Volume III: Biographies

WALKER, Robert *

Actor (1916)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Robert Walker was an actor with Thanhouser, circa 1916.

Biographical Notes: Robert Donald Walker was born on June 18, 1888 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and was educated at the Horace Mann School in New York City. He began his career on the stage, at the suggestion of his uncles, Robert and Harry Hilliard. Among his early appearances were roles in The Balkan Princess, The Pink Lady, and A Fool There Was. Robert Walker appeared in the 1916 Thanhouser release of Fear. Apparently he was with the New Rochelle studio for just a short time. In 1916 a directory noted that he was 6' tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had dark brown hair and blue eyes. At the time he was with Metro studios in New York City, and his home address was 264 East 199th Street, New York City. The August 1917 edition of Photoplay Journal carried an article on his prowess as a hand-walker, stating that he made a bet that he could walk farther on his hands than anyone else in the motion picture profession.

Robert Walker appeared in many other films in the teens, including The Girl of the Music Hall (Kalem, March 1915), The Littlest Magdalene (Edison, May 1916), The Light of Happiness (Columbia for Metro, September 1916), Gates of Eden (Columbia for Metro, November 1916), The Cossack Whip (Edison, November 1916), The Mortal Sin (Columbia for Metro, March 1917), God's Law and Man's (Columbia for Metro, April 1917), Lady Barnacle (Rolfe for Metro, June 1917), Aladdin's Other Lamp (Rolfe for Metro, June 1917), The Girl Without a Soul (Rolfe for Metro, September 1917), Blue Jeans (Rolfe for Metro, December 1917), A Burglar by Proxy (Jack Pickford Productions for First National, 1919), and The Lion Man (Universal serial, 1919-1920). He remained in films through the late 1940s and died on March 4, 1954.

Note: Do not confuse the Thanhouser actor with Robert Hudson Walker (1914-1951), an actor in films from the late 1930s until his death.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1916: Fear (3-29-1916)

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