Ronald Colman

Infobox actor
name = Ronald Colman


caption = from the trailer for "Random Harvest" (1942)
birthname = Ronald Charles Colman
birthdate = birth date|1891|2|9|mf=y
location = Richmond, Surrey, England
deathdate = death date and age|1958|5|19|1891|2|9|mf=y
deathplace = Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
yearsactive =
spouse = Thelma Raye, Benita Hume
homepage =
academyawards = Best Actor
1947 "A Double Life"
awards = Hollywood Walk of Fame
1625 Vine Street

Ronald Colman (February 9 1891 – May 19 1958) was an English Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning actor.

Biography

Early years

Born in Richmond, Surrey, England ,like fellow actor Reginald Denny, the second son and fourth child [cite web |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37304|title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography] of Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser, he was educated at boarding school in Littlehampton, where he discovered he enjoyed acting. He intended to study engineering at Cambridge University, but his father's sudden death from pneumonia made this financially impossible.

He became a well-known amateur actor, and was a member of the West Middlesex Dramatic Society in 1908-9. He made his first appearance on the professional stage in 1914.

After working as a clerk at the British Steamship Company in the City of London [cite web |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37304|title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography] , he joined the London Scottish Regimentcite web |url=http://www.londonscottishregt.org/famous.cfm |title=Famous London Scottish publisher=londonscottishregt.org] in 1909 and was among the first of Territorial Army to fight in World War I. During the war, he served with fellow actors Claude Rains, Herbert Marshall and Basil Rathbone. On October 31 1914 at the Battle of Messines Colman was seriously wounded by shrapnel in his leg, which gave him a limp that he would attempt to hide throughout the rest of his acting career. He was invalided from the service in 1916.

Career

Theatre

He had sufficiently recovered to appear at the London Coliseum on June 19, 1916, as Rahmat Sheikh in "The Maharani of Arakan", with Lena Ashwell; at the Playhouse in September that year as Stephen Weatherbee in Charles Goddard & Paul Dickey's play "The Misleading Lady"; at the Court Theatre in March 1917 he played Webber in "Partnership" and at that theatre the following year appeared in Eugene Brieux's play, adapted from the French, "Damaged Goods"; at the Ambassador Theatre in February 1918 he played George Lubin in "The Little Brother", and during 1918 toured as David Goldsmith in "The Bubble".

In 1920 Colman went to America and toured with Robert Warwick in "The Dauntless Three", and subsequently toured with Fay Bainter in "East is West"; at the Booth Theatre, New York, in January 1921 he played the Temple Priest in William Archer's play "The Green Goddess", with George Arliss; at the 39th Street Theatre in August 1921 he appeared as Charles in "The Nightcap"; and in September 1922 he made a great success as Alain Sergyll at the Empire Theatre, New York in the hit play "La Tendresse".

Film

Ronald Colman had first appeared in films in England in 1917 and 1919 under Cecil Hepworth, and subsequently with the old Broadwest Film Company in "The Snow of the Desert". While appearing on stage in New York in "La Tendress", Director "Henry King" saw him, and engaged him as the leading man in the 1923 film, "The White Sister", opposite Lillian Gish, and was an immediate success. Thereafter Colman virtually abandoned the stage for film. He became a very popular silent film star in both romantic and adventure films, among them " The Dark Angel" (1925), "Stella Dallas" (1926), "Beau Geste "(1927), and "The Winning of Barbara Worth" (1926). His dark hair and eyes and his athletic and riding ability (he did most of his own stunts until late in his career) led reviewers to describe him as a "Valentino type". He was often cast in similar, exotic roles. [Quirk, Lawrence J., The Films of Ronald Colman, Secaucus, New Jersey, 1977.]

Although he was a huge success in silent films, he was unable to capitalize on one of his chief assets until the advent of the talking picture, "his beautifully modulated and cultured voice" [ Franklin, Joe, Classics of the Silent Screen, p. 148, 1959 The Citadel Press ] , also described as "a bewitching, finely-modulated, resonant voice". [ Zito, Stephen F., American Film Institute and the Library of Congress, Cinema Club 9 Program Notes, April, 1973 Post Newsweek Stations, Washington D.C. ] His first major talkie success was in 1930, when he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for two roles — "Condemned" and "Bulldog Drummond". He thereafter appeared in a number of notable films including "Raffles", "The Masquerader", "Clive of India", "A Tale of Two Cities" in 1935, "Under Two Flags", "The Prisoner of Zenda" and "Lost Horizon" in 1937, "If I Were King" in 1938, and "The Talk of the Town" in 1941. He won the Best Actor Oscar in 1948 for "A Double Life." At the time of his death, Colman was contracted by MGM for the lead role in "Children of the Damned". However, Colman died and the film became a British production starring George Sanders, who had married Colman's widow, "Benita Hume".

