Conrad Nagel

Conrad Nagel
Born	March 16, 1897(1897-03-16) Keokuk, Iowa, U.S.
Died	February 24, 1970(1970-02-24) (aged 72) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1918–1967
Spouse	Ruth Helms (1924-1935) Lynn Merrick (m. 1945) Michael Coulson Smith (m. 1955)

Conrad Nagel (March 16, 1897(1897-03-16) – February 24, 1970(1970-02-24)) was an American screen actor and matinee idol of the silent film era and beyond. He was also a well-known television actor and radio performer.

Biography

Born in Keokuk, Iowa, into an upper-middle-class family, he was the son of a musician father, Frank, and a mother, Frances (née Murphy), who was a locally praised singer. Nagel’s mother died early in his life, and he always attributed his artistic inclination to growing up in a family environment that encouraged self-expression. His father, Frank, became dean of the music conservatory at Highland Park College and when Nagel was three, the family moved to Des Moines.

After graduating from Highland Park College at Des Moines, Iowa, Nagel left for California to pursue a career in the relatively new medium of motion pictures where he garnered instant attention from the Hollywood studio executives. With his 6-foot-tall (1.8 m) frame, blue eyes, and wavy blond hair; the young, Midwestern Nagel was seen by studio executives as a potentially wholesome matinee idol whose unpretentious all-American charm would surely appeal to the nation's nascent film-goers.

Nagel was immediately cast in film roles that cemented his unspoiled lover image. His first film was the 1918 retelling of the Louisa May Alcott classic, Little Women, which quickly captured the public’s attention and set Nagel on a path to silent film stardom. His breakout role came in the 1920 film, The Fighting Chance, opposite Swedish starlet Anna Q. Nilsson.

On May 11, 1927, Nagel was among 35 other film industry insiders to found the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS); a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures. Fellow actors involved in the founding included: Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Richard Barthelmess, Jack Holt, Milton Sills, and Harold Lloyd. He served as president of the organization from 1932 to 1933. He was also a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

In 1927, Nagel starred alongside Lon Chaney, Sr., Marceline Day, Henry B. Walthall and Polly Moran in the now lost Tod Browning directed horror classic, London After Midnight. The film is quite possibly the most famous and talked about lost film ever.

Unlike so many silent films stars of the Roaring Twenties, Conrad Nagel had little difficulty transitioning to talkies and spent the next several decades being very well received in high profile films as a character actor. He was also frequently heard on radio and made many notable appearances on television. From 1937 to 1947 he hosted and directed the radio program Silver Theater. Later on, from 1949 to 1952 he hosted the popular TV game show, Celebrity Time.

In 1940, Nagel was given an Honorary Academy Award for his work with the Motion Picture Relief Fund. He was the host of the 3rd Academy Awards ceremony held on November 5, 1930, the 5th Academy Awards on November 18, 1932, and a co-host with Bob Hope at the 25th Academy Awards ceremony on March 19, 1953. The 21-year gap between his appearances in 1932 and 1953 is a record for an Oscar ceremonies host.

Nagel married and divorced three times. His first wife, Ruth Helms, gave birth to a daughter, Ruth Margaret, in 1920. His second wife was actress Lynn Merrick. His third wife was Michael Coulson Smith, who gave birth to a son Michael in the late 1950s.

In 1970, Nagel died in New York City, aged 72, and was cremated at Garden State Crematory in North Bergen, New Jersey. Nagel's remains are interred at the Lutheran Cemetery in Warsaw, Illinois.

For his contributions to film, radio, and television, Conrad Nagel was given three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1719 Vine Street (Motion Pictures), 1752 Vine Street (Radio), and 1752 Vine Street (Television).

Filmography

Silent: Little Women (1918) The Lion and the Mouse (1919) The Redhead (1919) Romeo's Dad (1919) The Fighting Chance (1920) Unseen Forces (1920) Midsummer Madness (1920) What Every Woman Knows (1921) The Lost Romance (1921) Sacred and Profane Love (1921) Fool's Paradise (1921) Saturday Night (1922) Hate (1922) The Ordeal (1922) Nice People (1922) The Impossible Mrs. Bellew (1922) Singed Wings (1922) Grumpy (1923) Bella Donna (1923) Lawful Larceny (1923) The Rendezvous (1923) Name the Man (1924) Three Weeks (1924) The Rejected Woman (1924) Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1924) Sinners in Silk (1924) Married Flirts (1924) The Snob (1924) So This Is Marriage? (1924) Excuse Me (1925) Cheaper to Marry (1925) Pretty Ladies (1925) Sun-Up (1925) The Only Thing (1925) Lights of Old Broadway (1925) Dance Madness (1926) Memory Lane (1926)

Exquisite Sinner (1926) The Waning Sex (1926) Tin Hats (1926) There You Are! (1926) Heaven on Earth (1927) Slightly Used (1927) Quality Street (1927) The Girl from Chicago (1927) London After Midnight (1927) If I Were Single (1927) Tenderloin (1928) The Crimson City (1928) Glorious Betsy (1928) Diamond Handcuffs (1928) The Michigan Kid (1928) The Mysterious Lady (1928) The Kiss (1929) Sound: State Street Sadie (1928) Caught in the Fog (1928) The Terror (1928) Red Wine (1928) The Redeeming Sin (1929) Kid Gloves (1929) The Idle Rich (1929) The Thirteenth Chair (1929) The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) The Sacred Flame (1929) Dynamite (1929) The Ship from Shanghai (1930) Second Wife (1930) Redemption (1930) The Divorcee (1930) One Romantic Night (1930) Numbered Men (1930) A Lady Surrenders (1930) Du Barry, Woman of Passion (1930)

Today (1930) Free Love (1930) East Lynne (1931) The Right of Way (1931) The Bad Sister (1931) Three Who Loved (1931) Son of India (1931) The Reckless Hour (1931) The Pagan Lady (1931) Hell Divers (1931) The Man Called Back (1932) Divorce in the Family (1932) Kongo (1932) Fast Life (1932) The Constant Woman (1933) Ann Vickers (1933) The Marines Are Coming (1934) Dangerous Corner (1934) One Hour Late (1935) Death Flies East (1935) One New York Night (1935) Ball at Savoy (1936) The Girl From Mandalay (1936) Wedding Present (1936) Navy Spy (1937) The Gold Racket (1937) Bank Alarm (1937) The Mad Empress (1939) One Million B.C. (1940) I Want a Divorce (1940) Forever Yours (1945) The Adventures of Rusty (1945) Stage Struck (1948) All That Heaven Allows (1955) Hidden Fear (1957) A Stranger in My Arms (1959) The Man Who Understood Women (1959)

Cultural references

• In the M*A*S*H episode “Abyssinia, Henry” (which featured McLean Stevenson’s final appearance on the show), Lt. Col. Blake finds out that his brown double-breasted suit was used by his mother-in-law to attend a costume party dressed as Conrad Nagel.

External links

Biography portal

• Conrad Nagel at the Internet Broadway Database
• Conrad Nagel at the Internet Movie Database
• Conrad Nagel at AllRovi
• Conrad Nagel at the TCM Movie Database
• Silent Ladies and Gents
• Conrad Nagel on Golden Silents
• Photographs of Conrad Nagel
• "Conrad Nagel". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6995488. Retrieved August 28, 2010. 

Persondata
Name	Nagel, Conrad
Alternative names
Short description	Actor
Date of birth	1897-03-16
Place of birth	Keokuk, Iowa
Date of death	1970-02-24
Place of death	New York City, New York