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Warren William Krech (December 2, 1894 – September 24, 1948) was an American stage and screen actor, who achieved Hollywood stardom during the early 1930s. Later earning the nickname the "King of Pre-Code", he typified the cunning, often-amoral Leading man of early sound cinema. According to one critic, "no other actor embodied the classy mix of charm and sleaze that epitomized pre-Code Hollywood." He was also the first actor to portray fictional lawyer Perry Mason.
William's interest in acting began in 1903, when an opera house was built in Aitkin. He was an avid and lifelong amateur inventor and was personally involved in working his farm, pursuits that may have contributed to his death by exposing him to a variety of dangerous contaminants, ranging from sawdust to DDT. After high school, William auditioned for, and was enrolled in, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) in New York City in October 1915.
As his senior year at AADA was coming to an end, the United States had entered the First World War, and William enlisted in the United States Army. He was assigned from base to base, in charge of training new men at various locations, and in 1918 was assigned to Fort Dix, New Jersey, near New York City. During this period, he met his future wife, Helen Barbara Nelson, who was 17 years older than he was. In October 1918, William's unit was deployed to the war front in France, and the war ended one month later. William's military service ended 1919, after which he began working on his acting career. In 1923, he and Helen were married.
He moved from New York City to Hollywood in 1931. Looking back at his career in 2011, The Village Voice christened him "The King of Pre-Code". He began as a contract player at Warner Bros. and quickly became a star during what is now known as the 'Pre-Code' period. He developed a reputation for portraying ruthless, amoral businessmen ( Under 18, Skyscraper Souls, The Match King, Employees' Entrance), crafty lawyers ( The Mouthpiece, Perry Mason), and outright charlatans ( The Mind Reader). These roles were considered controversial, yet they were highly satisfying. This was the harshest period of the Great Depression, characterized by massive business failures and oppressive unemployment. Movie audiences jeered at the businessmen, who were often portrayed as predators.
William did play some sympathetic roles, including Dave the Dude in Frank Capra's Lady for a Day and a loving father and husband cuckolded by Ann Dvorak's character in Three on a Match (1932). He was a young songwriter's comically pompous older brother in Gold Diggers of 1933. William was Julius Caesar in Cecil B. DeMille's Cleopatra (1934; starring Claudette Colbert in the title role), and with Colbert again the same year as her character's love interest in Imitation of Life (1934). He played the swashbuckling musketeer d'Artagnan in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), directed by James Whale.
The studios capitalized on William's popularity by placing him in multiple "series" films, particularly as detectives and crime solvers. William was the first to portray Erle Stanley Gardner's fictional defense attorney Perry Mason on the big screen, starring in four Perry Mason mysteries. He played Raffles-like reformed jewel thief The Lone Wolf in nine films, beginning with The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (1939), and appeared as Detective Philo Vance in two of the series films, The Dragon Murder Case (1934) and the comedic The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939). He also starred as Sam Spade (renamed Ted Shane) in Satan Met a Lady (1936), the second screen version of The Maltese Falcon.
Other roles included Mae West's manager in Go West, Young Man (1936); a jealous district attorney in another James Whale film, Wives Under Suspicion (1938); copper magnate Jesse Lewisohn in 1940's Lillian Russell; the evil Jefferson Carteret in Arizona (also 1940); and the sympathetic Dr. Lloyd in The Wolf Man (1941). In 1945, he played Brett Curtis in cult director Edgar G. Ulmer's 1945 modern-day version of Hamlet, called Strange Illusion. In what would be his last film, he played Laroche-Mathieu in The Private Affairs of Bel Ami in 1947.
On radio, William starred in the transcribed series Strange Wills, which featured "stories behind strange wills that run the gamut of human emotion."
Career
William, who appeared in his first Broadway play in 1920, soon made a name for himself in New York, appearing in more than 20 plays on Broadway between 1920 and 1931. During this period he also appeared in two silent films, The Town That Forgot God (1922) and Plunder (1923).
Personal life
Although on-screen William was an actor audiences loved to hate, off-screen he was a private man, and he and his wife Helen kept out of the limelight. She and Warren remained a couple throughout his entire adult life. He was often described as having been shy in real life. Co-star Joan Blondell once said, "He ... was an old man – even when he was a young man."
Death
William died on September 24, 1948, from multiple myeloma, at age 53. His wife died a few months later. He was recognized for his contribution to motion pictures with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February 1960.
