--- name: "Walter Brennan" canonical: "https://film.one/person/walter-brennan" roles: ["Actor"] born: "25 July 1894" died: "21 September 1974" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 68 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-20T00:45:53.062192+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Walter Brennan Actor. Born 25 July 1894 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. Died 21 September 1974. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 25 July 1894, Lynn, Massachusetts, USA - **Died:** 21 September 1974 - **Active:** 1941–1942 - **Also known as:** Walter Andrew Brennan, والتر برنان - **Titles on Fi1m:** 3: 2 acting, 1 other - **Frequently works with:** [Gary Cooper](https://film.one/person/gary-cooper.md) - **Academy Awards:** 3 Oscars (3 won · 1 nominated) - **Average Fi1m score:** 68, as actor, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 89 (1), 1940s 68 (2) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Brennan, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q219521, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000974/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/4302 ## Streaming the US now - **Pluto TV:** [*The Pride of the Yankees*](https://film.one/film/the-pride-of-the-yankees.md) (71) - **Tubi:** [*Sergeant York*](https://film.one/film/sergeant-york.md) (66) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Walter Brennan > Walter Brennan spent forty years playing men older than he was, and the trick was never the dentures. It was the patience: the sidekick who has already read the last page and is content to wait for the hero to catch up. Watch him in *Sergeant York* (1941). Pastor Rosier Pile sells Alvin York his goods by day and preaches at him by night, and Brennan plays both jobs with the same amused patience, a man who knows how the boy turns out and sees no reason to hurry him. Gary Cooper is the long, slow centre of that film; Brennan is the one who seems to know what it is about before it does. We found ourselves waiting for him to come back into the shop. When the second hour turns into a sermon, he is still the most watchable thing in it, because he is the only preacher on screen who never raises his voice. He came in as an extra and stuntman in 1925 and spent a decade as a face in the crowd. A contract with Samuel Goldwyn in 1935 changed that, and the run that followed was as good as any supporting actor has had: Swan Bostrom in *Come and Get It* (1936), the old horse-farm owner in *Kentucky* (1938), and Judge Roy Bean in *The Westerner* (1940), where he was the villain opposite Cooper and the reason people remember the picture. He was in his forties throughout and playing men of sixty and more. The reedy voice and the false teeth did some of the work. Stillness did the rest. Howard Hawks understood him better than anyone, and they made six films together. Hawks liked to put him at the edge of the frame as the man who comments, grumbles and keeps the hero honest: Eddie beside Humphrey Bogart in *To Have and Have Not* (1944), Nadine Groot on the trail with John Wayne in *Red River* (1948), Stumpy holding the jail in *Rio Bravo* (1959). Five films with Cooper, three with Wayne, three under William Wyler. He was never the lead and never seemed to want it, and in a Western that is a kind of freedom: the star has to be brave, and the old man is allowed to be funny. The cost came later. Television found him in the fifties and gave him *The Real McCoys* (1957–1963), six years as the cranky, kindly grandpa, and after that the part came with him everywhere. The patience that had looked like wisdom opposite Cooper started to look like a habit, and by the sixties a Brennan performance was something you could predict from the poster. That is the honest criticism, and it is fair. He knew it, and did not mind. "If you're not the star, you don't get the blame if it's a lousy picture," he said. "They always blame the star." The old man, he reckoned, was always great, and that was how he kept going. He was usually right, and it is the reason to look him up now: the pictures vary a good deal, and the old man rather less. ## Biography Walter Brennan was an American actor and singer. Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, he appeared in more than 200 films and several television series between the 1920s and the 1970s. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor three times, for *Come and Get It* (1936), *Kentucky* (1938) and *The Westerner* (1940). He received a further nomination for his performance as Pastor Rosier Pile in *Sergeant York* (1941). Brennan is also known for roles in *To Have and Have Not* (1945), *My Darling Clementine* (1946), *Red River* (1948) and *Rio Bravo* (1959). On television he starred in the sitcom *The Real McCoys* (1957–1963). *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, themoviedb.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) ### Performed in (2) — the average rests on these - *The Pride of the Yankees* (1942), Fi1m 71, as Sam Blake — [page](https://film.one/film/the-pride-of-the-yankees.md) - *Sergeant York* (1941), Fi1m 66, as Pastor Rosier Pile — [page](https://film.one/film/sergeant-york.md) ### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited - *Bride of Frankenstein* (1935), Fi1m 89, as Peasant (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/bride-of-frankenstein.md) ## Complete filmography (218) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs* (2000), as (archive footage) - *La Classe américaine* (1993), as 'Stumpy' (archive footage) - *Smoke In The Wind* (1975), as H. P. Kingman - *Home for the Holidays* (1974), as Benjamin Morgan - *Two for the Money* (1972), as Cody Guilford - *The Day They Hanged Kid Curry* (1971), as Silky O'Sullivan - *Alias Smith and Jones* (1971), series, Actor - *The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again* (1970), as Nash Crawford - *The Young Country* (1970), as Sheriff Matt Fenley - *To Rome with Love* (1969), series, as Andy Pruitt - *The Over the Hill Gang* (1969), as Nash Crawford - *Support Your Local Sheriff!* (1969), as Pa Danby - *The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band* (1968), as Grandpa Bower - *Who's Minding the Mint?* (1967), as Pop Gillis - *The Guns of Will Sonnett* (1967), series, as Will Sonnett - *The Gnome-Mobile* (1967), as D.J. Mulrooney / Knobby - *The Oscar* (1966), as Quentin - *The Shooting of Dan McGrew* (1965), as Narrator - *Those Calloways* (1964), as Alf Simes - *How the West Was Won* (1962), as Jeb Hawkins - *Shootout at Big Sag* (1962), as 'Preacher' Hawker - *Rio Bravo* (1959), as Stumpy - *The Real McCoys* (1957), series, as Amos McCoy - *God Is My Partner* (1957), as Dr. Charles Grayson - *Tammy and the Bachelor* (1957), as Grandpa - *The Way to the Gold* (1957), as Uncle George Williams - *Armored Attack!* (1957), as Karp - *Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre* (1956), series, as Joe, Sheriff John Larson - *The Proud Ones* (1956), as Jake - *Good-bye, My Lady* (1956), as Uncle Jesse Jackson - *Come Next Spring* (1956), as Jeffrey Storys - *Glory* (1956), as Ned Otis - *At Gunpoint* (1955), as Doc Lacy - *The Brush Roper* (1955), as Grandpa Atkins - *Man on a Bus* (1955), as Saul - *Bad Day at Black Rock* (1955), as Doc T.R. Velie Jr. - *Four Guns to the Border* (1954), as Simon Bhumer - *Drums Across the River* (1954), as Sam Brannon - *The