Actor. He was an American actor who played rugged, homely characters of stage and in mainly silent films. In the silent films from 1914, he was typecast as a brutal villain but received his greatest fame in a sympathetic role, as the gruff, paternalistic World War I German Corporal "Kat" Katczinsky in the Academy-Award-winning 1930-film adaption of the novel "All Quiet on the Western Front." Born in New York City, Wolheim earned an engineering degree at Cornell and remained at the university for six years as a math instructor. He trademarked nose was the result of a football injury followed by a physical altercation reinjuring the nose. He ventured into acting on the advice of his friendLionel Barrymore, who told him, "With that face you could make a fortune in the theatre" and persuaded him not to fix his nose, which had been badly broken during his days as a Cornell halfback. On Broadway he created the title role of Eugene O'Neill's "The Hairy Ape" in 1922 and was the original Captain Flagg in the long-running "What Price Glory" in 1924. His 53 movie credits include "The Warning" in 1914, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" in 1920, D.W. Griffith's "Orphans of the Storm" in 1921, "America" in 1924, "Two Arabian Nights" in 1927, "Tempest" and "The Racket" in 1928, "Danger Lights" and "The Silver Horde" both in 1930 and "The Sin Ship," which he also directed in 1931. In contrast to his crude image, Wolheim was known as a kindly, cultured man. Who spoke four languages fluently; he even translated a French play, "The Claw," which became a big hit for Lionel Barrymore in 1921. His unforgettable performance in "All Quiet on the Western Front" put him on the threshold of a promising career as a Hollywood character star, one he would not live to fulfill. He died of cancer at 50, in the middle of rehearsals for "The Front Page" in 1931. His part in that film was given to Adolphe Menjou. His role in "All Quiet on the Western Front" became part of history when the film was selected and preserved in 1990 by the United States Library of Congress' National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."
Actor. He was an American actor who played rugged, homely characters of stage and in mainly silent films. In the silent films from 1914, he was typecast as a brutal villain but received his greatest fame in a sympathetic role, as the gruff, paternalistic World War I German Corporal "Kat" Katczinsky in the Academy-Award-winning 1930-film adaption of the novel "All Quiet on the Western Front." Born in New York City, Wolheim earned an engineering degree at Cornell and remained at the university for six years as a math instructor. He trademarked nose was the result of a football injury followed by a physical altercation reinjuring the nose. He ventured into acting on the advice of his friendLionel Barrymore, who told him, "With that face you could make a fortune in the theatre" and persuaded him not to fix his nose, which had been badly broken during his days as a Cornell halfback. On Broadway he created the title role of Eugene O'Neill's "The Hairy Ape" in 1922 and was the original Captain Flagg in the long-running "What Price Glory" in 1924. His 53 movie credits include "The Warning" in 1914, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" in 1920, D.W. Griffith's "Orphans of the Storm" in 1921, "America" in 1924, "Two Arabian Nights" in 1927, "Tempest" and "The Racket" in 1928, "Danger Lights" and "The Silver Horde" both in 1930 and "The Sin Ship," which he also directed in 1931. In contrast to his crude image, Wolheim was known as a kindly, cultured man. Who spoke four languages fluently; he even translated a French play, "The Claw," which became a big hit for Lionel Barrymore in 1921. His unforgettable performance in "All Quiet on the Western Front" put him on the threshold of a promising career as a Hollywood character star, one he would not live to fulfill. He died of cancer at 50, in the middle of rehearsals for "The Front Page" in 1931. His part in that film was given to Adolphe Menjou. His role in "All Quiet on the Western Front" became part of history when the film was selected and preserved in 1990 by the United States Library of Congress' National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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