Eugene Walter

American writer (1921–1998)

Eugene Ferdinand Walter, Jr. (November 30, 1921 – March 29, 1998) was an American screenwriter, poet, short story author, actor, puppeteer, gourmet chef, cryptographer, translator, editor, costume designer and well known raconteur. During his years in Paris, he was nicknamed Tum te tum. His friend Pat Conroy observed that Walter had lived a "pixilated wonderland of a life." Walter was labeled "Mobile's Renaissance Man" because of his diverse activities in many areas of the arts. Throughout his life, he maintained a connection with Mobile by carrying a shoebox of Alabama red clay around Europe.

Walter was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, which he described as "a separate kingdom. We are not North America; we are North Haiti." He claimed that he ran away from home at the age of three and was raised by his paternal grandparents. He and Truman Capote became acquainted in Mobile, attending matinees at the Saenger Theatre downtown together as children. His grandparents both died while he was about ten years old. After largely living on the streets for a time, he was eventually taken in by Hammond Bokenham Gayfer, heir to Gayfers Department Store in downtown Mobile. Gayfer died in 1938, again leaving Walter to fend for himself.

During World War II, Walter spent three years in the Aleutian Islands as an Army cryptographer. He relocated to New York City afterward and became a resident of Greenwich Village during the post WWII years. During this time he pioneered an early form of happening by staging a spontaneous and unannounced group performance with his friends in the sculpture garden of the Museum of Modern Art. Walter then gained transatlantic passage of a freighter carrying ice cream to Europe during the late 1940s. He lived in Paris during much of the 1950s, where he helped launch the Paris Review, living across the street from the publication's office and contributing to the earliest issues with text, art and interviews. His short story "Troubador" appeared in the first issue. His Paris Review interviews included Isak Dinesen and Robert Penn Warren. In 1960, for Transatlantic Review, he interviewed Gore Vidal. Eventually, Walter moved from Paris to Rome at the request of Marguerite Caetani, Princess di Bassiano, to edit her literary journal Botteghe Oscure. After a falling out with the princess, he acted in the films of Federico Fellini and translated Italian films into English. His dinner parties in Rome became much talked about; those that attended included T. S. Eliot, William Faulkner, Judy Garland, Anaïs Nin, Leontyne Price, Gore Vidal and Richard Wright. Walter returned to Mobile in 1979.

He died on March 29, 1998, of liver cancer at the University of South Alabama Medical Center. Practically destitute at the time of his death, his friends raised the money for his sendoff. His wake was held at the old Scottish Rite Temple, where attendees painted and wrote their goodbyes on his closed casket. His funeral service was held at the nearby Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, followed by a jazz funeral procession in the rain to his final resting place in Mobile's historic Church Street Graveyard. A special allowance was made by the Mobile Parks Department for his burial at Church Street Graveyard, which had been closed since the 1890s.

Living in Rome during the 1960s and 1970s, Walter was a translator for Federico Fellini. For different film companies, he translated hundreds of scripts. He appeared as an actor in more than 20 feature films, notably as the American journalist in Fellini's 8½ (1963). For Fellini's Juliet of the Spirits (1965), he played the role of the Mother Superior and collaborated with Nino Rota on the song, "Go Milk the Moon" (cut from the final version of the film). Rota and Walter teamed again for the song "What Is a Youth" for Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet (1968). He also played the role of the priest in The House with Laughing Windows. Year Title Role Notes1962 Two Weeks in Another Town Uncredited1962 Eighteen in the Sun Twist dancer Uncredited1963 8½ Il giornalista americano 1963 The Pink Panther Hotel Manager Voice, Uncredited1965 Juliet of the Spirits Mother Superior Uncredited1966 Pardon, Are You For or Against? Igor 1968 Django, Prepare a Coffin Spokesman Uncredited1968 The Belle Starr Story Dita di Velluto 1968 Hate Thy Neighbor Judge Uncredited1968 The Black Sheep Mons. Faldella 1969 Colpo di stato Ernest Dimler 1969 Normal Young Man Nelson 1970 Ma chi t'ha dato la patente? 1970 The Swinging Confessors Uncredited1970 Amore formula 2 Wolf Baitinger 1971 Black Belly of the Tarantula Ginetto, the waiter 1972 Beati i ricchi Sindaco 1973 Sinbad and the Caliph of Baghdad Zenebi 1973 The Sensual Man Jacomini 1973 Ancora una volta prima di lasciarci Macpherson 1974 L'erotomane 1975 Private Lessons Uncle of Emanuela Uncredited1976 The House with Laughing Windows Don Orsi / Legnani Sister Uncredited1976 Tutto suo padre Stoltz 1976 Languid Kisses, Wet Caresses Intellectual Uncredited1978 The Pyjama Girl Case Dorsey 1978 Per vivere meglio, divertitevi con noi Nane (segment "Un incontro molto ravvicinato")1978 Le braghe del padrone De Dominicis 1990 Soultaker Nun (final film role)

There are two compact disc releases of Walter reading his own works. Rare Bird is a sampler of Walter at his best and includes "The Byzantine Riddle." Monkey Poems is faithful to the 1953 book that is the source. Both CDs feature cover art by Walter. Produced by Charlie Smoke and Barry Little with permission from Walter's estate, these CDs are available from Nomad Productions, Inc.

Eugene Walter: Last of the Bohemians (2008) is a documentary by Waterfront Pictures.