Far Country* (1954), as Ben Tatum - *Sea of Lost Ships* (1953), as C.P.O 'Chief' O'Malley - *The Ford Television Theatre* (1952), series, as Duffy - *Cavalcade of America* (1952), series, as Link Morley - *Lure of the Wilderness* (1952), as Jim Harper - *Return of the Texan* (1952), as Grandpa Firth Crockett - *The Wild Blue Yonder* (1951), as Maj. Gen. Wolfe - *Schlitz Playhouse of Stars* (1951), series, as Ezra Jenkins, Simmons AKA Mr. Ears - *Best of the Badmen* (1951), as 'Doc' Butcher - *Along the Great Divide* (1951), as Timothy 'Pop' Keith - *Surrender* (1950), as Sheriff Bill Howard - *The Showdown* (1950), as Cap MacKellar - *Curtain Call at Cactus Creek* (1950), as Rimrock - *A Ticket to Tomahawk* (1950), as Terence Sweeny - *Singing Guns* (1950), as Dr. Jonathan Mark - *Task Force* (1949), as Pete Richard - *Brimstone* (1949), as Pop Courteen - *The Green Promise* (1949), as Mr. Matthews - *Blood on the Moon* (1948), as Kris Barden - *Red River* (1948), as 'Groot' Nadine - *Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!* (1948), as Tony Maule - *Driftwood* (1947), as Murph - *Nobody Lives Forever* (1946), as Pop Gruber - *My Darling Clementine* (1946), as Old Man Clanton - *Centennial Summer* (1946), as Jesse Rogers - *A Stolen Life* (1946), as Eben Folger - *Dakota* (1945), as Bounce of the Riverbird - *To Have and Have Not* (1945), as Eddie - *The Princess and the Pirate* (1944), as Featherhead - *Home in Indiana* (1944), as J. F. 'Thunder' Bolt - *The North Star* (1943), as Karp - *The Last Will and Testament of Tom Smith* (1943), as George, Mailman - *Hangmen Also Die!* (1943), as Prof. Stephen Novotny - *Slightly Dangerous* (1943), as Cornelius Burden - *Stand by for Action* (1942), as Chief Yeoman Henry Johnson - *The Pride of the Yankees* (1942), as Sam Blake — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/film/the-pride-of-the-yankees.md) - *Rise and Shine* (1941), as Grandpa - *Swamp Water* (1941), as Tom Keefer - *Sergeant York* (1941), as Pastor Rosier Pile — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/sergeant-york.md) - *This Woman Is Mine* (1941), as Captain Jonathan Thorne - *Meet John Doe* (1941), as The Colonel - *Nice Girl?* (1941), as Hector Titus - *The Westerner* (1940), as Judge Roy Bean - *Maryland* (1940), as William P. Stewart - *Northwest Passage* (1940), as 'Hunk' Marriner - *Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President* (1939), as Jim - *Stanley and Livingstone* (1939), as Jeff Slocum - *They Shall Have Music* (1939), as Professor Lawson - *Land of Liberty* (1939), as Ezra Peavey (edited from 'The Buccaneer') - *The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle* (1939), as Walter - *Kentucky* (1938), as Peter Goodwin - *The Cowboy and the Lady* (1938), as Sugar - *The Texans* (1938), as Chuckawalla - *Mother Carey's Chickens* (1938), as Ossian Popham - *The Adventures of Tom Sawyer* (1938), as Muff Potter - *The Buccaneer* (1938), as Ezra Peavey - *Wild and Woolly* (1937), as Gramp 'Hercules' Flynn - *Affairs of Cappy Ricks* (1937), as Cappy Ricks - *When Love Is Young* (1937), as Uncle Hugo - *She's Dangerous* (1937), as 'Oats' - *Banjo on My Knee* (1936), as Newt Holley - *Come and Get It* (1936), as Swan Bostrom - *Fury* (1936), as Bugs Meyers - *The Moon's Our Home* (1936), as Lem - *These Three* (1936), as Taxi Driver - *Three Godfathers* (1936), as Samuel 'Gus' Barton - *Seven Keys to Baldpate* (1935), as Station Agent - *Metropolitan* (1935), as Grandpa - *Barbary Coast* (1935), as Old Atrocity - *She Couldn't Take It* (1935), as Peddler - *We're in the Money* (1935), as Wedding Witness (uncredited) - *The Perfect Tribute* (1935), as Stone Cutter (uncredited) - *Man on the Flying