Filmography
+ 1923
! scope="row" The Town That Forgot God Eben, the carpenter Fox Film as 'Warren Krech' 1931
! scope="row" Honor of the Family Captain Boris Barony First National Pictures 1932
! scope="row" Three on a Match Robert Kirkwood First National Pictures 1933
! scope="row" Goodbye Again Kenneth Bixby First National Pictures 1934
! scope="row" Robert Sheldon Warner Bros. Pictures 1935
! scope="row" Living on Velvet Walter "Gibraltar" Pritcham First National Pictures 1936
! scope="row" Satan Met a Lady Ted Shane Warner Bros. Pictures 1937
! scope="row" Outcast Dr. Wendell Phillips Jones Major Pictures Corp. 1938
! scope="row" Wives Under Suspicion District Attorney Jim Stowell Universal Pictures 1939
! scope="row" Philo Vance Paramount Pictures 1940
! scope="row" Lillian Russell Jesse Lewisohn 20th Century Fox 1941
! scope="row" Dr. Lloyd Universal Pictures 1942
! scope="row" Counter-Espionage Michael Lanyard / "The Lone Wolf" Columbia Pictures 1943
! scope="row" One Dangerous Night Michael Lanyard / "The Lone Wolf" Columbia Pictures 1945
! scope="row" Strange Illusion Brett Curtis Producers Releasing Corporation 1946
! scope="row" Fear Police Capt. Burke Monogram Pictures 1947
! scope="row" Laroche-Mathieu United Artists
Partial stage credits
Note: The list below is limited to New York/Broadway theatrical productions; listed as Warren William, except where noted
+ Broadway theatre credits of Warren William
! scope="col" Run
! scope="col" Title
! scope="col" Role
! scope="col" Notes
! scope="col" class="unsortable" Mar 29, 1920 - May 1920
! scope="row" Mrs. Jimmie Thompson Edgar Blodgett as 'Warren W. Krech' Jan 24, 1921 - Jan 1921
! scope="row" John Hawthorne John Hawthorne Nov 09, 1921 - Nov 1921
! scope="row" We Girls Doctor Tom Brown Feb 12, 1924 - Apr 1924
! scope="row" The Wonderful Visit Sir John Gotch, K.B.E. Apr 16, 1924 - Jun 1924
! scope="row" Expressing Willie George Cadwalader Feb 16, 1925 - Feb 1925
! scope="row" Nocturne Keith Reddington Mar 24, 1925 - Apr 1925
! scope="row" The Blue Peter David Hunter May 5, 1925 - May 1925
! scope="row" Rosmersholm Johannes Rosmer Nov 16, 1925 - Apr 1926
! scope="row" Twelve Miles Out Gerald Fey Mar 18, 1926 - Apr 1926
! scope="row" Easter One More Day Elis Sep 21, 1926 - Nov 1926
! scope="row" Fanny Joe White Dec 26, 1927 - Jan 1928
! scope="row" Paradise Dr. Achilles Swain Mar 13, 1928 - Mar 1928
! scope="row" Veils Mr. Robert Sloan Apr 24, 1928 - Apr 1928
! scope="row" The Golden Age The Stranger Dec 11, 1928 - Jan 1929
! scope="row" Sign of the Leopard Captain Leslie Feb 19, 1929 - Dec 1929
! scope="row" Let Us Be Gay Bob Brown Replaced by Barry O'Neill for unknown number of performances ; Oct 22, 1929 - Oct 1929
! scope="row" Week-End Brett Laney Feb 08, 1930 - Feb 1930
! scope="row" Out of a Blue Sky Paul Rana May 12, 1930 - May 1930
! scope="row" The Vikings Sigurd Oct 06, 1930 - Oct 1930
! scope="row" Stepdaughters of War Geoffrey Hilder Nov 19, 1930 - Jun 1931
! scope="row" The Vinegar Tree Max Lawrence
Bibliography
External links
Categories: 1894 Births, 1948 Deaths, People From Aitkin, Minnesota, American Male Stage Actors, American Male Film Actors, American Male Silent Film Actors, Deaths From Multiple Myeloma In California, Male Actors From Minnesota, Warner Bros. Contract Players, Metro-goldwyn-mayer Contract Players, 20th-century American Male Actors, American People Of German Descent
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