Dallas Public Library

A real American character, the life of Walter Brennan, Carl Rollyson

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 214-229), filmography (pages 230-235), discography (pages 239-242) and index

individual biography

government publication of a state province territory dependency etc

platesillustrations

index present

non fiction

A real American character

filmographiesbibliographydiscographies

904047410

Carl Rollyson

Hollywood legends series

the life of Walter Brennan

Walter Brennan (1894-1974) was one of the greatest character actors in Hollywood history. He won three Academy Awards and became a national icon starring as Grandpa in The Real McCoys. He appeared in over two hundred motion pictures and became the subject of a Norman Rockwell painting, which celebrated the actor's unique role as the voice of the American Western. His life journey from Swampscott, Massachusetts, to Hollywood, to a twelve-thousand-acre cattle ranch in Joseph, Oregon, is one of the great American stories. In the first biography of this epic figure, Carl Rollyson reveals Brennan's consummate mastery of virtually every kind of role while playing against and often stealing scenes from such stars as Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, and John Wayne. Rollyson fully explores Brennan's works with Hollywood's greatest directors, such as Howard Hawks, John Ford, and Fritz Lang. As a father and grandfather, Brennan instilled generations of his family with an outlook on the American Dream that remains a sustaining feature of their lives today. His conservative politics, which grew out of his New England upbringing and his devout Catholicism, receive meticulous attention and a balanced assessment in A Real American Character. Written with the full cooperation of the Brennan family and drawing on material in archives from every region of the United States, this new biography presents an artist and family man who lived and breathed an American idealism that made him the Real McCoy. -- from dust jacket

The beginning (1894-1927) -- The racket (1928-35) -- Acclaim and awards: Samuel Goldwyn, Howard Hawks, Fritz Lang, and how Walter Brennan became a real character (1934-39) -- The apotheosis of Walter Brennan (1940) -- Primal Brennan: Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, Frank Capra, Jean Renoir, Howard Hawks (1940-44) -- Western Brennan: Bob Hope, Henry Fonda, John Wayne, John Ford, Howard Hawks (1944-48) -- Western Brennan redux: Robert Mitchum, James Stewart, Spencer Tracy, John Wayne The far country, Bad day at Black Rock, Rio Bravo (1948-58) -- The real McCoys: America's grandpa (1957-63) -- The politics of becoming Walter Brennan (1960-73) -- The legacy years (1969-74)