Wallace Beery - ©Theda Bara

The actor I feature in this post is Wallace Beery, who gradually progressed from theater to film, where he appeared in a plethora of comedy short films during the silent film era, becoming an unlikely star in the 1930s, but who in a stroke of luck combined with talent, he achieved great success by playing antagonists in silent films, thus becoming one of the great stars of Hollywood.

Beery participated in something unique at the Oscar ceremonies for Best Actor, sharing the 1932 statuette with: Fredric March (1897-1975). Wallace Beery won for his performance in the film “The Champ” (1931/1932), playing the role of former world heavyweight boxing champion, “Andy Purcell”. Fredric March won for his dual role in one of cinema's all-time classics: “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1931/1932). The Oscar was supposed to be valid for 1933, but there was no Oscar ceremony that year, a fact that was never repeated again.

Wallace Beery uttered the following sentence on the night of the Oscars: “I have no problem sharing an award. I’m sharing the Oscar with my favorite actor.”

In addition to the 1932 Academy Award for Best Actor, he also won, in the same year, the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival, Italy and the Gold Medal for Best Actor.

Beery was also famous in the clothing industry in the United States, as a short-sleeved men’s dress shirt with just four buttons is called the Wallace Beery style, named after the shirts the actor wore that were made exclusively for him. These shirts are now adopted by bowlers, as a kind of uniform.

Wallace Beery has his star on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame, at 7001 Hollywood Boulevard, in the Cinema category.

The actor spent his childhood and adolescence in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, but was born in Clay County, Missouri, United States, on April 1, 1885 and died at his mansion in Beverly Hills, California, United States on September 15 1949, at the age of 64.

Wallace Beery was married twice. The first with: Gloria Swanson from 1916 to 1919, with whom he had a daughter: American actress Carol Ann Beery (1930-), currently 92 years old; he later married Rita Gilman from 1924 to 1939. After separating from Rita, Beery adopted Phyllis Ann Beery (1939-), now 84 years old, welcomed by the actor when she was seven months old.