Walter Sande
Encyclopedia
Walter Sande was an American actor, notable for film roles including Paul Revere
in Walt Disney
's Johnny Tremain
.
Born in Denver, Colorado
, he was one of those stern, heavyset character actors in Hollywood no person could recognize by name.
He showed an early interest in music as a youth and by his college years managed to start his own band. This led to a job as musical director for 20th Century-Fox's theater chain, which, in turn, led him to acting in films beginning in 1937. Usually providing atmospheric bits with no billing, he made an initial impression in serial cliffhangers as a third-string heavy with the popular The Green Hornet Strikes Again! and Sky Raiders
.
His first top featured role, however, would come with The Iron Claw
as Jack "Flash" Strong, a photographer who, uncharacteristically for Walter, served as a comic sidekick to our serial hero. Best of all would be his role in another serial as Red Pennington, the amusing sidekick to Don Winslow of the Navy
. He repeated his role again in Don Winslow of the Coast Guard
, the successful sequel.
The Pennington role would spark a long and steady career in movies, usually a step or two behind Hollywood's elite, in To Have and Have Not
(prominently featured as the fisherman who tries to cheat Bogie), in Along Came Jones
, The Blue Dahlia
, Dark City
and Bad Day at Black Rock
, among hundreds of others. A regular authoritative presence in these classic sci-fi films Red Planet Mars
, The War of the Worlds
and Invaders from Mars
. He also had a recurring featured part in the 1940s Boston Blackie
film series playing Detective Matthews alongside Chester Morris, former thief-turned-crime hero.
A primary support player during the "Golden Age" of television, Sande worked on nearly every popular western and crime show available throughout the 1950s and 1960s. He had a regular series role on the syndicated
The Adventures of Tugboat Annie
as Captain Horatio Bullwinkle, Annie's tugboat rival, and a recurring one as Lars "Papa" Holstrum, on The Farmer's Daughter
. He died of a heart attack
in 1971 at the age of sixty-five in Chicago
, Illinois
.
Paul Revere
Paul Revere was an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution. He is most famous for alerting Colonial militia of approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere's Ride...
in Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's Johnny Tremain
Johnny Tremain (film)
Johnny Tremain is a 1957 film made by Walt Disney Productions, based on the 1944 Newbery Medal-winning children's novel of the same name by Esther Forbes, retelling the story of the years in Boston, Massachusetts prior to the outbreak of the American Revolution. The movie was directed by Robert...
.
Born in Denver, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, he was one of those stern, heavyset character actors in Hollywood no person could recognize by name.
He showed an early interest in music as a youth and by his college years managed to start his own band. This led to a job as musical director for 20th Century-Fox's theater chain, which, in turn, led him to acting in films beginning in 1937. Usually providing atmospheric bits with no billing, he made an initial impression in serial cliffhangers as a third-string heavy with the popular The Green Hornet Strikes Again! and Sky Raiders
Sky Raiders
Sky Raiders is a Universal film serial.-Plot:Captain Dayton, owner of Sky Raiders, Inc., has invented a new fighter plane and bomb sight. Nazi agent Felix Lynx attempts to steal these inventions for his own country...
.
His first top featured role, however, would come with The Iron Claw
The Iron Claw
The Iron Claw or Iron Claw may refer to:* The Iron Claw , a silent serial starring Pearl White* The Iron Claw , a sound serial released by Columbia Pictures...
as Jack "Flash" Strong, a photographer who, uncharacteristically for Walter, served as a comic sidekick to our serial hero. Best of all would be his role in another serial as Red Pennington, the amusing sidekick to Don Winslow of the Navy
Don Winslow of the Navy
Don Winslow of the Navy is a Universal Pictures film serial based on the comic strip Don Winslow of the Navy by Commander Frank V. Martinek.-Production:...
. He repeated his role again in Don Winslow of the Coast Guard
Don Winslow of the Coast Guard
Don Winslow of the Coast Guard is a Universal Pictures film serial based on the comic strip by Frank V. Martinbek.-Production:Martinbek's comic strip was approved by the US Navy...
, the successful sequel.
The Pennington role would spark a long and steady career in movies, usually a step or two behind Hollywood's elite, in To Have and Have Not
To Have and Have Not (film)
To Have and Have Not is a 1944 romance-war-adventure film. The movie was directed by Howard Hawks and stars Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan, and Lauren Bacall in her first film...
(prominently featured as the fisherman who tries to cheat Bogie), in Along Came Jones
Along Came Jones (film)
Along Came Jones is a 1945 western comedy film starring Gary Cooper, Loretta Young, William Demarest, and Dan Duryea, in which Cooper mercilessly spoofs his own slow-talking cowboy persona. The movie was adapted by Nunnally Johnson from the novel Useless Cowboy by Alan Le May, and directed by...
, The Blue Dahlia
The Blue Dahlia
The Blue Dahlia is a 1946 film noir, directed by George Marshall and written by Raymond Chandler. The film marks the third pairing of stars Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.-Plot:...
, Dark City
Dark City (1950 film)
Dark City is a 1950 film noir. The casting of Charlton Heston—in his first Hollywood film appearance—as a petty hood is unusual in light of his subsequent career. The film also features Jack Webb and Harry Morgan, who both went on to co-star in Dragnet. The musical score was composed by Franz...
and Bad Day at Black Rock
Bad Day at Black Rock
Bad Day at Black Rock is a 1955 thriller film directed by John Sturges that combines elements of Westerns and film noir. It tells the story of a mysterious stranger who arrives at a tiny isolated town in a desert of the southwest United States in search of a man...
, among hundreds of others. A regular authoritative presence in these classic sci-fi films Red Planet Mars
Red Planet Mars
Red Planet Mars is a 1952 science fiction film released by United Artists based on a 1932 play Red Planet written by John L. Balderston and John Hoare...
, The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds (1953 film)
The War of the Worlds is a 1953 science fiction film starring Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. It was the first on-screen loose adaptation of the H. G. Wells classic novel of the same name...
and Invaders from Mars
Invaders from Mars (1953 film)
Invaders From Mars is a science fiction film directed by William Cameron Menzies, taken from a scenario by Richard Blake, and based on a story treatment by John Tucker Battle who was inspired by a dream recounted by his wife. It was produced independently by Edward L. Alperson Jr. and starred...
. He also had a recurring featured part in the 1940s Boston Blackie
Boston Blackie
Boston Blackie is a fictional character created by author Jack Boyle . Originally a jewel thief and safecracker in Boyle's novels, he became a detective in adaptations for films, radio and television—an "enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have no friend."-Literature:Jack...
film series playing Detective Matthews alongside Chester Morris, former thief-turned-crime hero.
A primary support player during the "Golden Age" of television, Sande worked on nearly every popular western and crime show available throughout the 1950s and 1960s. He had a regular series role on the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
The Adventures of Tugboat Annie
The Adventures of Tugboat Annie
The Adventures of Tugboat Annie is a 1957 Canadian-filmed television series starring Minerva Urecal as Annie Brennan, the role originated by Marie Dressler in the 1932 screen classic Tugboat Annie....
as Captain Horatio Bullwinkle, Annie's tugboat rival, and a recurring one as Lars "Papa" Holstrum, on The Farmer's Daughter
The Farmer's Daughter (TV series)
The Farmer's Daughter is an American situation comedy series that was produced by Screen Gems Television and aired on ABC from September 20, 1963 to April 22, 1966. It was sponsored by Lark cigarettes and Clairol for whom the two leading stars often appeared at show's end promoting the products...
. He died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in 1971 at the age of sixty-five in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
.