Niles Welch

Niles Welch
Pauline Starke and Niles Welch in The Courage of Marge O'Doone (1920)
Born	Niles Eugene Welch (1888-07-29)July 29, 1888 Hartford, Connecticut, United States
Died	November 21, 1976(1976-11-21) (aged 88) Laguna Niguel, California, United States
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1913–1940
Spouse(s)	Dell Boone Elaine Esher

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.

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.

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.

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