Walter Woolf King (2 November 1899 – 24 October 1984) was an American film, television and stage actor and singer.
Born in San Francisco, California, King started singing for a living at a young age and performed mostly in churches. He made his Broadway debut in 1919, and became a well-known baritone in operettas and musical comedies. King billed himself as Walter Woolf and Walter King early in his career, eventually settling on a combination of all three names, Walter Woolf King, in the mid 1930s.
King began his film career in musicals but quickly moved into supporting roles. He is probably best known today for his villainous roles in two films starring the Marx Brothers, A Night At The Opera and Go West. He also appeared on radio and later became an actors agent. He made numerous appearances in bit parts and supporting roles in television and films throughout the 1950s and '60s. His final appearance was in the 1977 TV movie One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story.
King died in Beverly Hills, California in 1984.
Famous quotes containing the words walter, woolf and/or king:
“A stroke of the pen is better than a stroke of the sword, no?”
—Ernest Pascal, and Walter Lang. Wilhelm (Stanley Andrews)
“When a subject is highly controversial ... one cannot hope to tell the truth. One can only show how one came to hold whatever opinion one does hold. One can only give one’s audience the chance of drawing their own conclusions as they observe the limitations, the prejudices, the idiosyncrasies of the speaker.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)