Trapeze* (1935), as 'Legs' Garnett - *Lady Tubbs* (1935), as Joseph - *Party Wire* (1935), as Paul - Railroad Telegrapher (uncredited) - *Bride of Frankenstein* (1935), as Peasant (uncredited) — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/film/bride-of-frankenstein.md) - *West Point of the Air* (1935), as Soldier at Kelly's Wreckage - *The Wedding Night* (1935), as Bill Jenkins - *Hunger Pains* (1935), Actor - *Restless Knights* (1935), as Father (uncredited) - *Law Beyond the Range* (1935), as Abner - *The Mystery of Edwin Drood* (1935), as Milkman (uncredited) - *Northern Frontier* (1935), as Stuttering Cook - *Brick-a-Brac* (1935), as Lem - *Helldorado* (1935), as Pete - *Biography of a Bachelor Girl* (1935), as Reporter on Ship (uncredited) - *The Prescott Kid* (1934), as Zeke - Stage Driver - *Cheating Cheaters* (1934), as Ship's Telegrapher (uncredited) - *There's Always Tomorrow* (1934), as Auto mechanic - *Great Expectations* (1934), as Prisoner on Ship - *Gridiron Flash* (1934), as Proprietor of Java Joe's - *Death on the Diamond* (1934), as Hot Dog Vendor (uncredited) - *Whom the Gods Destroy* (1934), as Clifford (uncredited), Clifford - *Murder in the Private Car* (1934), as Switchman (uncredited) - *The Life of Vergie Winters* (1934), as Roscoe (uncredited) - *Half a Sinner* (1934), as Radio Announcer - *Woman Haters* (1934), as Train Conductor (uncredited) - *I'll Tell the World* (1934), as Otto - Bicycle Repair Man - *Uncertain Lady* (1934), as Gas Station Attendant (uncredited) - *Riptide* (1934), as Chauffeur (uncredited) - *Good Dame* (1934), as Elmer Spicer - *George White's Scandals* (1934), as Hick (uncredited) - *The Poor Rich* (1934), as Dr. Johnson the Coroner (uncredited) - *Radio Dough* (1934), as Drunk Customer (uncredited) - *Paradise Valley* (1934), as Farmer Hiram - *Beloved* (1934), as Stuttering Boarder - *Cross Country Cruise* (1934), as Niagara Falls Boatman (Uncredited) - *Fugitive Lovers* (1934), as 2nd Bus Driver (uncredited) - *King for a Night* (1933), as Soda Jerk - *The Invisible Man* (1933), as Bicycle Owner (uncredited) - *My Woman* (1933), as Auditioning Man Who Does Animal Sounds (Uncredited) - *Curtain at Eight* (1933), as Backstage Detective [extra] - *Saturday's Millions* (1933), as Reporter - *Golden Harvest* (1933), as Farmhand at Wedding (uncredited) - *Sailor Beware!* (1933), as Stuttering Thief - *Sensation Hunters* (1933), as Stuttering Waiter - *One Year Later* (1933), as Man Chuckling at Train Station - *Strange People* (1933), as The Radio Repairman - *The Phantom of the Air* (1933), as 'Skid' (uncredited) - *The Big Cage* (1933), as Ticket Taker - *Lucky Dog* (1933), as Drunk #2 - *The Rustler's Roundup* (1933), as Walt (uncredited) - *Girl Missing* (1933), as Joe, Garage Attendant (Uncredited) - *Parachute Jumper* (1933), as Counterman at Jewel Diner (uncredited) - *Goldie Gets Along* (1933), as Stuttering Waiter - *Man Of Action* (1933), as Cashier Summers - *Manhattan Tower* (1932), as Mechanic (uncredited) - *Afraid to Talk* (1932), as Protester Sign Carrier (uncredited) - *Women Won't Tell* (1932), as Man in Junkyard - *Once in a Lifetime* (1932), as Lighting Technician (uncredited) - *The All-American* (1932), as News Commentator at Game (uncredited) - *The Fourth Horseman* (1932), as Toothless Town Drunk - *The Iceman's Ball* (1932), as Officer Dugan - *Cornered* (1932), as Court Bailiff (uncredited) - *Speed Madness* (1932), as Joe - *Two-Fisted Law* (1932), as Bendix the Deputy Sheriff - *Miss Pinkerton* (1932), as Police Dispatcher (uncredited) - *Scandal for Sale* (1932), as Newspaperman - *The Airmail Mystery* (1932), as Holly - *The Impatient Maiden* (1932), as Cigar Stand Proprietor (uncredited) - *Texas Cyclone* (1932), as Sheriff Lew Collins - *Law and Order* (1932), as Lanky Smith (uncredited) - *The Unexpected Father* (1932), as Sailor (uncredited) - *A House Divided* (1931), as Musician (uncredited) - *Scratch-As-Catch-Can* (1931), Actor - *Neck and Neck* (1931), as Hector - *Is There Justice?