An all-around athlete, who became an actor and later returned to sport, he enjoyed 40 years of fame and was a performer with dual appeal, with women loving his sexy charm and men appreciating his manly bravura.
[2] While recuperating in California from an injury in late 1914, he entered motion pictures (thanks to Raoul) when he was engaged as an extra for D. W. Griffith’s epic The Birth of a Nation (1915).
His output for the studio was characterized by daring stunts, fights, dramatic pursuits, and happy endings with his female co-stars.
Two years of ups and downs followed which included Serenade (1921), alongside his sister-in-law, Miriam Cooper; varied personal appearances; vaudeville; an unpleasant divorce trial; and an 18-episode historical serial, entitled With Stanley in Africa (1922).
A single-picture deal Vanity Fair (1923), at Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, led to a long contract and a quick shift from supporting characters to leads.
Early to mid-production was hampered by problems, on location in Italy and in Hollywood—particularly the sudden merger of Goldwyn with Metro, in spring of 1924, to form Metro-Goldwyn (soon afterwards Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer).
Despite the loss of the part of a lifetime, George Walsh's following enabled him to secure a deal with I. E. Chadwick's independent company (Lionel Barrymore's employer at the time).
It was not until 1932 that George Walsh appeared in a talkie, when his brother revived his career by casting him as a criminal in Me and My Gal (1932), with Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett.