Walter Huston

Paternal grandson of Alexander (1812-1891) and Margaret (née Moore) Huston (1819-1893). Both were born and raised in Ireland and died in the province of Ontario, Canada.

Son of Robert (1848-1904) and Elizabeth (née McGibbon) Huston (1848-1917). Both were born and raised in the province of Ontario, Canada.

For many years Walter Huston had two passions: his career as an engineer and his vocation for the stage. In 1909 he dedicated himself to the theatre, and made his debut on Broadway in 1924.

Rose to stardom in the original Provincetown Players' production of Eugene O'Neill's "Desire Under the Elms", which debuted at the Greenwich Village Theater (7th Ave. near Christopher St., New York, NY) on November 11, 1924, before transferring to Broadway. To the end of his life, O'Neill - the only American playwright to win the Nobel Prize for Literature - maintained that Huston's performance as Ephraim Cabot in that play was the greatest performance by any actor in any of his works.

In 1929 he journeyed to Hollywood, where his talent and ability made him one of the most respected actors in the industry.

A "wet," he spent the night of April 6, 1933 - the day when Prohibition was set to expire at midnight - at the Los Angeles Brewing Co. with fellow movie star Jean Harlow. A maker of "near-beer" and de-natured alcohol (the alcohol was subtracted from the full-strength beer the company continued to brew during Prohibition, but could not legally market), the company was ready to immediately get back into the market for strong waters. Skipping the denaturing process, Los Angeles Brewing whipped up a huge consignment of the genuine stuff (to be marketed as Eastside beer and ale in bottles and kegs), which was loaded onto trucks parked at the brewery, ready to roll the day when suds could be shipped legally. Two treasury agents and many guards were there that night in the company parking lot, to ensure things went smoothly, safely and legally. At 12:01 AM at the dawning of the new day of April 7, 1933, when the sale and consumption of intoxicating beverages was once again legal (if not a constitutional right) in the United States, Huston gave a short speech and Harlow broke a bottle of beer over the first truck lined up and ready to deliver its legal load of liquid refreshment, thus christening the reborn brewery. The trucks rolled out, many staffed with armed guards riding shotgun lest the thirsty multitude get too frisky along the delivery routes. When the night was over, the brewery had done over $250,000 in business (approximately $3,387,000 in 2005 dollars) and had collected a stack of cash 18 inches high. Harlow had stayed the night, partying with brewery employees.

Appears in four Oscar Best Picture nominees: Dodsworth (1936), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).

By his own admission not much of a singer, Huston introduced the American pop music standard "September Song" in the 1938 Broadway show "Knickerbocker Holiday." His recording of the Kurt Weill-Maxwell Anderson song was a best-seller that year on the Brunswick label. Regrettably, when the film Knickerbocker Holiday (1944) was made three years later, Huston's role went to Charles Coburn, who, nevertheless, sang the song in the film, one of the few songs retained from the show. The film, long unseen, occasionally turns up now on American Movie Classics.

He appeared in three films directed by his son John Huston: The Maltese Falcon (1941), In This Our Life (1942) and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).

The Canadian-born Huston played Uncle Sam, the personification of the United States, was born in Canada, in John Ford and Gregg Toland's Oscar-winning documentary short December 7th (1943).