John Boles (actor)
Encyclopedia
Early life
Boles was born in Greenville, TexasGreenville, Texas
Greenville is the county seat, and the largest city, of Hunt County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 25,557....
, into a middle-class family. He graduated with honors from the University of Texas
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
in 1917 and married Marielite Dobbs in that same year. His parents wanted him to be a doctor and Boles studied and finally got his B.A. degree, but the stage called. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he was a US spy in Germany, Bulgaria, and Turkey.
Career
He started out in Hollywood in the silent movieSilent Movie
Silent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
s, but became a huge star with the advent of talkies. After the war, Boles moved to New York to study music. He quickly became well known for his talents and was selected to replace the leading man in the 1923 Broadway musical Little Jesse James. He became an established star on Broadway and attracted the attention of Hollywood producers and actors.
He was hired by MGM to appear in a silent film in 1924. He starred in two more films for that studio before returning to New York and the stage. In 1927, he returned to Hollywood to star in The Love of Sunya
The Love of Sunya
The Love of Sunya is a silent film directed by Albert Parker, and based on the play The Eyes of Youth by Max Marcin and Charles Guernon. Produced by and starring Gloria Swanson, it also stars John Boles and Pauline Garon. It premiered at the grand opening of the Roxy Theatre in New York City on...
(1927) opposite Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...
, which was a huge success for him. Unfortunately, because the movies were still silent he was unable to show off his singing ability until late in the decade. In 1929, the Warner Brothers hired him to star in their lavish musical operetta The Desert Song
The Desert Song
The Desert Song is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French colonial rule. It was also inspired by stories of Lawrence of...
(1929). This film featured sequences in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
and was a box-office success. Soon after, Radio Pictures (later known as RKO
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
) selected him to play the leading man in their extravagant production (the last portion of the film was photographed in Technicolor) of Rio Rita
Rio Rita (1929 film)
Rio Rita is a 1929 RKO Pictures musical comedy starring Bebe Daniels and John Boles along with the comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey. The film is based on the 1927 stage musical produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, which originally united Wheeler and Woolsey as a team and made them famous...
, opposite Bebe Daniels
Bebe Daniels
Bebe Daniels was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer and producer. She began her career in Hollywood during the silent movie era as a child actress, became a star in musicals like 42nd Street, and later gained further fame on radio and television in Britain...
. Audiences were enthralled by his beautiful voice, and John Boles suddenly found himself in huge demand. RCA Victor
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
even hired him to make phonograph records of songs that he had sung in his films.
As soon as Rio Rita was completed, Boles went back to Warner Brothers as the leading man in an even more extravagant musical entitled Song of the West (1930) that was filmed entirely in Technicolor. Shortly after this film, Universal Pictures
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
offered John Boles a contract, which he accepted. He starred in a number of pictures for them, most notably the all-Technicolor musical revue entitled The King of Jazz (1930) and a historical operetta entitled Captain of the Guard
Captain of the Guard
The Captain of the Guard is the commanding position of a military security force. The position of Captain of the Guard is not or no longer associated with the rank of Captain. The Guard is commonly associated with bodyguard duty for royalty or head of state, but the Guard can refer to the military...
(1930). In 1931, he starred in One Heavenly Night (1931), which would prove to be his last major musical.
His best-known role today remains his portrayal of Victor Moritz in the original Universal version of Frankenstein
Frankenstein (1931 film)
Frankenstein is a 1931 Pre-Code Horror Monster film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff, and features...
(1931). He starred with Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne was an American film actress and singer of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Dunne was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performances in Cimarron , Theodora Goes Wild , The Awful Truth , Love Affair and I Remember Mama...
in a 1934 film adaptation of Edith Wharton's 1920 novel The Age of Innocence
The Age of Innocence
The Age of Innocence is a novel by Edith Wharton published in 1920, which won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize. The story is set in upper-class New York City in the 1870s. In 1920, The Age of Innocence was serialized in four parts in the Pictorial Review magazine, and later released by D...
directed for RKO Radio Pictures by Philip Moeller. He also took the role of Edward Morgan in the Fox film Curly Top
Curly Top
Curly Top is an American musical film directed by Irving Cummings. The screenplay by Patterson McNutt and Arthur J. Beckhard focuses on the adoption of a young orphan by a wealthy bachelor and his romantic attraction to her older sister .Together with The Littlest Rebel, another Temple vehicle,...
(1935) with Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
. In 1937, Boles starred alongside Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck was an American actress. She was a film and television star, known during her 60-year career as a consummate and versatile professional with a strong screen presence, and a favorite of directors including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra...
in the successful King Vidor
King Vidor
King Wallis Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades...
classic Stella Dallas
Stella Dallas
Stella Dallas is a 1923 novel by Olive Higgins Prouty, written in response to the death of her three-year-old daughter from encephalitis. It tells the story of a woman who sacrifices her own happiness for the sake of her daughter....
