Wallace McCutcheon Jr.

Wallace "Wally" McCutcheon Jr. (December 23, 1894 — January 27, 1928) was an American film actor and director of the silent film era. He is known for his work on Motion Picture Dancing Lessons (1913), The Black Secret (1919), and The Thief(1920).

McCutcheon Jr. was born on December 23, 1894, in New York City, New York, the oldest of eight children of the American film pioneer Wallace McCutcheon Sr. He is the elder brother of actor Ross McCutcheon (1901 — 1984).

McCutcheon Jr. began his career as a stage actor and appeared in several Broadway productions in the early 1900s. His engagements never lasted long, though. From his father, who was a director at the Biograph Company from 1897 to 1905 and from 1907 to 1908, he occasionally received small roles in his films. 

When his father fell ill in the spring of 1908, McCutcheon Jr. covered for him, unsuccessfully, as a director for about six weeks. The screenwriter and actress Gene Gauntier remembered McCutcheon Jr. as someone who didn't take his job seriously and was more interested in boxing matches and young Broadway actresses. He repeatedly asked Gauntier for script changes to include small roles for his favorites. David W. Griffith, who was initially engaged as a screenwriter and actor for The Black Viper (1908) took over the duties of director after a few weeks and co-directed the short film with McCutcheon.

In the following years, McCutcheon Jr. no longer appeared in the cast lists of the film industry but appeared again irregularly on Broadway. In October 1913, the three-part dance educational film Motion Picture Dancing Lessons produced by the Kalem Company was released. McCutcheon Jr. and his dance partner, Broadway dancer Joan Sawyer, showcased Tango, "Turkey Trot," and "Viennese Hesitation Waltz," one of Vernon Castle- and Irene Castle-developed variant of the Viennese waltz. A review of the film and the ad suggests that the dance couple Sawyer and McCutcheon performed at the Ziegfeld Follies over the summer, giving dance classes for members of the upper class at $25 an hour.

First World War

In August 1914, at the beginning of the First World War, McCutcheon Jr. traveled to Great Britain and joined an armored car unit of the British Army as a war volunteer. Two months later, he was sent to France as Mechanician 1st Class. In December 1914, he achieved the rank of Second Lieutenant for Leicestershire Regiment. Further promotions followed quickly, in February 1915 to First Lieutenant, in August to Captain, and in April 1916 to Major. 

McCutcheon Jr. was wounded three times, with a bayonet, by a shot, and by shrapnel. Due to a serious head injury, he was discharged from military service and returned home with a metal plate in his skull. 

In September 1917, he was back in the United States and was employed as an actor in the two performances of the National Red Cross Pageant. Even after the war, McCutcheon Jr. continued to be referred to as "major" on cast lists and in advertising for his films.

His film credits in the late 1910s include Clarence G. Badger's The Floor Below (1918), David Kirkland's A Virtuous Vamp(1919), and Bertram Millhauser's The Phantom Foe (1920). He was last seen on the screen in 1920 in Charles Giblyn's short comedy The Thief alongside his wife Pearl White and Dorothy Cumming.

McCutcheon Jr. married actress and co-star Pearl White in June 1919. The marriage ended in divorce two years later on July 26, 1921. The two had shared the screen in The Black Secret (1919) and The Thief (1920).

After his divorce from Pearl White, McCutcheon Jr. fell into depression and turned to alcohol. He was found dead by suicide on January 27, 1928, in a hotel room in Hollywood, Los Angeles. He was 48 years old.