), both starring James Cagney. His last film was made in 1964. Many famous directors, like Martin Scorsese, were inspired by his work.

About Raoul Walsh's Life

Raoul Walsh was born in New York City. His birth name was Albert Edward Walsh. His mother, Elizabeth T. Bruff, was from a family of Irish immigrants. His father, Thomas W. Walsh, was from England.

Raoul grew up in New York and was friends with the famous Barrymore family. John Barrymore remembered reading books in the Walsh family's library when he was young. Later in his life, Raoul Walsh lived in Palm Springs, California. He was buried at Assumption Cemetery in Simi Valley, California.

Walsh's Start in Movies

Raoul Walsh studied at Seton Hall College. He started acting in 1909, first on stage in New York City. Later, he became a film actor. In 1913, he changed his name to Raoul Walsh.

In 1914, he became an assistant to a famous director named D. W. Griffith. Walsh then directed his first full-length movie, The Life of General Villa. This film was shot in Mexico. It even included real battles happening at the time, along with recreated fight scenes.

Nation walsh
Walsh as John Wilkes Booth in The Birth of a Nation

Walsh played John Wilkes Booth in Griffith's big movie The Birth of a Nation (1915). He also helped direct the film. After this, he directed Regeneration in 1915. This movie is considered one of the first gangster films. It was filmed in the Bowery area of Manhattan.

Directing Big Films

Walsh served as an officer in the United States Army during World War I. After the war, he directed The Thief of Bagdad (1924). This movie starred Douglas Fairbanks and Anna May Wong. He also directed What Price Glory? (1926), starring Victor McLaglen and Dolores del Río.

Stallings and Walsh Read NYT
Stallings (left) and Walsh (center), around 1926

In 1928, Walsh directed and acted in Sadie Thompson. He played the boyfriend of Gloria Swanson's character. This was his first acting role since 1915.

He was then hired to direct and star in In Old Arizona. This film was about the character the Cisco Kid. While filming in the desert, Walsh was in a car crash. A jackrabbit jumped through the windshield. He lost his right eye because of the accident. He stopped acting after this and wore an eyepatch for the rest of his life. Warner Baxter won an Oscar for the role Walsh was supposed to play.

John Wayne in The Big Trail (1930)
John Wayne in The Big Trail

In the early days of sound movies, Walsh directed The Big Trail (1930). This was a huge western movie filmed in a wide-screen format. It showed a wagon train traveling across the American West. Walsh discovered John Wayne for this movie. Wayne was a prop man named Marion Morrison at the time. Walsh renamed him after a general from the American Revolutionary War.

Walsh also directed The Bowery (1933). This movie featured Wallace Beery and George Raft. It told the story of Steve Brodie, who supposedly jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge and survived.

From 1935 to 1939, Walsh worked for Paramount Pictures. His career became even more successful when he moved to Warner Brothers. There, he directed many famous films. These include The Roaring Twenties (1939) with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. He also directed They Drive By Night (1940) and High Sierra (1941), both starring Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart.

Other notable films from this period are They Died with Their Boots On (1941) with Errol Flynn as Custer. He also directed The Strawberry Blonde (1941) with James Cagney and Olivia de Havilland. One of his most famous films was White Heat (1949), starring James Cagney. Walsh's contract with Warner Brothers ended in 1953.

He continued to direct several more films. He made three movies with Clark Gable: The Tall Men (1955), The King and Four Queens (1956), and Band of Angels (1957). Raoul Walsh retired from filmmaking in 1964. He passed away from a heart attack in 1980.

Other Interests

Raoul Walsh loved Thoroughbred racehorses. He owned and bred these horses. For a while, his brother George Walsh helped train his horses. One of their horses, Sunset Trail, raced in the 1937 Kentucky Derby. That race was won by War Admiral, who later won the U.S. Triple Crown. Sunset Trail finished sixteenth in the race.

Some of Raoul Walsh's movie-related items and personal papers are kept at the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives.