Colman had been raised a gentleman, a quality which shone through whatever role he played, and so he remained, until the day he died. His own personal code of conduct earned him both the love and respect of everyone who worked with him, without any enemies or detractors: a highly unusual feat for so prominent a figure in the motion picture industry. Yet Colman's own sense of decency and honor apparently prohibited others from liking him. [ Franklin, Joe, Classics of the Silent Screen, 1959, The Citadel Press, The United States of America ]

Radio and Television

Beginning in 1945, Colman made many guest appearances on "The Jack Benny Program" on radio, alongside his second wife, stage and screen actress Benita Hume. Their comedy work as Benny's next-door neighbors led to their own radio comedy "The Halls of Ivy" from 1950 to 1952, and then on television from 1954 to 1955.

Death

Ronald Colman died on 19 May, 1958, aged 67, from a lung infection in Santa Barbara, California and was interred in the Santa Barbara Cemetery. He had a daughter, Juliet, by his second wife.

Awards and honours

He was nominated for five Academy awards: "Bulldog Drummond" and "Condemned" (both in 1930); "Random Harvest" (1942); and "A Double Life" (1947), for which he won the Academy Award; he was nominated once more for his role of "Anthony John," an actor playing "Othello" whose wife leaves him. He also won the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in 1947 for his role in "A Double Life". In 2002, Colman's Oscar statuette was sold at auction by Christie's for US$174,500. [Dave Kehr, [http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/22/movies/22WELL.html?ex=1374206400&en=5c2aa5470b337673&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND "Objection Quashes Sale of Welles's 'Kane' Oscar"] "New York Times", July 22, 2003]

Colman has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. and one for television at 1625 Vine Street.

Filmography

*"The Live Wire" (1917)
*"A Daughter of Eve" (1919) uncredited
*"Sheba" (1919) uncredited
*"Snow in the Desert" (1919)
*"The Toilers" (1919)
*"Anna the Adventuress" (1920)
*"A Son of David" (1920)
*"The Black Spider" (1920)
*"Handcuffs or Kisses" (1921)
*"The White Sister" (1923)
*"The Eternal City" (1923) uncredited
*"Twenty Dollars a Week" (1923)
*"Tarnish" (1924)
*"Her Night of Romance" (1924)
*"Romola" (1924)
*"A Thief in Paradise" (1925)
*"His Supreme Moment" (1925)
*"The Sporting Venus" (1925)
*"Her Sister From Paris" (1925)
*"The Dark Angel" (1925)
*"Stella Dallas" (1925)
*"Lady Windermere's Fan" (1925)
*"Kiki" (1926)
*"Beau Geste" (1926)
*"The Winning of Barbara Worth" (1926)
*"The Night of Love" (1927)
*"The Magic Flame" (1927)
*"Two Lovers" (1928)
*"The Rescue" (1929)
*"Bulldog Drummond" (1929)
*"Condemned" (1929)
*"Raffles" (1930)
*"The Devil to Pay" (1930)
*"The Unholy Garden" (1931)
*"Arrowsmith" (1931)
*"Cynara" (1932)
*"The Masquerader" (1933)
*"Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back" (1934)
*"Clive of India" (1935)
*"The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo" (1935)
*"A Tale of Two Cities" (1935)
*"Under Two Flags" (1936)
*"Lost Horizon" (1937)
*"The Prisoner of Zenda" (1937)
*"If I Were King" (1938)
*"The Light That Failed" (1939)
*"Lucky Partners" (1940)
*"My Life With Caroline" (1941)
*"The Talk of the Town" (1942)
*"Random Harvest" (1942)
*"Kismet" (1944)
*"The Late George Apley" (1947)
*"A Double Life" (1947)
*"Champagne for Caesar" (1950)
*"Around the World in Eighty Days" (1956)
*"The Story of Mankind" (1957)

References

* Parker, John, editor, "Who's Who in the Theatre", 10th edition revised, London, 1947, p.437.

External links

*findagrave|214
*ibdb name|35937
*imdb name|0172903
*tcmdb name|37314
* [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=579 Photographs of Ronald Colman]

Persondata
NAME= Colman, Ronald
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Colman, Ronald Charles
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor
DATE OF BIRTH= 1891-2-9
PLACE OF BIRTH= Richmond, Surrey, England
DATE OF DEATH= 1958-5-19
PLACE OF DEATH= Santa Barbara, California, U.S.