Henry B. Walthall was born March 16, 1878[1]: 1437  on a cotton plantation owned by his father in Shelby County, Alabama.

[5] With the company of Henry Miller he gained recognition on Broadway in plays, including Pippa Passes, The Only Way and William Vaughn Moody's The Great Divide (1906–08).

This film also featured James Kirkwood, and was directed by D.W. Griffith, a director that played a huge part in Walthall's rise to stardom.

Walthall continued working in films through the 1920s, appearing in The Plastic Age with Gilbert Roland and Clara Bow.

After his performance in director John Ford's 1934 film Judge Priest starring Will Rogers, he enjoyed a golden period of his career.

In 1936, he appeared as Marcel in The Devil-Doll and as Captain Buchanan in the American Civil War drama Hearts in Bondage.

Frank Capra wanted Walthall to portray the High Lama in his 1937 film Lost Horizon.

Lillian Gish described Walthall as "a slight man, about five feet six, fine-boned, with the face of a poet and a dreamer.

He entered the Pasteur Sanitarium at Monrovia, California, and died of an intestinal illness three weeks later on June 17, 1936.