Walter Woolf King

Walter Woolf King (November 2, 1899 – October 24, 1984) was an American actor, singer, and stage performer born in San Francisco, California. He worked across Broadway, film, radio, and television over the course of a career spanning more than five decades.

King began singing at a young age, with churches serving as his earliest performance venues. He made his Broadway debut in 1919 and went on to establish himself as a baritone in operettas and musical comedies, appearing on Broadway from 1920 through 1935. His stage credits included the play Ladies All, the musicals May Wine and Melody, and the play Red Planet. During the early portion of his career he performed under the names Walter Woolf and Walter King before combining all three into Walter Woolf King in the mid-1930s.

His film work began in musicals before shifting toward supporting and character roles. He is particularly associated with two Marx Brothers productions: A Night at the Opera (1935), in which he played a villainous role, and Go West (1940), where he again appeared in an antagonistic capacity. He also appeared alongside Laurel and Hardy in Swiss Miss (1938).

In 1936, King served as host of the Flying Red Horse Tavern on CBS radio, and he made additional radio appearances throughout his career. He later transitioned into work as an actors' agent. During the 1950s and 1960s, he took on numerous small and frequently uncredited parts in film and television. Among his credited television roles was Major Clinton in the Wagon Train episode "The Monty Britton Story" (Season 1, Episode 38, 1958), and he appeared as George Washington in the first episode of The Munsters. His final screen appearance came in the 1977 television film One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story. King died in Beverly Hills, California, on October 24, 1984.