ABOUT WARNER BAXTER (1889 - 1951)
Warner Baxter was born on March 29, 1889 in Columbus,
Ohio. In 1906 his family moved to San Francisco, ironically,
just before the 1906 SF earthquake. Four years later
Baxter was performing in Vaudeville acts. After gaining
showmanship Baxter made the transition to the Broadway
stage. Eventually, Baxter would find success as a silent
film actor after his successful performance in his first
film, "Her Own Money" (1914). His success rocketed after
his lead role in 1926's "The Great Gatsby". As the sun
set on the era of the silent film, however, Baxter made
his way into the star-studded casts of the "talkies",
as they were called back then.
His breakthrough role came as Cisco Kid in 1929's "In
Old Arizona" winning him both notoriety and an Oscar.
He would return to play the sequels, 1931's "The Cisco
Kid" and 1939's "The Return of the Cisco Kid". In 1933
he starred opposite Myrna Loy in "Penthouse". That same
year he gave a memorable performance as Julian Marsh
in "42nd Street". In 1936 he gave a remarkable performance,
what many consider his best, as Lincon's assassin's
doctor in "The Prisoner of Shark Island". His income
of around $285,000 made him the most successful man
in the industry.
Warner Baxter remained quiet over the next decade until
he once again wowed audiences with his role as Dr. Ordway
in the first of what would become the "Crime Doctor"
series, (1943). Slowly, however, Baxter's health began
to fail and in 1951 he died of pneumonia.
Baxter's credits include:
THE ARIZONA KID (1930)
DADDY LONG LEGS (1931)
PADDY THE NEXT BEST THING (1933)
42nd STREET (1933)
THE KING OF BURLESQUE (1935)
BROADWAY BILL (1934)
THE CRIME DOCTOR series (1943, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1949)
ONE MORE SPRING (1935)
SLAVE SHIP (1937)
THE ROAD TO GLORY (1936)
ADAM HAD FOUR SONS (1941)
PRISON WARDEN (1949)
STATE PENITENTIARY (1950) |
Warner Baxter, Award Winner - MovieActors.com
