Edmund Gwenn: Difference between revisions
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==Career== |
==Career== |
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Gwenn appeared in more than eighty films during his career, including the |
Gwenn appeared in more than eighty films during his career, including the [[Greer Garson]]/[[Laurence Olivier|Olivier]] version of ''[[Pride and Prejudice (1940 film)|Pride and Prejudice]]'' (1940), ''[[Cheers for Miss Bishop]]'', ''[[Of Human Bondage (1946 film)|Of Human Bondage]]'', and ''[[The Keys of the Kingdom (film)|The Keys of the Kingdom]]''. [[George Cukor]]'s ''[[Sylvia Scarlett]]'' (1935) marked his first appearance in a Hollywood movie, as [[Katharine Hepburn]]'s father; - his final British picture, as a capitalist trying to take over a family brewery in ''[[Cheer Boys Cheer]]'' (1939) is credited with being the first authentic [[Ealing comedy]]. <ref> The Observer Review, 20 December 2009 </ref> He settled in [[Hollywood]] in 1940 and became part of its British colony. He is perhaps best remembered for his role as [[Santa Claus|Kris Kringle]] in ''[[Miracle on 34th Street]]'', for which he won an [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]]. Upon receiving his Oscar, he said "Now I know there is a Santa Claus!" According to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) he is the only person to win an acting Academy Award for playing the role of Santa Claus. |
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He received a second nomination for his role in ''[[Mister 880]]'' (1950). Near the end of his career he played one of the main roles in [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[The Trouble with Harry]]'' (1955). He has a small but hugely memorable role as a Cockney assassin in another Hitchcock film, ''[[Foreign Correspondent (film)|Foreign Correspondent]]'' (1940) |
He received a second nomination for his role in ''[[Mister 880]]'' (1950). Near the end of his career he played one of the main roles in [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[The Trouble with Harry]]'' (1955). He has a small but hugely memorable role as a Cockney assassin in another Hitchcock film, ''[[Foreign Correspondent (film)|Foreign Correspondent]]'' (1940) |
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Revision as of 01:51, 16 February 2011
Edmund Gwenn | |
|---|---|
 from the trailer for the film Pride and Prejudice (1940). | |
| Born | Edmund Kellaway Wandsworth, London, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1910–1956 |
| Spouse |
Minnie Terry (m. 1901–1901) |
Edmund Gwenn (26 September 1877[1] – 6 September 1959) was an English[2] theatre and film actor.[3]
Background
Born Edmund Kellaway in Wandsworth, London (some references suggest he was born in the Vale of Glamorgan, but this is apparently incorrect), and educated at St. Olave's School and later at King's College London, Gwenn began his acting career in the theatre in 1895. Playwright George Bernard Shaw was impressed with his acting, casting him in the first production of Man and Superman, and subsequently in five more of his plays. Gwenn's career was interrupted by his military service during World War I; however, after the war, he began appearing in films in London. (Cecil Kellaway was his cousin and Arthur Chesney was his brother.)
Career
Gwenn appeared in more than eighty films during his career, including the Greer Garson/Olivier version of Pride and Prejudice (1940), Cheers for Miss Bishop, Of Human Bondage, and The Keys of the Kingdom. George Cukor's Sylvia Scarlett (1935) marked his first appearance in a Hollywood movie, as Katharine Hepburn's father; - his final British picture, as a capitalist trying to take over a family brewery in Cheer Boys Cheer (1939) is credited with being the first authentic Ealing comedy. [4] He settled in Hollywood in 1940 and became part of its British colony. He is perhaps best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Upon receiving his Oscar, he said "Now I know there is a Santa Claus!" According to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) he is the only person to win an acting Academy Award for playing the role of Santa Claus. He received a second nomination for his role in Mister 880 (1950). Near the end of his career he played one of the main roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble with Harry (1955). He has a small but hugely memorable role as a Cockney assassin in another Hitchcock film, Foreign Correspondent (1940)
In theater, he starred in a 1942 production on Broadway of Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters, which also starred Judith Anderson and Ruth Gordon. It was produced by and starred Katherine Cornell. Time magazine proclaimed it "a dream production by anybody's reckoning — the most glittering cast the theater has seen, commercially, in this generation."[1]
In 1954, Gwenn played Dr. Harold Medford in the classic science fiction film Them! with James Arness and James Whitmore.
Death
Edmund Gwenn died from pneumonia after suffering a stroke, in Woodland Hills, California, twenty days before his 82th birthday. According to several sources, his last words, when a friend at his bedside remarked that "It is hard to die," were: "But it is harder to do comedy." However, a very similar deathbed saying was earlier attributed to a similarly named 19th-century English actor, Edmund Kean, so the association of the words with Gwenn may be erroneous.[citation needed] Gwenn was cremated and his ashes are stored in the vault at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles, California. Edmund Gwenn has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1751 Vine Street for his contribution to motion pictures.
Selected filmography
References
External links
- Edmund Gwenn at IMDb
- Please use a more specific IBDB template. See the documentation for available templates.
- Edmund Gwenn in Screen Director's Playhouse: Miracle on 34th Street (1949) (Downloadable mp3 and streaming audio)
- Edmund Gwenn in Lux Radio Theater: Miracle on 34th Street (1948) (Downloadable mp3 and streaming audio)
- Edmund Gwenn at Find a Grave
- Regarding Edmund Gwenn (TCM Movie Morlocks)