Walter Pidgeon

Infobox actor
name = Walter Pidgeon

---

caption =
birthname = Walter Davis Pidgeon
birthdate = birth date|1897|9|23|mf=y
location = Saint John, New Brunswick Canada
deathdate = death date and age|1984|9|25|1897|9|23|mf=y
deathplace = Santa Monica, California
spouse =
sagawards = Life Achievement Award
1972 Lifetime Archievement

Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 - September 25, 1984) was an American actor of Canadian birth, who lived most of his life in the United States, and eventually became a U.S. citizen.

Early life

Born near Saint John, New Brunswick, he attended local public schools followed by the University of New Brunswick, where he studied law and drama. His studies were interrupted by World War I and his enlistment in the 65th Battery of the Canadian Field Artillery. He never saw combat as he was severely injured when he was crushed between two gun carriages and hospitalized for 17 months. After the war, he moved to Boston, where he worked as a bank runner. His earnings financed his voice studies at the New England Conservatory of Music. [cite web |url=http://www.new-brunswick.net/Saint_John/fame/pidgeon.html |title=The Gentleman from Saint John |last=Foster |first=Charles |publisher=www.new-brunswick.net |accessdate=2007-10-01] He was a classically trained baritone.

Career

Discontented with banking, he moved to New York City where he made his entrance as an actor by walking into the office of E. E. Clive and announcing that he could act and sing and was ready to prove it. After working as an actor on stage for a few years, he made his Broadway debut in 1925.

Pidgeon made several silent movies in the 1920s. He became a huge star with the arrival of talkies because he was able to sing pleasantly. He starred in a number of extravagant early Technicolor musicals, such as "The Bride of the Regiment" (1930), "Sweet Kitty Bellairs" (1930), "Viennese Nights" (1930) and "Kiss Me Again" (1931). He quickly became associated with musicals, however, and when the public grew weary of them late in 1930, his career began to falter. Afterwards, Pidgeon played secondary roles in such films as "Saratoga" and "The Girl of the Golden West". During this period one of his better known roles was "The Dark Command", in which he portrayed the villain opposite John Wayne and Claire Trevor.

It was not until he starred in "How Green Was My Valley" that his popularity rebounded. He starred opposite Greer Garson in "Blossoms in the Dust", "Mrs. Miniver" (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor) and its sequel, "The Miniver Story". He was also nominated in 1944 for "Madame Curie", again opposite Garson. His partnership with Garson continued into the 1950s and concluded with "Scandal at Scourie" in 1953.

Although he continued making films, including "Week-End at the Waldorf" and "Forbidden Planet", based on Shakespeare's "The Tempest", Pidgeon returned to work on Broadway in the mid-1950s after a twenty-year absence, and was featured in "Take Me Along" with Jackie Gleason. He continued making films, playing Admiral Harriman Nelson in the 1961 "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", and in 1962, in Walt Disney's "Big Red" and Otto Preminger's "Advise and Consent". His role as Florenz Ziegfield in "Funny Girl" (1968) was well received. He also played Casey, James Coburn's sidekick in "Harry in Your Pocket" (1973), in which, much to Mrs Miniver's disdain, he portrayed a cocaine addict. Pidgeon also guest-starred in many television programs, including "Perry Mason", "The F.B.I.", and "Marcus Welby, M.D.".

Pidgeon was active in the Screen Actors Guild and served as president from 1952-1957. As such, he tried to stop the production of the film "Salt of the Earth", which was made by a team blacklisted during the Red Scare.

After Louis B. Mayer's death it was reported that his favourite MGM actor was Pidgeon, who coincidentally hailed from Saint John, which may account for the strong studio support he received throughout his time at MGM.fact|date=December 2007

He retired fully in 1973.

Pidgeon has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6414 Hollywood Blvd.

Personal life

Pidgeon married twice. In 1919, he married Muriel Pickles. This marriage was short-lived as she died in 1921 at the birth of their daughter, Edna Pidgeon Aitkens. Through her, he had two granddaughters, Pat and Pam. In 1931, he married his secretary, Ruth Walker, to whom he remained married until his death. They had no children.

He died of a stroke in Santa Monica, California, in 1984. In accordance with his wishes, his body was donated to the UCLA Medical School for medical research.

elected filmography

* "The Gorilla" (1927)
* "The Bride of the Regiment" (1930)
* "Sweet Kitty Bellairs" (1930)
* "Viennese Nights" (1930)
* "Going Wild" (1930)
* "Kiss Me Again" (1931)
* "The Kiss Before the Mirror" (1933)
* "Saratoga" (1937)
* "The Girl of the Golden West" (1938)
* "The Shopworn Angel" (1938)
* "Listen, Darling" (1938)
* "Society Lawyer" (1939)
*"6,000 Enemies" (1939)
* "Dark Command" (1940)
* "Man Hunt (1941)
* "Blossoms in the Dust" (1941)
* "How Green Was My Valley" (1941)
* "Mrs. Miniver" (1942)
* "Madame Curie" (1943)
* "Mrs. Parkington" (1944)
* "Week-End at the Waldorf" (1945)
* "The Secret Heart" (1946)
* "Julia Misbehaves" (1948)
* "Command Decision" (1948)
* "That Forsyte Woman" (1949)
* "The Miniver Story" (1950)
* "The Unknown Man" (1951)
* "Million Dollar Mermaid" (1952)
* "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952)
* "Dream Wife" (1953)
* "Executive Suite" (1954)
* "The Last Time I Saw Paris" (1954)
* "Hit the Deck" (1955)
* "The Glass Slipper" (1955) (Narrator)
* "Forbidden Planet" (1956)
* "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1961)
* "Advise and Consent" (1962)
* "Big Red" (1962)
* "Funny Girl" (1968)
* "Skyjacked" (1972)
* "Harry in Your Pocket" (1973)
* "Two-Minute Warning" (1976)
* "Sextette" (1978)

ee also

* Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood

References

External links

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* [http://www.reelclassics.com/Actors/Pidgeon/pidgeon-article.htm New York Times obituary]
*findagrave|1731

Persondata
NAME= Pidgeon, Walter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Pidgeon, Walter Davis
SHORT DESCRIPTION=
DATE OF BIRTH= 1897-9-23
PLACE OF BIRTH= Saint John, New Brunswick Canada
DATE OF DEATH= 1984-9-25
PLACE OF DEATH= Santa Monica, California