Selected Filmography

The Birth of a Nation (1915) - 5
Walsh as John Wilkes Booth in The Birth of a Nation, 1915
  • The Pseudo Prodigal (1913 short, director), directorial debut
  • The Mystery of the Hindu Image (1914, director) (uncredited)
  • The Banker's Daughter (1914)
  • The Great Leap; Until Death Do Us Part (1914)
  • The Dishonored Medal (1914) – The Adopted Son
  • The Life of General Villa (1914) – Villa as a young man
  • The Birth of a Nation (1915) – John Wilkes Booth (uncredited)
  • Regeneration (1915, director)
  • Carmen (1915, director) (with Theda Bara)
  • The Outlaw's Revenge (1915) – The outlaw
  • Blue Blood and Red (1916, director)
  • The Silent Lie (1917, director) (a.k.a. Camille of the Yukon)
  • Betrayed (1917, director)
  • The Conqueror (1917, director)
  • The Innocent Sinner (1917, director)
  • The Honor System (1917, director)
  • On the Jump (1918, director)
  • The Woman and the Law (1918, director)
  • The Prussian Cur (1918, director)
  • Evangeline (1919, director) (with his wife Miriam Cooper)
  • The Strongest (1920, director)
  • The Deep Purple (1920, director)
  • The Oath (1921, director)
  • Kindred of the Dust (1922, director)
  • The Thief of Bagdad (1924, director, produced by and starring Douglas Fairbanks, and featuring Anna May Wong)
  • The Wanderer (1925, director)
  • What Price Glory (1926, director, his most successful silent movie) (with Victor McLaglen and Dolores del Río)
  • The Lucky Lady (1926, director)
  • The Loves of Carmen (1927, director) (with Dolores del Río)
  • The Monkey Talks (1927, director)
  • Sadie Thompson (1928, director, also acted alongside Gloria Swanson) – Sergeant Timothy 'Tim' O'Hara (final film role)
  • The Red Dance (1928, director) (with Dolores del Río and Charles Farrell)
  • Me, Gangster (1928, director, debut of Don Terry)
  • The Cock-Eyed World (1929, director)
  • The Big Trail (1930, director) (with John Wayne, an early location movie in widescreen and Wayne's first leading role)
  • The Man Who Came Back (1931, director) (with Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell)
  • Women of All Nations (1931, director)
  • The Yellow Ticket (1931, director) (with Lionel Barrymore and Laurence Olivier)
  • Wild Girl (1932, director) (with Charles Farrell, Joan Bennett, Ralph Bellamy, and Eugene Pallette)
  • Me and My Gal (1932, director)
  • Sailor's Luck (1933, director)
  • The Bowery (1933, director) (with Wallace Beery, George Raft, Fay Wray, and Pert Kelton)
  • Big Brown Eyes (1936, director) (with Cary Grant and Joan Bennett）
  • Klondike Annie (1936, director) (with Mae West and Victor McLaglen)
  • O.H.M.S. (1937, director)
  • Jump for Glory (1937, director)
  • St. Louis Blues (1939, director)
  • The Roaring Twenties (1939, director) (with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart)
  • Dark Command (1940, director) (with John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and Gabby Hayes)
  • They Drive by Night (1940, director) (with George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, and Humphrey Bogart)
  • High Sierra (1941, director) (with Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart)
  • The Strawberry Blonde (1941, director) (with James Cagney and Olivia de Havilland)
  • They Died with Their Boots On (1941, director) (with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland)
  • Manpower (1941, director) (with Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, and George Raft)
  • Desperate Journey (1942, director) (with Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan)
  • Gentleman Jim (1942, director) (with Errol Flynn and William Frawley)
  • Background to Danger (1943, director) (with George Raft, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre)
  • Uncertain Glory (1944, director) (with Errol Flynn)
  • Objective, Burma! (1945, director) (with Errol Flynn)
  • The Man I Love (1947, director) (with Ida Lupino)
  • Pursued (1947, director) (with Robert Mitchum and Teresa Wright)
  • Cheyenne (1947, director) (with Dennis Morgan and Jane Wyman)
  • Silver River (1948, director) (with Errol Flynn)
  • Fighter Squadron (1948, director) (with Edmond O'Brien)
  • White Heat (1949, director) (with James Cagney and Edmond O'Brien)
  • Colorado Territory (1949, director) (with Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo, Dorothy Malone, and Henry Hull)
  • The Enforcer (1951, director) (with Humphrey Bogart) (uncredited)
  • Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951, director) (with Gregory Peck and Virginia Mayo)
  • Along the Great Divide (1951, director) (with Kirk Douglas, Virginia Mayo, John Agar and Walter Brennan)
  • Distant Drums (1951, director)
  • Blackbeard the Pirate (1952, director) (with Robert Newton, Linda Darnell and William Bendix)
  • The World in His Arms (1952, director) (with Gregory Peck, Ann Blyth and Anthony Quinn)
  • Gun Fury (1953, director) (with Donna Reed and Lee Marvin)
  • A Lion Is in the Streets (1953, director) (with James Cagney and Lon Chaney Jr.)
  • The Lawless Breed (1953, director) (with Rock Hudson)
  • Sea Devils (1953, director) (with Rock Hudson)
  • Saskatchewan (1954, director)
  • Battle Cry (1955, director)
  • The Tall Men (1955, director) (with Clark Gable and Jane Russell)
  • The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956, director) (with Jane Russell and Richard Egan)
  • The King and Four Queens (1956, director) (with Clark Gable and Eleanor Parker)
  • Band of Angels (1957, director) (with Clark Gable, Yvonne De Carlo, and Sidney Poitier)
  • The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1958, director)
  • Esther and the King (1960, director)
  • Marines, Let's Go (1961, director)
  • A Distant Trumpet (1964, director) (final film)

Miscellaneous Works

  • The Conqueror (Writer) (1917)
  • The Big Trail (story contributor) (uncredited) (1930)
  • Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (producer) (uncredited) (1951)
  • The Lawless Breed (producer) (uncredited) (1953)
  • Esther and the King (screenplay) (1960)
  • The Men Who Made the Movies: Raoul Walsh (TV movie documentary)
  • Himself (1973)

See also

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