- Despite his crude, blue-collar looks, he was quite an intelligent man, speaking fluent French, German, Spanish and Yiddish.
- His trademark smashed nose was the result of a football injury while attending Cornell University.
- Jewish-American character actor considered by many as possessing one of the ugliest mugs in Hollywood, but also deemed one of its best performers, best known for his bravura performance in the classic anti-war epic All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).
- Lionel Barrymore, his mentor, once told him, "With that face you could make a fortune in the theater." Wolhim tried the stage late in his career and won considerable attention in Eugene O'Neill's "The Hairy Ape." He later became O'Neill's friend.
- Died following six days of rehearsal for the film The Front Page (1931). Adolphe Menjou, the epitome of sartorial elegance and the polar opposite of the brutish-looking Louis, replaced him and was nominated for a "Best Actor" Oscar for his efforts.
- According to his marriage announcement in Time Magazine, Wolheim was at one time a mathematics instructor at Cornell University.
- Was a mathematics teacher before being brought to films by Lionel Barrymore.
- Had a degree in mechanical engineering.
- In Hollywood Wolheim was known as a formidable poker player. It was said that his skills as a former math teacher made him particularly adept at counting cards.
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