Walter E. Perkins
| Walter E. Perkins | |
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| Born | 1859 Biddeford, Maine, USA |
| Died | 3 June 1925 Brooklyn, New York, USA |
| Resting place | Laurel Hill, Maine, USA |
| Parent(s) | Jotham Ruth |
Walter Eugene Perkins (1859-1925) was an American stage and film actor, known for his performances in films such as My Friend from India (1914), Who Goes There? (1914) and Paying His Debt (1918).
Walter Perkins was born in Biddeford, Maine, USA as one of the four children born to Jotham and Ruth (Andrews) Perkins. His early life and schooling was Biddeford where his father ran a boot and shoe shop. During his school life when he was 14, Walter started an amateur newspaper, "The Snow Flake". He was a collector of newspapers and had a collection of over 130 papers from 25 states and Canada in this manner and had an interest in telegraphy which he started studying during his school years. Walter was also known to be active in productions put on by Universalist Society, of which he was a member. Walter graduated from Biddeford High School in 1876.
From a telegraph operator to a stage actor to a film actor, Walter Perkins' life covered numerous stage shows and sixteen films. He died in Brooklyn, New York, on June 3, 1925, following a short illness caused by food poisoning.
Perkins was memorialized both in Maine and back in New York. His New York funeral took place at the famous Frank E. Campbell funeral chapel on Madison Avenue, which hosted the funerals of such celebrities as Rudolph Valentino, Greta Garbo, Frank Costello, "Fatty" Arbuckle, Arturo Toscanini and George Gershwin. The next day Perkins' remains arrived home in Biddeford for the local funeral at the family home on Chadwick Place, and he was then laid to rest at the family plot at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Saco. In this tribute, written to accompany his obituary in the Biddeford Daily Journal by Mrs. Estelle Tatterson, Perkins was remembered as:
Walter had no enemies. His acquaintances were at once his friends. That was one of his greatest gifts—friendship. He never married. There were too many flowers in Cupid's garden for him to choose. He loved them all. His friends are thankful that he had not to pass through long months of suffering, but left us as he would have desired. All honor to a beloved son of old Biddeford and let us all stop in our busy lives to pay a silent tribute and offer a silent prayer of thanksgiving for having known Walter E. Perkins, gentleman."
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