* (1931), as Rollins - *Grief Street* (1931), as Walt - *Honeymoon Lane* (1931), as Driver - *Heroes of the Flames* (1931), as Bit Part - *Many a Slip* (1931), as Minor Role (uncredited) - *See America Thirst* (1930), as Spumoni Bodyguard (uncredited) - *Little Accident* (1930), as Milkman (uncredited) - *King of Jazz* (1930), as Desk Sergeant ('Springtime') / Soldier ('All Noisy on the Eastern Front') / Waiter ('Oh! Forevermore!') / Front End of Horse / Quartet Member ('Nellie') - *Dames Ahoy* (1930), as Side Show Barker - *The Shannons of Broadway* (1929), as Hez - *The Long, Long Trail* (1929), as Skinny Rawlins - *The Last Performance* (1929), as Clown (uncredited) - *One Hysterical Night* (1929), as Paul Revere - *Flight* (1929), as Marine Pilot - *Flying High* (1929), as Kidnapper - *His Lucky Day* (1929), as Road House Thug (uncredited) - *The Lariat Kid* (1929), as Pat O'Shea - *Smilin' Guns* (1929), as Ranch Foreman - *The Cohens and Kellys in Atlantic City* (1929), as Man at Police Station - *The Michigan Kid* (1928), as Minor Role (uncredited) - *The Ballyhoo Buster* (1928), Actor - *Hot Heels* (1927), as Pool Hall Habitant (uncredited) - *A Fighting Finish* (1927), as Student - *Blake of Scotland Yard* (1927), as Henchman (uncredited) - *Alias The Deacon* (1927), as Cashier at Cunningham's Rink - *The Ridin' Rowdy* (1927), Actor - *Sensation Seekers* (1927), as Below Deck Yacht Crewman - *Tearin' Into Trouble* (1927), as Billy Martin - *Flashing Oars* (1927), as Hula Hula Hut Customer - *Spangles* (1926), as Lunch Counterman (uncredited) - *Watch Your Wife* (1926), as Walter (uncredited) - *The Calgary Stampede* (1925), as Racing Spectator in Grandstand at Rodeo (uncredited) - *Lorraine of the Lions* (1925), as Minor Role (uncredited) - *Webs of Steel* (1925), Actor ## Gallery - ![Walter Brennan](https://film.one/media/person/300225/gallery-991cfdcefaaa.jpg) Walter Brennan — ABC Television (ABC Photo); Bath & Wiener-photographer., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Walter_brennan_real_mccoys_1958.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Head shot of actor Walter Brennan (1930)](https://film.one/media/person/300225/gallery-75883060d7d4.jpg) Head shot of actor Walter Brennan (1930) — Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Walter_Brennan_1930s_%281%29.jpg/1280px-Walter_Brennan_1930s_%281%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Head shot of actor Walter Brennan (1930)](https://film.one/media/person/300225/gallery-67ee7e6cd61b.jpg) Head shot of actor Walter Brennan (1930) — Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Walter_Brennan_1930s_%282%29.jpg/1280px-Walter_Brennan_1930s_%282%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Walter Brennan](https://film.one/media/person/300225/gallery-8e7be8b91926.jpg) Walter Brennan — Image via TMDB - ![Walter Brennan](https://film.one/media/person/300225/gallery-e18b7dc9e9db.jpg) Walter Brennan — Image via TMDB - ![Walter Brennan](https://film.one/media/person/300225/gallery-2fafa123fd0c.jpg) Walter Brennan — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 3 won, 1 nominated - 1942: Best Supporting Actor (nominated), for *Sergeant York* - 1941: Best Supporting Actor (won), for *The Westerner* - 1939: Best Supporting Actor (won), for *Kentucky* - 1937: Best Supporting Actor (won), for *Come and Get It* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/walter-brennan