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Walter Brennan

Walter Brennan

Walter Brennan, was a veteran character actor, notably in westerns. He holds the distinction of having won more Academy Awards for acting than any other actor.

Brennan was born in Swampscott, Massachusetts, and studied engineering in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While in school, he became interested in acting, and began to perform in vaudeville. After serving in World War I, he moved to Guatemala and raised pineapples, before settling in Los Angeles, California.

After working as an extra and a stunt man, he began receiving more substantial roles in the 1930s, culminating with the receiving of the very first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1937 for Come and Get It.

Other films included Red River, Rio Bravo, My Darling Clementine, Meet John Doe, The Pride of the Yankees, To Have and Have Not, Bad Day at Black Rock and How the West Was Won. In the 1950s, he starred in the television series The Real McCoys, and appeared in several other movies and television programs, usually as an eccentric old-timer. He also made a few recordings, the most popular being Old Rivers in 1962.

He was inducted into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1970.

On his passing in 1974, Walter Brennan was interred in San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2004.

Walter Brennan Facts

Birth NameWalter Andrew Brennan
OccupationActor
BirthdayJuly 25, 1894
SignLeo
BirthplaceSwampscott, Massachusetts, USA
Date of deathSeptember 21, 1974 (age 80)
Height5' 11" (1m80)  How tall is Walter Brennan compared to you?
Awards1941 Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (for The Westerner)
1939 Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (for Kentucky)
1937 Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (for Come and Get It)

Selected Filmography

Dating Daisy
Support Your Local Sheriff
Rio Bravo
The Over-The-Hill Gang
Sergeant York
Tammy and the Bachelor / Tammy Tell Me True / Tammy and the Doctor
Red River
To Have and Have Not
Bad Day at Black Rock
The North Star
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