British leading man of primarily American films, one of the great stars of the Golden Age. Raised in Ealing, the son of a successful silk merchant, he attended boarding school in Sussex, where he first discovered amateur theatre. He intended to attend Cambridge and become an engineer, but his father's death cost him the financial support necessary. He joined the London Scottish Regionals and at the outbreak of World War I was sent to France. Seriously wounded at the battle of Messines--he was gassed--he was invalided out of service scarcely two months after shipping out for France. Upon his recovery he tried to enter the consular service, but a chance encounter got him a small role in a London play. He dropped other plans and concentrated on the theatre, and was rewarded with a succession of increasingly prominent parts. He made extra money appearing in a few minor films, and in 1920 set out for New York in hopes of finding greater fortune there than in war-depressed England. After two years of impoverishment he was cast in a Broadway hit, "La Tendresse". Director Henry King spotted him in the show and cast him as Lillian Gish's leading man in The White Sister (1923). His success in the film led to a contract with Samuel Goldwyn, and his career as a Hollywood leading man was underway. He became a vastly popular star of silent films, in romances as well as adventure films. The coming of sound made his extraordinarily beautiful speaking voice even more important to the film industry. He played sophisticated, thoughtful characters of integrity with enormous aplomb, and swashbuckled expertly when called to do so in films like The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). A decade later he received an Academy Award for his splendid portrayal of a tormented actor in A Double Life (1947). Much of his later career was devoted to "The Halls of Ivy", a radio show that later was transferred to television "The Halls of Ivy" (1954). He continued to work until nearly the end of his life, which came in 1958 after a brief lung illness. He was survived by his second wife, actress Benita Hume, and their daughter Juliet Benita Colman.
British leading man of primarily American films, one of the great stars of the Golden Age. Raised in Ealing, the son of a successful silk merchant, he attended boarding school in Sussex, where he first discovered amateur theatre. He intended to attend Cambridge and become an engineer, but his father's death cost him the financial support necessary. He joined the London Scottish Regionals and at the outbreak of World War I was sent to France. Seriously wounded at the battle of Messines--he was gassed--he was invalided out of service scarcely two months after shipping out for France. Upon his recovery he tried to enter the consular service, but a chance encounter got him a small role in a London play. He dropped other plans and concentrated on the theatre, and was rewarded with a succession of increasingly prominent parts. He made extra money appearing in a few minor films, and in 1920 set out for New York in hopes of finding greater fortune there than in war-depressed England. After two years of impoverishment he was cast in a Broadway hit, "La Tendresse". Director Henry King spotted him in the show and cast him as Lillian Gish's leading man in The White Sister (1923). His success in the film led to a contract with Samuel Goldwyn, and his career as a Hollywood leading man was underway. He became a vastly popular star of silent films, in romances as well as adventure films. The coming of sound made his extraordinarily beautiful speaking voice even more important to the film industry. He played sophisticated, thoughtful characters of integrity with enormous aplomb, and swashbuckled expertly when called to do so in films like The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). A decade later he received an Academy Award for his splendid portrayal of a tormented actor in A Double Life (1947). Much of his later career was devoted to "The Halls of Ivy", a radio show that later was transferred to television "The Halls of Ivy" (1954). He continued to work until nearly the end of his life, which came in 1958 after a brief lung illness. He was survived by his second wife, actress Benita Hume, and their daughter Juliet Benita Colman.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0172903
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q181786
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Filmography (Movies)
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:07/10/2001
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:01/10/1988
That's Entertainment, Part II
Character:(archive footage)
Release Date:16/05/1976
The Story of Mankind
Character:The Spirit of Man
Release Date:08/11/1957
Around the World in 80 Days
Character:Railway Official
Release Date:17/10/1956
Champagne for Caesar
Character:Beauregard Bottomley
Release Date:11/05/1950
The Art Director
Character:Self - from 'Late George Apley' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Release Date:12/11/1949
A Double Life
Character:Anthony John
Release Date:25/12/1947
The Late George Apley
Character:George Apley
Release Date:19/03/1947
Kismet
Character:Hafiz
Release Date:01/10/1944
Random Harvest
Character:Charles Rainier
Release Date:17/12/1942
The Talk of the Town
Character:Michael Lightcap
Release Date:20/08/1942
My Life with Caroline
Character:Anthony Mason
Release Date:01/08/1941
Lucky Partners
Character:David Grant
Release Date:02/08/1940
The Light That Failed
Character:Dick Heldar
Release Date:24/12/1939
If I Were King
Character:François Villon
Release Date:28/09/1938
The Prisoner of Zenda
Character:Major Rudolf Rassendyll / The Prisoner of Zenda
Release Date:03/09/1937
Lost Horizon
Character:Robert " Bob " Conway
Release Date:03/03/1937
Under Two Flags
Character:Sgt. Victor
Release Date:30/04/1936
A Tale of Two Cities
Character:Sydney Carton
Release Date:25/12/1935
The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo
Character:Paul Gaillard
Release Date:14/11/1935
Clive of India
Character:Robert Clive
Release Date:25/01/1935
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
Character:Captain Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond
Release Date:15/08/1934
The Masquerader
Character:Sir John Chilcote / John Loder
Release Date:03/09/1933
Cynara
Character:James Warlock
Release Date:24/12/1932
Arrowsmith
Character:Dr. Martin Arrowsmith
Release Date:07/12/1931
The Unholy Garden
Character:Barrington Hunt
Release Date:06/10/1931
Governor C.C. Young Hails Greater Talkie Season
Character:
Release Date:31/12/1930
The Devil to Pay!
Character:Willie Hale
Release Date:18/12/1930
Terra Melophon Magazin Nr. 1
Character:
Release Date:12/09/1930
Raffles
Character:A.J. Raffles
Release Date:11/07/1930
Condemned!
Character:Michel
Release Date:03/11/1929
Bulldog Drummond
Character:Captain Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond
Release Date:02/05/1929
The Rescue
Character:Tom Lingard
Release Date:12/01/1929
Two Lovers
Character:Mark van Rycke
Release Date:23/03/1928
The Magic Flame
Character:Tito the Clown / The Count
Release Date:17/09/1927
The Night of Love
Character:Montero
Release Date:22/01/1927
The Winning of Barbara Worth
Character:Willard Holmes
Release Date:14/10/1926
Beau Geste
Character:Michael 'Beau' Geste
Release Date:24/08/1926
Kiki
Character:Victor Renal
Release Date:04/04/1926
Lady Windermere's Fan
Character:Lord Darlington
Release Date:26/12/1925
Stella Dallas
Character:Stephen Dallas
Release Date:16/11/1925
The Dark Angel
Character:Captain Alan Trent
Release Date:27/09/1925
Her Sister from Paris
Character:Joseph
Release Date:01/08/1925
A Thief in Paradise
Character:Maurice Blake
Release Date:18/06/1925
The Sporting Venus
Character:Donald MacAllan
Release Date:12/04/1925
His Supreme Moment
Character:John Douglas
Release Date:12/04/1925
Romola
Character:Carlo Bucellini
Release Date:06/12/1924
Her Night of Romance
Character:Paul Menford
Release Date:24/11/1924
Tarnish
Character:Emmet Carr
Release Date:01/08/1924
Twenty Dollars a Week
Character:Chester Reeves
Release Date:12/04/1924
The White Sister
Character:Capt. Giovanni Severi
Release Date:05/09/1923
Anna the Adventuress
Character:Brendan
Release Date:01/02/1920
The Toilers
Character:Bob
Release Date:01/03/1919
Television Appearances
Images
