Brennan, Walter

Brennan, Walter

(1894–1974) movie actor; born in Swampscott, Mass. He worked at various jobs while appearing in vaudeville and stock theater, and after serving in World War I, entered Hollywood films as an extra and stuntman in 1923. Over the next 50 years, he appeared in over 100 films as an outstanding character actor, becoming the first actor to win three Oscars—for best supporting actor in Come and Get It (1936), Kentucky (1938), and The Westerner (1940).