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.
Movies & TV Shows
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Holiday (1938) — Edward Seton
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Baby Face (1933) — J.R. Carter
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Mad Love (1935) — Prefect Rosset
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Imitation of Life (1934) — Dr. Preston (uncredited)
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Union Pacific (1939) — Asa M. Barrows
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A Woman's Face (1941) — Judge
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The Black Room (1935) — Baron de Berghman
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Bullets or Ballots (1936) — Mr. Hollister
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Bluebeard (1944) — Deschamps
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Theodora Goes Wild (1936) — Jonathan Grant
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Jewel Robbery (1932) — Baron Franz Hohenfels
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Romeo and Juliet (1936) — Friar Laurence
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Abraham Lincoln (1930) — New Englander (uncredited)
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Marie Antoinette (1938) — Court Aide (uncredited)
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Coquette (1929) — Jasper Carter
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Black Moon (1934) — The Psychiatrist
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The Cowboy and the Lady (1938) — Horace Smith
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The Last Days of Pompeii (1935) — Warder (uncredited)
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Charlie Chan in Paris (1935) — Paul Lamartine
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Great Guy (1936) — Abel Canning
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The Ghost Walks (1934) — Dr. Kent
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The Real Glory (1939) — The General
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Now and Forever (1934) — Mr. Clark
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Wonder Bar (1934) — R. H. Renaud
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Too Hot to Handle (1938) — Pearly Todd
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The Case of the Curious Bride (1935) — District Attorney Stacey
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Reunion in France (1942) — General Bartholomew (uncredited)
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Bureau of Missing Persons (1933) — Theodore Arno
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The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938) — Nicolo Polo
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The Power and the Glory (1933) — Mr. Borden
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The Valiant (1929) — Judge
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The Keyhole (1933) — Schuyler Brooks
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The Girl from Missouri (1934) — Senator Titcombe
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The Yellow Ticket (1931) — Passport Clerk
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Hello, Sister! (1933) — Jameson Brewster - Bank President
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Rasputin and the Empress (1932) — Chief of Secret Police (uncredited)
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I Loved a Woman (1933) — Mr. Sanborn
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A Lost Lady (1934) — John Ormsby
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Reckless (1935) — Mr. Gearhart (uncredited)
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Journal of a Crime (1934) — Henri Marcher
Directed
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The Woman Michael Married (1919) — Director
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A Man's Country (1919) — Director
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The Great Well (1924) — Director
- Heart of Twenty (1920) — Director
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Disraeli (1921) — Director
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The Purple Highway (1923) — Director
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The Greatest Love (1920) — Director
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I Will Repay (1924) — Director
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The Fighter (1921) — Director
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Bucking the Tiger (1921) — Director
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The Leopardess (1923) — Director
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The Palace of Darkened Windows (1920) — Director
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The Snow Bride (1923) — Director
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The Third Generation (1920) — Director
- Sant'Ilario (1923) — Director