'To Kill a Mockingbird' actor honored with marker in Pendleton

Jun. 25—PENDLETON — When Bryan Williams purchased and restored his Victorian home on Water Street, he may have become a steward of a Hollywood screen legacy.

The home where he lives is believed to once have been occupied by Pendleton native William Franklin "Bill" Walker, an actor best known for his role as the Rev. Sykes in the 1962 classic film, "To Kill a Mockingbird."

For that reason, Williams was excited to be a major donor to a marker honoring Walker that was dedicated Friday in the garden in front of the Pendleton Historical Museum.

"Jeanette (Isbell) and I were close for a long time before I bought the house, and I was excited as she shared its history," he said. "Also, as an attorney, I was struck by the connection with "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Isbell is vice president of the museum.

Walker joins other Hoosier screen legends, including James Dean, Carole Lombard and Steve McQueen whose Indiana roots have been acknowledged with markers sponsored by the Indiana Historical Bureau.

His is one of more than 700 markers honoring the achievements of Hoosiers throughout the state. It is the sixth historical marker in Madison County and the third in five years.

DEEP ROOTS

Walker's family roots in Pendleton ran deep. His grandfather, a former slave who had served in an all-Black brigade of the Union Army during the Civil War, came to the area from North Carolina in the 19th century, Isbell said.

"We don't know why they came to Pendleton, but we think it may be because of the Quakers," she said.

Born in July 1896, Walker in 1915 became the first African American to graduate from Pendleton High School. He went on to study at Butler University.

However, his studies apparently were cut short by World War I. He served in the U.S. Army's segregated 92nd Infantry Division, becoming one of the Buffalo soldiers who served in France.

Legend has it Walker was working for the U.S. Post Office by day and as a singer and bandleader in a small band at night when he was approached by a scout from a talent agency. One day, rather than going to his day job at the post office, he went to visit the talent agent instead.

Though the agent's secretary tried to discourage him, the agent eventually emerged from his office and said to Walker, "I've been wondering why you never came to see me."

Walker spent the 1930s studying drama at Columbia University in New York where he also worked on Broadway as a stage manager and actor.

He made his first film appearance, an uncredited walk-on part, in the 1945 film "The Killers," starring Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner. He went on to become a character actor, making more than 100 film and television appearances over the next 40 years.

Walker married Peggy Cartwright, a Canadian child actress of the Silent Film Era, best known for her appearances in the earliest "Our Gang" shorts in 1922. Theirs was one of the first interracial marriages in Hollywood.

Walker died Jan. 27, 1992 at age 95. He is buried alongside his wife at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.

LASTING LEGACY

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning bestselling 1960 Southern gothic novel by Harper Lee, "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a courtroom classic and one of the most widely read books on racial inequality.

But Lindsey Beckley, outreach coordinator for the Indiana Historical Bureau, said though Sykes was his most famous role, Walker's influence went far beyond this one film or even his film career in general. Starting in the late 1940s, he became a civil rights activist.

"He spent nearly two decades as a member of the Screen Actors Guild Board of Directors, a position he used to advocate for better roles for Black actors," she said. "He knew that representation in the media, whether that be television, film or even Indiana state historical markers is important, something IHB is dedicated to as well."

Working alongside the man who one day would become president, Ronald Reagan, Walker lobbied Hollywood executives for more roles and partnered with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to stop racial stereotyping in films. Walker's crusade led to a non-discrimination clause being added to SAG's theatrical agreement.

Isbell said getting the marker was three years in the making, delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"When I came on the museum board, there were some things we knew about William Walker but nothing in-depth," she said.

That changed when Cartwright sent the museum an extended biography about her husband.

"The more we learned about William Walker, the better a story it became, not only about William Walker but also about his family," Isbell said. "It really was one of these stories we felt we needed to save because a lot of people probably don't even know who he is."

Follow Rebecca R. Bibbs on Twitter at @RebeccaB_THB, or call 765-640-4883.