Joel McCrea

Infobox Actor
bgcolour = silver
name = Joel McCrea


imagesize = 230px
caption = in the trailer for "Woman Wanted" (fy|1935)
birthname = Joel Albert McCrea
birthdate = November 5, fy|1905
location = South Pasadena, California
deathdate = October 20, fy|1990, aged 84
deathplace = Los Angeles, California
yearsactive = fy|1927–fy|1976
spouse = Frances Dee "(1933-1990)"

Joel Albert McCrea, (November 5, fy|1905–October 20, fy|1990) was an American actor and film star whose career spanned 50 years and appearances in over 90 films.

Early life

McCrea was born in South Pasadena, California, the son of Thomas McCrea, who was an executive with the L.A. Gas & Electric Company,tcmdb name|126737] As a boy, he had a paper route, and delivered the "Los Angeles Times" to Cecil B. DeMille and other people in the film industry. He also had the opportunity to watch D. W. Griffith filming "Intolerance", and was an extra in a serial starring Ruth Roland.Erickson, Hal [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:47163~T0 Biography (Allmovie)] ]

McCrea graduated from Hollywood High School and then Pomona College, where he had acted on stage and took courses in drama and public speaking, and appeared regularly at the Pasadena Playhouse, Even as a high school student, he was working as a stunt double and held horses for cowboy stars William S. Hart and Tom Mix. He worked as an extra, stunt man and bit player from 1927 to 1928, when he signed a contract with MGM, where he was cast in a major role in "The Jazz Age" (fy|1929), and got his first leading role that same year, in "The Silver Hoard". He moved to RKO in 1930, where he established himself as a handsome leading man who was considered versatile enough to star in both dramas and comedies.

Career

In the 1930s, McCrea starred in "Bird of Paradise (1932 Film)" (fy|1932), directed by King Vidor, causing controversy for his scenes with Dolores del Rio. In fy|1934, he made his first appearances with two leading ladies he would be paired with often: with Miriam Hopkins he made "The Richest Girl in the World", the first of their five films together, [McCrea and Hopkins appeared together in "The Richest Girl in the World" (fy|1934), "Barbary Coast" (fy|1935), "Splendor" (1935), "These Three" (fy|1936) and "Woman Chases Man" (fy|1937).] and with Barbara Stanwyck he appeared in "Gambling Lady", the first of their six films. [McCrea and Stanwyck appeared together in "Gambling Lady" (fy|1934), "Banjo on My Knee" (fy|1936), "Internes Can't Take Money" (fy|1937), "Union Pacific" (fy|1939), "The Great Man's Lady" (fy|1942) and "Trooper Hook" (fy|1957).] Later in the decade, he was the first actor to play "Dr. Kildare", in the film "Internes Can't Take Money" (fy|1937), and he starred in two large-scale westerns, "Wells Fargo" (1937) with his wife Francis Dee, and Cecil B. DeMille's "Union Pacific" (fy|1939).

McCrea reached the peak of his early career in the early 1940s, in such films as Alfred Hitchcock's "Foreign Correspondent" (fy|1940), "The More the Merrier" (fy|1943) directed by George Stevens, and two by Preston Sturges, "Sullivan's Travels" (fy|1941), and "The Palm Beach Story" (fy|1942). [McCrea also appeared in Sturges' "The Great Moment", which was filmed in 1942 but not released until fy|1944 because of studio interference; it was not a success, and marked a decline in Sturges' career.]

McCrea also starred in two William A. Wellman westerns, "The Great Man's Lady" (fy|1942), again with Stanwyck, and "Buffalo Bill", with character actor Edgar Buchanan fy|1944). After the success of "The Virginian" in fy|1946, McCrea made westerns exclusively for the rest of his career, with the exception of the British-made "Rough Shoot" (fy|1953).

Performing in Westerns was a return to what he had done earlier in his career, and McCrea enjoyed the genre. In a 1978 interview, he said:

I liked doing comedies, but as I got older I was better suited to do Westerns. Because I think it becomes unattractive for an older fellow trying to look young, falling in love with attractive girls in those kinds of situations...Anyway, I always felt so much more comfortable in the Western. The minute I got a horse and a hat and a pair of boots on, I felt easier. I didn't feel like I was an actor anymore. I felt like I was the guy out there doing it.

In the 1950s, McCrea appeared on radio in the Western procedural police drama, "Tales of the Texas Rangers". [ [http://otrcat.com/texas-rangers-p-1916.html "Old Time Radio: Tales of the Texas Rangers"] ]

Later career

In ytv|1959, Joel McCrea and his son Jody McCrea starred in the NBC-TV series "Wichita Town", which lasted only one season. A few years later, McCrea1 united with fellow veteran of westerns Randolph Scott in "Ride the High Country" (fy|1962), directed by Sam Peckinpah, which was to be his last feature film for four years, when he made "The Young Rounders" (fy|1966). Four more years were to pass before his next release, but fy|1970 saw the release of two films: "Cry Blood, Apache", again with his son Jody, and "Sioux Nation" McCrea made his last film appearance in fy|1976, in "Mustang Country".

