Movies With Michael : Walter Woolf King on Stage, Screen and Radio

Thursday, January 8, 2026

Walter Woolf King on Stage, Screen and Radio

Motion Picture Daily, 1938

Walter Woolf King is best remembered today for his work with two of the movies' greatest comedy teams. He appeared with The Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera (1935) and Go West (1940), as well as Laurel and Hardy in Swiss Miss (1938). He is perfect as the villain in the two Marx Brothers movies, truly making us want to hiss at him whenever he comes on screen. Unfortunately, he is much weaker in Swiss Miss. This is not because of his acting but rather the role he is given. He is supposed to be the romantic lead in this film but the way his character is written makes him seem much more like a villain. Swiss Miss has some great comedic bits for Laurel and Hardy but whenever the attention drifts away from them, it becomes much less interesting.

Motion Picture, 1935

However, Walter Woolf King's career was so much more than these three films. He also appeared in such movies as Golden Dawn (1930), One More Spring (1935), Call It a Day (1937), Melody for Three (1941), Smart Alecks (1942), The Helen Morgan Story (1957) and Rosie! (1967). He also appeared in two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (Our Cook's a Treasure (1955), The Percentage (1958)) and three episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (The Dark Pool (1963), A Nice Touch (1963), Isabel (1964)).

King was also a quite successful stage actor, who was especially known for his baritone singing voice. Here is a list of some of the plays he was in and when they ran.

Florodora (Apr 05, 1920 - Aug 14, 1920)

The Midnight Rounders of 1920 (Jul 12, 1920 - Nov 27, 1920)

The Last Waltz (May 10, 1921 - Oct 29, 1921)

The Lady in Ermine (Oct 02, 1922 - Apr 21, 1923)

The Passing Show of 1923 (Jun 14, 1923 - Sep 15, 1923)

The Dream Girl (Aug 20, 1924 - Nov 29, 1924)

Artists and Models (Jun 24, 1925 - May 07, 1926)

Princess Flavia (Nov 02, 1925 - Mar 13, 1926)

Countess Maritza (Sep 18, 1926 - Jun 25, 1927)

The Red Robe (Dec 25, 1928 - May 20, 1929)
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Ladies All (Jul 28, 1930 - Dec 13, 1930)

The Great Man (Apr 07, 1931 - Apr 1931)

Experience Unnecessary (Dec 30, 1931 - Feb 1932)

Red Planet (Dec 17, 1932 - Dec 1932)

Melody (Feb 14, 1933 - Apr 22, 1933)

May Wine (Dec 05, 1935 - Jun 06, 1936)

As well as appearing in movies, TV and stage, King also hosted the CBS radio show Flying Red Horse Tavern. Here is a 1936 article about that from Radio Mirror. If you have trouble reading the following pages click on them and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen, click here.