Niles Welch

Niles Eugene Welch (July 29, 1888 – November 21, 1976) was an American performer on Broadway, and a leading man in a number of silent and early talking motion pictures from the early 1910s through the 1930s.

Early life

A native of Hartford, Connecticut, after graduating from St. Paul's School, Welch attended Yale and Columbia University. Later he joined a stock company, and from there toured the U.S. in vaudeville. The first photoplay he worked in was with the Eastern Vitagraph Studios in a picture entitled The Stranger in Grey.

Career

After spending four years on the legitimate stage, Welch started his screen career appearing with World Film Corporation, Universal, Pathé Studios and Goldwyn Pictures. Among his earliest works were two Thomas Ince productions, Stepping Out and The Cup of Life, followed in rapid succession by Miss George Washington, with Marguerite Clark; The Courage of Marge O'Doone, with Pauline Starke; and The Gulf Between (1917) with Grace Darmond, the first feature film produced in the short-lived additive version of Technicolor. His career continued well into the sound era but mainly in bit roles. Later in life, he did wartime foreign-language broadcasts for the Voice of America.

Personal life

He became legally blind in 1945, after hitting his face on a door.

Selected filmography