Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joseph Henry Kolker (November 13, 1874) [some sources 1870] Berlin, Prussia, Germany – July 15, 1947, Los Angeles, California) was an American stage and film actor and director. Kolker came to America at the age of five and his family settled in Quincy, Illinois. Kolker, like fellow actors Richard Bennett and Robert Warwick, had a substantial stage career behind him before entering silent films. On stage he appeared opposite such leading ladies as Edith Wynne Matthison, Bertha Kalich and Ruth Chatterton. Kolker is best remembered for his motion picture appearances and for appearing with Barbara Stanwyck in the ground-breaking Pre-Code film Baby Face (1933) as the elderly CEO of the company whom Stanwyck's character seduces. Another well remembered part is as Mr. Seton, father of Katharine Hepburn and Lew Ayres in the 1938 film Holiday directed by George Cukor. Kolker entered films as an actor in 1915 and eventually ended up trying his hand at directing. Kolker's best known directorial effort is Disraeli (1921), starring George Arliss which is now a lost film with only one reel remaining. Prints however exist in Europe and Russia.
Acted in 151
1940s
- 1944
Bluebeard
Deschamps
- 1943
Sarong Girl
Jefferson Baxter
- 1942
Reunion in France
General Bartholomew (uncredited)
- 1941
Sing for Your Supper
Myron T. Hayworth
The Parson of Panamint
Judge Arnold Mason
The Great Swindle
Stewart Cordell
Las Vegas Nights
William Stevens Sr.
The Man Who Lost Himself
T.J. Mulhausen
- 1940
Money and the Woman
Mr. Rollins
Grand Ole Opry
William C. Scully
1930s
- 1939
Main Street Lawyer
Donnelly, District Attorney
Here I Am a Stranger
R.J. Bennett
Parents on Trial
James Wesley
Hidden Power
Weston
These Glamour Girls
Philip S. Griswold II (uncredited)
Let Us Live
Chief of Police
- 1938
Safety in Numbers
Dr. Lawrence Edmonds
Love Is a Headache
Mr. Sam Ellinger (uncredited)
The Invisible Menace
Col. Hackett
- 1937
Thoroughbreds Don't Cry
"Doc" Godfrey
The Devil Is Driving
Charles Stevens
Let Them Live
Judge Lederer
Green Light
Dr. Lane
Maid of Salem
Crown Chief Justice Laughton
They Wanted to Marry
Mr. Hunter
Once a Doctor
Bruce Nordland
Under Cover of Night
District Attorney Pritchard
- 1936
Great Guy
Abel Canning
Theodora Goes Wild
Jonathan Grant
The Man Who Lived Twice
Judge Treacher
Sitting on the Moon
Worthington
Romeo and Juliet
Friar Laurence
- 1935
Collegiate
Mr. MacGregor
Frisco Waterfront
District Attorney
3 Kids and a Queen
Crippet
The Last Days of Pompeii
Warder (uncredited)
Shipmates Forever
Doctor (uncredited)
I Live My Life
Relative at Mrs. Gage's (Uncredited)
Red Salute
Dean
Diamond Jim
J.C. Randolf - Bank President
Here Comes the Band
Simmon's Attorney
Mad Love
Prefect Rosset
Honeymoon Limited
Mr. Randall
Spring Tonic
Mr. Enix
Go Into Your Dance
Doctor
Reckless
Mr. Gearhart (uncredited)
The Case of the Curious Bride
District Attorney Stacey
The Florentine Dagger
Auctioneer
A Dog of Flanders
Monsieur LaTour, Art Critic (uncredited)
One New York Night
Arthur Carlisle
Times Square Lady
Mr. Fielding
The Mystery Man
Ellwyn A. 'Jo-Jo' Jonas
Red Hot Tires
Martin Sanford
- 1934
The Band Plays On
Professor Hackett
The Ghost Walks
Dr. Kent
Imitation of Life
Dr. Preston (uncredited)
Love Time
Emperor Francis I
Lady by Choice
Opper
One Exciting Adventure
Customer, Oscar
Million Dollar Ransom
Dr. Davis (Uncredited)
She Loves Me Not
Charles M. Lawton
Now and Forever
Mr. Clark
The Girl from Missouri
Senator Titcombe
Name the Woman
Judge Adams
Blind Date
J.W. Hartwell Sr.
