Despite his crude, blue-collar looks, he was quite an intelligent
man, speaking fluent French, German, Spanish and Yiddish.
His trademark smashed nose was the result of a football injury while
attending Cornell University.
Jewish-American character actor considered by many as possessing one of
the ugliest mugs in Hollywood, but also deemed one of its best
performers, best known for his bravura performance in the classic anti-war
epic All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).
Lionel Barrymore, his mentor, once told him, "With that face you could
make a fortune in the theater." Wolhim tried the stage late in his
career and won considerable attention in Eugene O'Neill's "The Hairy
Ape." He later became O'Neill's friend.
Died following six days of rehearsal for the film The Front Page (1931). Adolphe Menjou, the
epitome of sartorial elegance and the polar opposite of the
brutish-looking Louis, replaced him and was nominated for a "Best
Actor" Oscar for his efforts.
According to his marriage announcement in Time Magazine, Wolheim was at one time a mathematics instructor at Cornell University.
Was a mathematics teacher before being brought to films by Lionel Barrymore.