Warren William

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Warren William

from the trailer for the film Goodbye Again (1933).
Born Warren William Krech
December 2, 1894
Aitkin, Minnesota, USA
Died September 24, 1948, age 53
Hollywood, California, USA

Warren William (December 2, 1894 - September 24, 1948) was a Broadway and Hollywood actor, born Warren William Krech in Aitkin, Minnesota. He had a certain physical resemblance to John Barrymore. He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After moving from Broadway to Hollywood in the silent period, he reached his peak as a leading man in early 1930s pre-Production Code films. He was a contract player at the Warner Bros. studio and was known for portraying amoral businessmen, lawyers, and other heartless types, including the Sam Spade character (renamed "Ted Shane") in the first remake of The Maltese Falcon, called Satan Met a Lady (1936) with Bette Davis.

He also played sympathetic roles, however, as in Imitation of Life, in which he portrayed Claudette Colbert's love interest. He appeared as her love interest again that year, when he played Julius Caesar to her Cleopatra in Cecil B. DeMille's version of Cleopatra. And he was the swashbucking D'Artagnan in the 1939 version of The Man in the Iron Mask, directed by James Whale.

William was the first to portray Earl Stanley Gardner's fictional defense attorney Perry Mason on the big screen and starred in four Perry Mason mysteries. He also played Raffles-like reformed jewel thief The Lone Wolf for Columbia Pictures beginning with The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (1939) with Ida Lupino and Rita Hayworth, and he starred as detective Philo Vance in two films in that series, 1934's The Dragon Murder Case and 1939's The Gracie Allen Murder Case (billed below Gracie Allen).

William died on 24 September 1948 in Hollywood, California of multiple myeloma.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Warren William has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1551 Vine Street.

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Persondata
NAME William, Warren
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Krech, Warren William
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Aitkin, Minnesota, USA
DATE OF DEATH September 24, 1948, age 53
PLACE OF DEATH Hollywood, California, USA