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Walter Brennan was the quintessential Hollywood character actor. These films are proof.
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 25, 2002
Having your teeth kicked out by a horse doesn't seem like a good career move but it worked for Walter Brennan. The accident occurred in 1932 when Brennan was still an unbilled stunt performer, mostly in sagebrush Westerns, and contributed both to his appearance as a man older than his years and to one of the most familiar voices ever in show business.
Before he died of emphysema in 1974 at age 80, Brennan established himself as the only actor ever to win three supporting-role Academy Awards. He was the quintessential character actor, rarely deviating from his folksy demeanor, even when playing bad guys.
Brennan was never a leading man, but a memorably limping sidekick for such Hollywood legends as John Wayne, Henry Fonda and Gary Cooper. Later, he was a welcomed guest in households through such television jobs as The Real McCoys and The Guns of Will Sonnett, earning him the unofficial title of America's grandpa.
Brennan was born on this date in 1894. Any of the these home video selections would be suitable celebrations of his remarkable career. As Will Sonnett often said: No brag, just fact.
Come and Get It -- Brennan won his first Oscar playing a Swedish lumberman who marries the former lover (Frances Farmer) of his best friend (Edward Arnold). Director Howard Hawks was fired during production after insulting studio chief Sam Goldwyn and replaced by William Wyler. Brennan already had nearly 100 movies to his credit.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -- Considered by many as the definitive screen version of Mark Twain's novel. Brennan was a perfect Muff Potter, falsely charged with murder and saved by the brave testimony of a runaway scamp.
Kentucky -- Although not available on home video, this 1938 film won Brennan his second Academy Award as a horse breeder stoking a family feud. The film's shuffling stereotypes of African-Americans keeps this one off the market, just like Disney's Song of the South.
The Westerner -- Brennan portrays one of the Old West's most colorful characters, Judge Roy Bean, who never met a man he didn't like to hang. Gary Cooper stars as a horse thief heading for the gallows who exploits Bean's infatuation with the actor Lily Langtry to stay alive. Brennan earned his third Academy Award in as many nominations.
Sergeant York -- Brennan finally lost an Oscar race in 1941 after his fourth and final nomination. He played a brimstone preacher steering a farm boy (Cooper) on the right path, and counseling him when pacifist ideals conflict with World War I duties.
The Pride of the Yankees -- Cooper shines as baseball legend Lou Gehrig, the luckiest man on the face of the earth despite a life-ending illness. Brennan supported Cooper in seven films overall, this one as a sportswriter lending perspective to Gehrig's accomplishments.
To Have and Have Not -- A boat captain for hire (Humphrey Bogart) and his boozing first mate (Brennan) transport a French resistance soldier through Nazi forces. Bogart was more distracted by the screen debut of his other co-star, later his wife, Lauren Bacall.
My Darling Clementine -- Brennan snorts and fumes as Old Man Clanton, father of several victims of the famed gunfight at the OK Corral. Henry Fonda makes a great Wyatt Earp.
Red River -- Another great Western from director Howard Hawks, John Wayne plays a cattle driver losing his herd to his adopted son (Montgomery Clift), then obsessively tracking it down. Brennan, Noah Beery Jr. and Harry Caray Jr. were memorably dusty cowpokes.
Tammy and the Bachelor -- Age and gentler roles brought out the twinkle in Brennan's eyes, especially when offering grandfatherly advice to a perky, lovestruck teenager (Debbie Reynolds). The bachelor of the title is Leslie Nielsen (the Naked Gun series) when he was still trying to be taken seriously.
Rio Bravo -- Tough sheriff (Wayne) enlists a drunk (Dean Martin), a baby-faced gunfighter (Ricky Nelson) and a boozy cripple named Stumpy (Brennan) to keep a killer in jail. Brennan even sings a lick or two with Nelson, who also duets with Martin on the song My Rifle, My Pony and Me. I'm not kidding.
Support Your Local Sheriff -- A genial parody of the Western films that made Brennan famous. James Garner stars as a laid-back lawman doing it just for the pay, and Brennan is the scheming town patriarch who doesn't want him around.
The Over-the-Hill Gang -- This made-for-TV movie was a swan song for Brennan and fellow aging saddle mates Edgar Buchanan, Andy Devine, Pat O'Brien and Chill Wills. "We're so far over the hill," Brennan's character says, "that we don't remember seeing the hump." Each of those character actors, however, had nice rides.