{{Short description|English actor}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Walter Stanton | image = Walter Stanton Burch (1855–1943).png | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = Profiled in ''Collier's'' in 1925 | birth_name = Walter Stanton Burch | birth_date = {{Birth date|1855|06|30}} | birth_place = London, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1943|10|29|1855|06|30}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, US | other_names = | occupation = Actor and entertainer | years_active = 1879–1930 | known_for = The Giant Rooster | notable_works = | spouse = {{Marriage|Tina Corri|October 15, 1885||end=div.}} | children = {{ubl|Val Stanton|Ernie Stanton}} }}
'''Walter Stanton Burch''' (June 30, 1855 – October 29, 1943), known professionally as "The Giant Rooster", was an English-American actor and entertainer.
==Acting career== He started out performing animal mimics in 1879 as his way to make money. He stated that his father was a mimic and that he had inherited that same gift.
In 1883, he was featured as "The Human Barnyard" at Keith's Dime Theatre in Boston.<ref name=Forty>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b9ccAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA5-PA44 |title=Forty Years a Rooster |magazine=Collier's |volume=75 |number=6 |page=44 |date=1925-02-07 |access-date=2026-01-20 |via=Google Books}}</ref>
He started being animal impersonators in 1885 such as a turkey, duck, raven, pigeon, and eventually his main role as a rooster an toured through theatre's and fairs throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, America and many more locations. In 1888, he was officially featured as "The Giant Rooster" on the stage at Barnum & Bailey circus.
thumb|Walter Stanton, Made up like a giant rooster, in his set-to with a gamecock
In 1890, he was described as the "stellar attraction" for months at the Paris Hippodrome. He was on billboards and banners as "Monsieur Stanton: Chantecler". He was also described as a "household word" throughout France. Poet Edmond Rostand was in the audience in one of his shows and applauded him. He would also work with Maude Adams in those shows.<ref name=Forty/>
Around that time in the 1890s and early 1900s, he would work beside his wife and do duet shows; also eventually with his son Val when he was a teenager.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mr. Walter Stanton |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-era-walter-stanton-annie-tina-co/119855237/ |newspaper=The Era |publication-place=London |page=26 |date=1893-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260120164753/https://img.newspapers.com/img/img?clippingId=119855237 |archive-date=2026-01-20 |url-status=deviated |access-date=2026-01-20 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Circus of Varieties, Newgate, Rochdale |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-rochdale-observer-walter-and-annie-w/185591128/ |newspaper=Rochdale Observer |page=1 |date=1897-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260120165015/https://img.newspapers.com/img/img?clippingId=185591128 |archive-date=2026-01-20 |url-status=deviated |access-date=2026-01-20 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
Walter was also a tutor during this time. He not only tutored his sons; he also went on to tutor Charlie Chaplin.<ref>{{cite news |title=Stanley Theatre Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-journal-stanton-brothers-taugh/162953940/ |newspaper=The Daily Journal |publication-place=Vineland, New Jersey |page=4 |date=1929-01-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260120165618/https://img.newspapers.com/img/img?clippingId=162953940 |archive-date=2026-01-20 |url-status=deviated |access-date=2026-01-20 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
==Personal life== He married opera singer Tina Corri on October 15, 1885 in Liverpool, England.<ref>{{cite web |title=Walter and Annie Corri marriage |url=https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2197/images/48045_83024005507_0436-00160?pId=3151656 |publisher=Ancestry.com |access-date=23 December 2025 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> They had their two sons, Valentine and Ernest in 1886 and 1890. They eventually divorced.
They immigrated to the United States through Chicago in 1898.<ref>{{cite web |title=1900 U.S. Census |url=https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4113700_00745?pid=10114940|publisher=Ancestry.com |access-date=29 January 2026 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
==Family== Other than his wife, His two sons, Val and Ernie went on to become famous actors and athletes.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/portland-sunday-telegram-val-and-ernie-s/189392463/ |title=Val and Ernie Stanton Born in Show Business |newspaper=Portland Sunday Telegram |page=19 |date=1924-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260120165955/https://img.newspapers.com/img/img?clippingId=189392463 |archive-date=2026-01-20 |url-status=deviated |access-date=2026-01-20 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
==Filmography== *''The Mechanical Head'' (1903) as Actor *''Burlesque Cock Fight'' (1903) as Himself
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name}} *{{IBDB name}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanton, Walter}} Category:1855 births Category:1943 deaths Category:20th-century American male actors Category:Animal impersonators Category:English emigrants to the United States