Scott Kolk

Walter Scott Kolk, born on May 16, 1905, in Baltimore, Maryland, was an American actor and entertainer whose career spanned stage, film, and live performance during the 1920s and 1930s. Though born in Baltimore, Kolk considered Maine his home state. He attended Summer Street Grammar School in South Portland, Maine, before returning to Maryland for four years at a military school. His mother was Anna E. Kolk, and he had two sisters and a brother.

Before pursuing acting, Kolk worked as a professional musician, playing drums with orchestras on the Keith Circuit and with Meyer Davis's orchestra. During his time with Davis's orchestra, he introduced the Black Bottom dance to Washington, D.C., when the group performed at Club Chanticleer. He also built a following as a singer and entertainer at the Le Paradis supper club in Washington and led the opening revue at the Silver Slipper supper club in that city. During his club engagements, he was sometimes billed as Walter Kolk.

Kolk's transition to film came after actress Marion Davies saw him perform in Venice, Italy, during a European tour. Davies encouraged him to pursue screen work, which led to screen tests at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and ultimately a role in her first sound film. His film work later included the starring role in the twelve-part serial Secret Agent X-9 in 1937, and he is also noted for his appearance in All Quiet on the Western Front.

His Broadway career ran from 1927 to 1934. He played Lieutenant Dale in the musical Take the Air in 1928 and George Armstrong in the play Baby Pompadour in 1934.

In the early 1930s, Kolk stepped away from Hollywood, having grown disillusioned with the film industry and the lifestyle surrounding it. He used his savings to purchase a farm in Maine, where he lived in relative isolation, occupying himself with plowing, harvesting, and hunting. After roughly a year and a half, he returned to Hollywood. Kolk died on December 1, 1993, in Canton, Maine.