Whom the Gods Destroy
Carlo - the Puppeteer
Let's Try Again
Mr. Blake
The Hell Cat
C.W. Sloane
Black Moon
The Psychiatrist
Let's Talk It Over
Doctor
Success at Any Price
Hatfield
Journal of a Crime
Henri Marcher
I've Got Your Number
Lawyer Robert Kirkland
Bedside
Maritza's Manager
- 1933
Blood Money
Newspaper Managing Editor (uncredited)
Meet the Baron
Baron Munchausen
The Power and the Glory
Mr. Borden
Gigolettes of Paris
Police Interrogator
Love, Honor and Oh, Baby!
The Judge
I Loved a Woman
Mr. Sanborn
Golden Harvest
Henry Flint
Bureau of Missing Persons
Theodore Arno
Notorious But Nice
Defense Attorney Clark
The Narrow Corner
Mr. Blake, Fred's Father
A Bedtime Story
Agent de Police
Hello, Sister!
Jameson Brewster - Bank President
Gabriel Over the White House
Senate Majority Leader (uncredited)
The Keyhole
Schuyler Brooks
- 1932
Rasputin and the Empress
Chief of Secret Police (uncredited)
The Crash
John Fair
Devil and the Deep
Hutton
The First Year
Peter Barstow
The Washington Masquerade
Stapleton
Jewel Robbery
Baron Franz Hohenfels
- 1931
The Yellow Ticket
Passport Clerk
The Unholy Garden
Col. Lautrac
I Like Your Nerve
Areal Pacheco
The Spy
Tchijinski
Indiscreet
Mr. Woodward
Quick Millions
District Attorney (uncredited)
Don't Bet on Women
Butterfield (uncredited)
- 1930
One Heavenly Night
Prefect of Police
East Is West
Mr. Benson
Du Barry, Woman of Passion
D'Aiguillon
The Way of All Men
Sharp
Good Intentions
Butler
The Bad One
Prosecutor
1920s
- 1929
Love, Live & Laugh
Enrico
Pleasure Crazed
Col. Farquar
The Valiant
Judge
Coquette
Jasper Carter
- 1928
The Beautiful Spy
Viceroy Cisneros
Midnight Rose
Corbin
Soft Living
Rodney S. Bowen
- 1927
Rough House Rosie
W.S. Davids
Annie Laurie
Movie
A Kiss in a Taxi
Leon Lambert
- 1926
Wet Paint
A Husband
The Palace of Pleasure
Don Sebastian, Premier
- 1925
Sally, Irene and Mary
Marcus Morton
Any Woman
Egbert Phillips
- 1921
A Man of Stone
(Uncredited)
1910s
- 1919
The Brat
A Dandy
Her Purchase Price
Duke of Wryden
Blackie's Redemption
Fred the Count
The Parisian Tigress
Henri Dutray
The Great Victory, Wilson or the Kaiser? The Fall of the Hohenzollerns
Kaiser Wilhelm II
- 1918
The House of Mirth
Lawrence Selden
Social Hypocrites
Dr. Frank Simpson
The Shell Game
Lawrence Gray
- 1916
Gloria's Romance
Dr. Stephen Royce
Directed 13
1920s
- 1924
The Great Well
Director
I Will Repay
Director
- 1923
The Purple Highway
Director
The Snow Bride
Director
The Leopardess
Director
- 1921
Disraeli
Director
The Fighter
Director
Bucking the Tiger
Director
- 1920
The Greatest Love
Director
The Palace of Darkened Windows
Director
The Third Generation
Director
1910s
- 1919
The Woman Michael Married
Director
A Man's Country
Director
Wrote 2
1920s
- 1920
The Third Generation
Screenplay
1910s
- 1915
The Man with the Iron Heart
Story
Appearances1
1910s
- 1915
How Molly Malone Made Good
Himself