Robert Greig (actor)

Infobox Actor
name = Robert Greig


imagesize = 185px
caption = publicity photo from "Sullivan's Travels" (fy|1941)
birthname =
birthdate = 27 December 1879
birthplace = Melbourne, Australia
deathdate = 27 June fy|1958 (aged 78)
deathplace = Los Angeles, California
othername =
occupation =
yearsactive = 1928–fy|1949
spouse =
domesticpartner =
website =

Robert Greig (27 December 1879–27 June fy|1958) was an Australian-American actor who appeared in over 100 films between fy|1930 and fy|1949.

Career

Greig was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1878, and made his Broadway debut in 1928ibdb name|43078|Robert Greig] in an operetta, "Countess Maritza". [ibdb title|10624|Countess Maritza] His next production was the Marx Brothers' comedy, "Animal Crackers", [ibdb title|10753|Animal Crackers] in which he played the butler, "Hives", and he repeated his characterization when the play was filmed in fy|1931. "Animal Crackers" [imdb title|0020640|Animal Crackers] became his film debut, and set the pattern for much of his career, as he was often cast as a butler or other servant.imdb name|0340063|Robert Greig] Erickson, Hal [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:28696~T1 Biography (Allmovie)] ]

Although he did several other productions on Broadway, the last in 1938, after his film debut Greig worked steadily in films. He worked again with the Marx Brothers in fy|1932's "Horse Feathers", in which he played a biology professor, [imdb title|0023027|Horse Feathers] , and was featured in the fy|1932 short "Jitters the Butler". Notable films in which he broke out of butler-mode were "Cockeyed Cavaliers" (fy|1934) starring Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, [imdb title|0024992|Cockeyed Cavaliers] in which Greig played the "Duke of Weskit", and "Algiers" (fy|1938), [imdb title|0029855|Algiers] in which he was "Giraux", the wealthy and gross protector of Hedy Lamarr.

In the 1940s, Greig was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in six films written and directed by Sturges. [Greig appeared in "The Lady Eve", "Sullivan's Travels", "The Palm Beach Story", "The Great Moment", "The Sin of Harold Diddlebock" and "Unfaithfully Yours". He also acted in "I Married a Witch", which Sturges produced, and had appeared earlier in "Easy Living, written by Sturges.] His performances in "Sullivan's Travels", "The Lady Eve" and "The Palm Beach Story", in which he played a member of the "Ale & Quail Club", were among his best.

Greig's last film was "Bride of Vengeance", a fy|1949 Paulette Goddard vehicle, in which he played the uncredited part of a "Councillor." [imdb title|0041209|Bridge of Vengeance] He died in Los Angeles, California on 27 June fy|1958 at the age of 78, and is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. [findagrave|8042186]

elected filmography

*"Animal Crackers" (fy|1930)
*"Tonight or Never" (fy|1931)
*"Beauty and the Boss" (fy|1932)
*"Horse Feathers" (1932)
*"Jitters the Butler" (1932)
*"Trouble in Paradise" (1932)
*"Cockeyed Cavaliers" (fy|1934)
*"Clive of India" (fy|1935)
*"Small Town Girl" (fy|1936)
*"The Adventures of Marco Polo" (1936)
*"Algiers" (fy|1938)
*"Tower of London" (fy|1939)
*"The Lady Eve" (fy|1941)
*"Sullivan's Travels" (1941)
*"The Palm Beach Story" (fy|1942)
*"The Picture of Dorian Gray" (fy|1945)
*"Bride of Vengeance" (fy|1949)

Notes

External links

*ibdb name|43078|Robert Greig
*imdb name|0340063|Robert Greig
*amg name|2:28696|Robert Greig
*tcmdb name|76481|Robert Greig
*findagrave|8042186