Charlotte Walker(1876-1958)
- Actress
Texan-born actress Charlotte Walker was the daughter of a wealthy
cotton broker, who died when she was eleven. With her siblings she went
on to live at a ranch owned by her mother's even more affluent family.
In her mid-teens, Charlotte studied drama at Fort Edwards Collegiate
Institute. She performed on the Broadway stage from 1901 and in silent
pictures with the Lasky Organisation from 1915, subsequently working
for Thanhouser from 1917 to 1919. Charlotte was considered a versatile
actress, skilled in both comedy and dramatic parts. She was also
exquisitely beautiful, and, though already well into middle age, able
to command leading roles in several high profile productions. Her
second marriage (1910-1930) was to the prolific Broadway playwright
Eugene Walter and one of her
biggest successes was a starring role in his 1913 stage dramatisation
and subsequent cinematic version of
La piste du pin solitaire (1916),
produced and directed by
Cecil B. DeMille. Her status began to
decline with the advent of sound pictures. Indifferent reviews included
a performance in
Agent Z 1 (1930),
described as overly 'theatrical' by the New York Times. Relegated to
small supporting roles in several forgettable B-grade pictures,
Charlotte retired from acting in 1941. She died in 1958 in her home
state at the age of 81.
