Walter Woolf King (born Walter Woolf; November 2, 1899 – October 24, 1984) was an American film, television and stage actor and singer.
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Career
Born in San Francisco, California on November 2, 1899, King was raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he sang in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. When he performed in a production in Ogden, Utah, in 1916, a local newspaper described him as "a clean cut young actor with a baritone voice that should take him to the top rank in musical comedy". It added that his voice was "far superior in range and quality" to Joseph Santley.
King and a friend, Charles Lemaire, left their homes in Salt Lake City and began a vaudeville act with Lemaire playing piano and Woolf singing. They progressed from being a fill-in act to fairly good positions on bills at smaller vaudeville theaters. Eventually the act broke up with Lemaire leaving show business while Woolf went on tour with a singing act.
King made his Broadway debut in 1920, 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 in the mid-1930s. He used his birth name, Walter Woolf, until he went to Hollywood. There he became Walter King to appease his employers. He used that name until he returned to Broadway to appear in May Wine. Producer Lawrence Schwab had known him as Walter Woolf and did not like the name Walter King; they compromised on use of Walter Woolf King for the play.
King's film debut came in Golden Dawn (1930).
King acted in the Community Playhouse in Pasadena, California, in 1934.
In 1936, King was host of the Flying Red Horse Tavern on CBS radio.
King began his film career in musicals but quickly moved into supporting roles. He is probably best remembered today for his villainous roles in two films starring the Marx Brothers: A Night at the Opera (1935) and Go West (1940). He also appeared with Laurel & Hardy in Swiss Miss (1938). King made several appearances on radio and later became an actors' agent. During the 1950s and 1960s, he was seen in several often uncredited bit parts and smaller roles in television and films.
One credited TV role was as “Major Clinton” in the 1958 S1E38 offering, “The Monty Britton Story” on Wagon Train.
In the first episode of The Munsters he is credited for his role as George Washington. His final appearance was in the 1977 TV movie One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story.
Personal life and death
King was married to Ernestyne Bachrach. They had a daughter, Barbara Jean Meier, and a son, Walter Woolf King Jr. He died of a heart attack in Beverly Hills, California, on October 24, 1984, aged 88.