Joseph Henry Kolker (November 13, 1874 [some sources 1870] – July 15, 1947) was an American stage and film actor and director.
Early years
Kolker was born in Quincy, Illinois.
Career
Kolker, like fellow actors Richard Bennett and Robert Warwick, had a substantial stage career before entering silent films. He began acting professionally in stock theater in 1895. On stage he appeared opposite actresses such as Edith Wynne Matthison, Bertha Kalich and Ruth Chatterton.
Kolker began acting in films in 1915. He is best remembered for his movie roles, including one in the ground-breaking Pre-Code film Baby Face (1933) as an elderly CEO. Another well-remembered part is as Mr. Seton, father of Katharine Hepburn and Lew Ayres in the 1938 film Holiday directed by George Cukor.
Kolker entered films as an actor in 1915 and eventually tried his hand at directing. Kolker's best-known directorial effort is Disraeli (1921), starring George Arliss which is now a lost film with only one reel remaining. Prints however are said to exist in Europe and Russia.
Personal life
Kolker was married to Lillian Carroll; they divorced in 1926. Soon after the divorce, he married Margaret Bruen.
Kolker died on July 15, 1947, aged 72.