In 1968, McCrea received a career achievment award from the L.A. Film Critics Association [Allmovie [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:47163~T3 Awards] ] , and the following year he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Joel McCrea has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6901 Hollywood Blvd. and another star at 6241 Hollywood Blvd. for his contribution to radio.

Personal life

McCrea married actress Frances Dee in 1933, after they met while filming "The Silver Chord". [McCrea and Dee appeared together in six films: "The Silver Chord" (fy|1933), "One Man's Journey" (1933), "Come and Get It" (fy|1936), "Wells Fargo" (fy|1937), "Four Faces West" (fy|1948) and "Cattle Drive" (fy|1951).] The couple had three children, David, who became a rancher, Peter, who both became a real estate developer, and Jody, who became an actor. Joel and Frances remained married until his death.

According to David Raban's "Stars of the '30s", the McCreas were prodigious savers, accumulating a large estate, which included working-ranch properties. Joel McCrea's work ethic was in part attributed to his Scottish heritage and it also may have stemmed from his friendship in the 1930s with fellow personality and sometime actor, Will Rogers. McCrea recounted that "the Oklahoma Sage" gave him a profound piece of advice: "Save half of what you make, and live on just the other half." [Raban, David "Stars of the '30s"]

McCrea – who was an outdoorsman who had once listed his occupation as "rancher" and his hobby as "acting" – had begun buying property as early as 1933, when he purchased his first 1,000 acres in what was then an unincorporated area of eastern Ventura County, California, but later became Thousand Oaks, California. This was the beginning of what became a 3,000 acre spread on which McCrea and his wife Frances lived, raised their children, and rode their horses.

By the time the 1940s ended, McCrea was a multi-millionaire, as much from his real-estate dealings as from his movei stardom. In the late 1960s, he sold 1,200 acres of land to an oil company, on the condition that they would not drill within sight of his home.

The McCreas ultimately donated several hundred acres of their personal property to the newly formed Conejo Valley YMCA for the city of Thousand Oaks, California. Today, the land on which the Conejo Valley YMCA rests is called "Joel McCrea Park".

Joel McCrea made his final public appearance on October 3, 1990, at a fundraiser for Republican gubernatorial candidate Pete Wilson in Beverly Hills. He died less than three weeks later, on October 20, in Woodland Hills, California from pneumonia, at the age of 84.

elected filmography

*"The Enemy" (1927)
*"The Jazz Age" (1929)
*"Girls About Town" (1931)
*"Business and Pleasure" (1932)
*"The Most Dangerous Game" (1932)
*"Bird of Paradise (1932 Film) (1932)
*"Bed of Roses (1933)
*"Gambling Lady" (1934)
*"The Richest Girl in the World" (1934)
*"Private Worlds" (1935)
*"Barbary Coast" (1935)
*"These Three" (1936)
*"Two in a Crowd" (1936)
*"Come and Get It" (1936)
*"Internes Can't Take Money" (1937)
*"Dead End" (1937)
*"Wells Fargo" (1937)
*"Union Pacific" (1939)
*"He Married His Wife" (1940)
*"Primrose Path" (1940)
*"Foreign Correspondent" (1940)
*"Sullivan's Travels" (1941)
*"The Palm Beach Story" (1942)
*"The Great Man's Lady" (1942)
*"The More the Merrier" (1943)
*"Buffalo Bill" (1944)
*"The Virginian" (1946)
*"Ramrod" (1947)
*"Four Faces West" (1948)
*"South of St. Louis" (1949)
*"Colorado Territory" (1949)
*"The Outriders " (1950)
*"Stars in My Crown" (1950)
*"Saddle Tramp" (1950)
*"Frenchie" (1950)
*"Cattle Drive" (1951)
*"The San Francisco Story" (1952)
*"Rough Shoot" (1953)
*"Lone Hand" (1953)
*"Border River" (1954)
*"Black Horse Canyon" (1954)
*"Stranger on Horseback" (1955)
*"Wichita" (1955)
*"The First Texan" (1956), featuring son Jody McCrea
*"The Oklahoman" (1957)
*"Trooper Hook" (1957)
*"The Tall Stranger" (1957)
*"Cattle Empire" (1958)
*"Fort Massacre" (1958)
*"The Gunfight at Dodge City" (1959)
*"Ride the High Country" (1962)
*"The Young Rounders" (1966)
*"Sioux Nation" (1970)
*"Cry Blood, Apache" (1970), starring son Jody McCrea
*"Mustang Country" (1976)

References

Notes

Further reading

*Nott, Robert. "Last of the Cowboy Heroes: The Westerns of Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, and Audie Murphy". (2000).
*Raban, David. "Stars of the '30s".

External links

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* [http://www.conejovalleyymca.org/ Conejo Valley YMCA]

Persondata
NAME= McCrea, Joel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= McCrea, Joel Albert
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor
DATE OF BIRTH= November 5, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH= South Pasadena, California
DATE OF DEATH= October 20, 1990, aged 84
PLACE OF DEATH= Los Angeles, California