Hill Country resident makes big splash
on stage and screen

Published in the Kerrville Daily Times on February 21, 2025

Stage photo from the Broadway production of  "The Warrens of Virginia," showing,
from left to right Mary Pickford, Charlotte Walker and Richard Storey.

If you read my column last week, you may remember that Charlissa Walker and her father, Dr. Charles Ganahl, were both mentioned. Dr. Ganahl is considered the founder of Center Point, Texas. Ganahl brought his family to Kerr County in 1858 from his plantation in Louisiana. He believed the climate of the Guadalupe Valley would either help him recover from tuberculosis or prolong his life.

Upon settling near Comfort, Dr. Ganahl acquired 4,046 acres and established a ranch where he raised sheep, cattle and thoroughbred horses. On his property, he established a post office for the convenience of his neighbors and gave the area its first name, Zanzenberg, in honor of his ancestral home in the Austrian Tyrol.

In 1876, Dr. Ganahl’s daughter, Charlissa, married Edwin Walker, a wealthy coal and cotton broker and ship chandler. The newly married couple bought a ranch on Verde Creek, and named it “The Little Ranch.”

While the couple’s main residence was in Galveston, they spent their holidays and summers at Little Ranch. Their first child, Charlotte, was born in December 1878 (some sources put her birth at 1876. In spite of what her grave marker and some online sources say, the family narratives and Charlotte’s own account of her life put her birthdate firmly at 1878.)

Charlotte Walker

Charlotte grew up enjoying summers playing with her two younger brothers, Charles and George, along the banks of the Guadalupe River in Center Point. In an interview published in the Kerrville Mountain Sun in 1941, Charlotte reminisced about her “fairytale” childhood. She enjoyed fishing in the Guadalupe with her brothers and cooking the fish caught on an old cook stove they had placed on an island in the Guadalupe. She also remembered learning to ride horses on the family ranch, riding ponies to Kerrville, meeting friendly people and drinking cool buttermilk on hot summer days.

On the evening of Aug. 21, 1889, when Charlotte was 11, tragedy struck. Her father was riding to the Center Point train station for a return trip to Galveston. He was the passenger in a wagon pulled by a pair of mules. On approach to the station, the mules were spooked by an incoming train.

The driver of the hack jumped out to quiet the team and handed the reins to Mr. Walker. One of the bridles broke, causing the mules to be unmanageable, and the animals ran away, overturning the hack and throwing Mr. Walker out of the wagon. He fell upon a broken wagon bow and died of his injuries the next day.

After her father’s death, Charlotte’s family moved to Center Point full time.

At the age of 13, Charlotte discovered her calling. Her family took a three-day trip to San Antonio in a prairie schooner to see Richard Mansfield in a stage production of “Beau Brummel.”

In a 1954 interview with The Associated Press, Charlotte recalled the trip to San Antonio.

“We went in a covered wagon drawn by two spans of Spanish Mules,” she said. “We camped out nights and had our own secluded spot on the San Antonio River where we bathed and donned shoes and stockings before entering the city proper. During our week’s stay, our residence was the covered wagon — not in a downtown hotel.”

It was shortly after that trip that Charlotte stunned her family, telling them she intended to become a stage actress.

Just a few months short of her 16th birthday, Charlotte realized that dream. In 1893, she made her stage debut in the chorus of a Richard Mansfield play in New York City. By the time she was 19, she was traveling with Mansfield’s company and earning larger roles. In 1895, she performed in London, England, in a comedy called “The Mummy.”

In 1896, she retired from acting when she married physician John B Haden. They had two daughters, Beatrice, born in 1897, and Katherine “Sara,” born in 1899. The family lived in Galveston until the hurricane of 1900 hit the Texas Coast, decimating the city.

The hurricane caused financial ruin for Charlotte’s young family, so she made the decision to go to work and return to the stage. Her Broadway debut was a small role in “Miss Print” in 1900. By the end of 1901, she was landing leading Broadway roles. 

Unfortunately, her marriage to Dr. Haden didn’t survive her return to the stage, and the couple were divorced in 1902.

Her 1907 role in the Broadway hit, “The Warrens of Virginia” earned her critical success, and she became a theater favorite. The role also caught the attention of playwright Eugene Walter, and they were married in 1908.

Walter was responsible for the second Broadway role that earned Charlotte major critical acclaim, “Trail of the Lonesome Pine.” Walter wrote the leading role of June with his lovely wife in mind. She starred alongside Mary Pickford and Cecil B. DeMille in the production.

By 1915, Charlotte Walker was a household name. Her performances were noted in newspapers from Alaska to Arizona, and she was considered the “First Lady of Stage.” It wasn’t long before she was taking roles in the movies.

Her motion picture career began in 1905, but didn’t really take off until 1915 with a movie called “Kindling.” In 1916, she reprised her role as June in the film adaptation of “Trail of the Lonesome Pine.” She made a total of 34 films during her career.

Not many silent films survive today in their entirety. Fortunately, a few scenes from “Trail of the Lonesome Pine” can be found on YouTube. Another of Charlotte’s films, the 1925 production of “The Midnight Girl,” can be seen in its entirety and features not only Charlotte Walker, but a pre-Dracula Bela Lugosi.

Charlotte Walker's home in Center Point, Texas.  It was painted bright pink when she lived
in the house. The house has been recently demolished.  Photo by Steve Kensing.

Charlotte divorced Eugene Walter in 1930. Her last film role was in “Hotel Variety” in 1933. By then, she was missing her native state and returned to the Hill Country to enjoy retirement. She lived in Center Point in a two-story, “rambling” house (back then it was painted bright pink) with her four dogs and numerous cats (she was rescuing pets before it was cool). 

She died in March of 1958 and is buried in Galveston.

The author of Charlotte’s obituary stated, “Miss Walker’s talent, grace and beauty were breathtaking to her audiences, and these attributes clung to her personality long after she had retired from the stage, and even to the time when she was a delightful old lady.”

Her daughter, Sara Haden, followed in her mother’s footsteps. She was a character actress who had numerous film roles during the Golden Age of Hollywood, including parts in “The Bishop’s Wife” and “Little Shop Around the Corner.” She is best known as Aunt Millie in the Andy Hardy movies.

Actress Sara Haden,
Walker's Daughter

In my research for this column, I found an article that was picked up by several newspapers about Sara’s appearance in a live TV broadcast, only a few hours after her mother’s death.  Charlotte’s funeral was held on a Thursday morning in Kerrville, and by Thursday night, Sara was appearing in a live television show in California. The show was “The Great World and Timothy Colt.” The show’s producer, Evan Wolas, said the actress never mentioned the death of her mother and said, “She’s a wonderful trouper.”

In true theater fashion: The show must go on.