Walter Hampden

Walter Hampden Dougherty (June 30, 1879 – June 11, 1955), known professionally as Walter Hampden, was an American actor and theatre manager. He was a major stage star on Broadway in New York who also made numerous television and film appearances. Life and career Walter Hampden was the son of John Hampden Dougherty and Alice Hill. He was a younger brother of the American painter Paul Dougherty. He went to England for apprenticeship for six years. He graduated from what is now NYU Poly in 1900. Under Otho Stuart and Oscar Asche's co-management of the Adelphi Theatre in 1904 he appeared in The Prayer of the Sword and The Taming of the Shrew. Later he played Hamlet, Henry V and Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway. In 1925, he became actor-manager at the Colonial Theatre on Broadway, which was renamed Hampden's Theatre from 1925 to 1931. He became noted for his Shakespearean roles as well as for Cyrano, which he played in several productions between 1923 and 1936. He appeared on the cover of Time in March 1929. Hampden's last stage role was as Danforth in the original Broadway production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. John Garrett Underhill produced the first English-language version of The Bonds of Interest (Los intereses creados) by Jacinto Benavente, with Walter Hampden, in 1929.