Harold Goodwin

Harold Goodwin (1 December 1902 – 12 July 1987) was an American actor who performed in over 225 films, from 1915 through the early 1970s. He was a character actor who usually played tough guys, blue-collar workers, and gangsters. He is known for his roles in The Better 'Ole (1926), Flight (1929), and All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and for his appearances in The Buster Keaton Show.

In the 1950s, when the British actor Harold Goodwin started becoming popular, Goodwin changed the spelling of his first name form Harold to Herold to avoid confusion.

Early life

Harold Goodwin was born on December 1, 1902, in Peoria, Illinois, to Lee Willis Goodwin and Maude Lyons. After high school, he earned some stage experience with a stock show at Burbank Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

Career

Goodwin started his acting career in silent pictures as a teenager. He made his debut in 1915, aged 12, in a short drama titled Mike's Elopement. He played the character of "Mike" alongside Violet Wilkey and Fred Burns. In his debut year, he was also seen in three other short films: The Little Orphans, As in the Days of Old, and The Ever Living Isles.

His first feature film was director John Emerson's drama/romance Old Heidelberg (also 1915), in which he played the 12-year-old version of Prince Karl Heinrich of Rutania (played by Wallace Reid). The younger, 5-year-old Karl was portrayed by Francis Carpenter.

After appearing in a wide range of films, such as The Silent Man (1917), Puppy Love(1919), Suds (1920), and You Never Can Tell (1920), Goodwin landed his first starring role in Millard Webb's 1921 drama Oliver Twist, Jr. In the film based on Charles Dickens's 1838 novel Oliver Twist, Goodwin played the title role of Oliver Twist Jr., an orphan, alongside Lillian Hall and George Nichols.

In 1922, Goodwin portrayed "Jim Kernochan" in director King Baggot's romance-comedy Kissed, starring Marie Prevost and Lloyd Whitlock.

In 1927, Goodwin appeared as "Jeff Brown," a rival to Buster Keaton in his comedy film College, starring Keaton, Anne Cornwall, and Flora Bramley. In 1928, he followed up with the character of "Stagg" in another Keaton film The Cameraman, opposite Keaton and actress Marceline Day. The Goodwin-Keaton association continued in the 1950s when he became a regular on his The Buster Keaton Show.

After working through the silent film era, Goodwin transitioned into the talkie era as a character actor, often as a "tough guy" because of his athletic stature. In 1930, he portrayed the character of "Detering" in director Lewis Milestone's war-drama All Quiet on the Western Front, starring Louis Wolheim and Lew Ayres. After this film, most of his roles were minor and often uncredited.

In 1957-59, he was seen in three episodes of the TV series Highway Patrol. In 1959-1960, he portrayed a clerk in three episodes of the Western TV series Gunsmoke.

In his later years, Goodwin mainly acted in Western films and TV and often worked as a stuntman for film studios. In 1965-1968, he made many guest appearances on the NBC television series Daniel Boone, starring Fess Parker, Patricia Blair, and Ed Ames. 

Goodwin's last appearance was in 1973, as "Mr. Duncan," in a low-budget horror film The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, starring Kerwin Mathews and Elaine Devry. He was credited as Herold Goodwin.

Death

Harold Goodwin died on July 12, 1987, in Woodland Hills, California.