Walsh, Raoul

Walsh, Raoul

(born March 11, 1887, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Dec. 31, 1980, Simi Valley, near Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. film director. Walsh began acting for the stage in 1910 and on film in 1912, the same year that he began directing. He was an assistant to D.W. Griffith and appeared in The Birth of a Nation (1915). In his 50-year career, he directed over 200 films, usually characterized by their simplicity and quick action. His White Heat (1949) is a classic study of a pathological criminal, and The Naked and the Dead (1958) is an effective translation of Norman Mailer's novel into film. His other films include What Price Glory? (1926), The Roaring Twenties (1939), They Drive by Night (1940), They Died with Their Boots On (1941), High Sierra (1941), and A Distant Trumpet (1964).