Walter Hampden

Stage actor, born in Brooklyn, New York, USA. A romantic presence, he performed both classic and commercial theatre, appearing several times in the title role of Cyrano de Bergerac.

Walter Hampden is the artist name of Walter Hampden Dougherty (born June 30, 1879 in Brooklyn; Hampden's last stage role was as Danforth in the original Broadway production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible.

Hampden appeared in a few silent films, but did not really begin his film career in earnest until 1939, when he played the good Archbishop (Frollo's brother) in the Charles Laughton version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Hampden's character was one that does not appear in Victor Hugo's novel; Several other roles followed - Jarvis Langdon in the 1944 film The Adventures of Mark Twain among them, but all were supporting character roles, not the lead roles that Hampden played onstage. He had a small role in All About Eve (1950), and he played long-bearded patriarchs in biblical epics like The Silver Chalice (1954) and The Prodigal (1955).

Hampden also appeared in several dramas during the early days of television.

His last role was the non-singing one of King Louis XI of France, considered by some to be one of his best performances, in the otherwise unremarkable 1956 Technicolor remake of Rudolf Friml's 1925 operetta The Vagabond King.

For 27 years, Walter Hampden was president of the Players' Club.