Walter Huston 1884 - 1950

Academy Award-winning Actor

Plaque located at: 328 Wellesley Street East, Toronto, ON, Canada

Another plaque is also affixed to the west side of the Winchester Public School that Huston once attended.

Walter Huston was born in Toronto where his father was a building contractor. He attended Wellesley, Ryerson and Lansdowne Schools, and Winchester Public School in Cabbagetown.

He later studied engineering, but he gave it up and chose acting as a career. He made his stage debut in Toronto in 1902. By 1905 he was successful in vaudeville and was cast in a New York play. By 1929, he had moved to California and was making movies.

In 1948 he won an Academy Award for the best supporting actor in The Treasure of Sierra Madre. He appeared in over 50 movies, and occasionally returned to Broadway to act in a play. Some of his other films include:

• Abraham Lincoln (1930), title role
• Dodsworth (1936), voted, by the New York Film Critics, best actor of 1936 for his performance in this role
• The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), as Mr. Scratch
• The Maltese Falcon (1941), cameo as Captain Jacobi

His love of making movies passed on to his son, John Huston, the successful Hollywood actor, writer and director, who received multiple Academy Awards (including as writer and director of The Treasure of Sierra Madre. John Huston’s daughter is Anjelica Huston, also an accomplished actor, and winner of an Academy Award.

Walter Huston died of a heart attack one day following his 66th birthday.

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