. 1943 saw his biggest role on the Broadway stage, co-starring with Mary Martin
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...
and Kenny Baker
Kenny Baker
Kenneth George "Kenny" Baker is a British actor and musician, best known as the man inside R2-D2 in the popular Star Wars film series.- Career :...
in One Touch of Venus
One Touch of Venus
One Touch of Venus is a musical with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the novella The Tinted Venus by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygmalion myth. The show satirizes contemporary American suburban values,...
.
Boles retired from the screen and stage in 1952.
Death
On February 27, 1969, Boles suffered a stroke and died in San Angelo, Texas. He left behind his wife and two daughters. He is interred at Westwood Memorial ParkWestwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
The Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery is a cemetery in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles, California. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood....
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Filmography
Features:- The Sixth Commandment (19241924 in film-Events:* Entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer Pictures to create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
) - So This Is Marriage?So This Is Marriage?So This Is Marriage? is a drama film directed by Hobart Henley. The film was originally released with sequences filmed in Technicolor.-Cast:* Conrad Nagel as Peter Marsh* Eleanor Boardman as Beth Marsh* Lew Cody as Daniel Rankin...
(1924) - Excuse MeExcuse MeExcuse Me is a 1925 film starring Norma Shearer, and Conrad Nagel. It was directed by Alfred J. Goulding. The film was written by best-selling novelist Rupert Hughes on an offday and is based upon his play...
(19251925 in film-Events:*November 5: The Big Parade holds its Grand Premier*December 30: premier of Ben-Hur the most expensive silent film ever made costing 4-6 million dollars -Top grossing films :...
) - The Love of SunyaThe Love of SunyaThe Love of Sunya is a silent film directed by Albert Parker, and based on the play The Eyes of Youth by Max Marcin and Charles Guernon. Produced by and starring Gloria Swanson, it also stars John Boles and Pauline Garon. It premiered at the grand opening of the Roxy Theatre in New York City on...
(19271927 in film-Events:*January 10 - Fritz Lang's science-fiction fantasy Metropolis premieres in Germany.*April 7 - Abel Gance's Napoleon often considered his best known and greatest masterpiece, premiers at the Paris Opéra and would demonstrate techniques and equipment that would not be used for years to...
) - The Shepherd of the HillsThe Shepherd of the HillsThe Shepherd of the Hills is a book written in 1907 by author Harold Bell Wright. It depicts a mostly fictional story of mountain folklore and has been translated into seven languages since its release. It is also depicted in a popular outdoor play numerous times each week from May to October, in...
(19281928 in film-Events:Although some movies released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent.* July 28 - Lights of New York is released by Warner Brothers. It is the first "100% Talkie" feature film, in that dialog is spoken throughout the film...
) - The Bride of the Colorado (1928)
- We Americans (1928)
- Fazil (1928)
- Virgin Lips (1928)
- The Water HoleThe Water HoleThe Water Hole is a Western film starring Jack Holt, Nancy Carroll, and John Boles, based on a novel by Zane Grey, and released by Paramount Pictures.The film had sequences filmed in Technicolor, and was filmed in Death Valley, California....
(1928) - Man-Made Women (1928)
- Romance of the Underworld (1928)
- The Last WarningThe Last WarningThe Last Warning is a mystery film directed by Paul Leni. It is a companion piece to Universal Pictures 1927 production of The Cat and the Canary...
(19291929 in film-Events:The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona is released. The film is the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors....
) - The Desert SongThe Desert Song (1929 film)The Desert Song is a musical operetta film photographed partly in two-color Technicolor. This was the first movie released by Warner Bros. to be in color. Although some of the songs from the show have been omitted, the film is otherwise virtually a duplicate of the stage production...
(1929) - Scandal (1929)
- Rio RitaRio Rita (1929 film)Rio Rita is a 1929 RKO Pictures musical comedy starring Bebe Daniels and John Boles along with the comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey. The film is based on the 1927 stage musical produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, which originally united Wheeler and Woolsey as a team and made them famous...
(1929) - Song of the WestSong of the West (film)Song of the West is a musical operetta film photographed entirely in Technicolor. It was based on the 1928 musical play Rainbow by Oscar Hammerstein II and Laurence Stallings and was the first all-color all-talking feature to be filmed entirely outdoors. The film starred John Boles, Joe E. Brown...
(19301930 in film-Events:* November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm, and a very early form of 70mm film and was the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era costing over $2 million. The film was praised for its aesthetic quality and realism...
) - Captain of the Guard (1930)
- King of JazzKing of JazzKing of Jazz is a 1930 motion picture starring Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. The film's title was taken from Whiteman's controversial, self-conferred appellation...
(1930) - One Heavenly Night (19311931 in film-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:*Best Picture: Cimarron - MGM*Best Actor: Lionel Barrymore - A Free Soul*Best Actor: Wallace Beery - The Champ*Best Actor: Fredric March - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde...
) - ResurrectionResurrection (1931 English-language film)Resurrection is a 1931 English-language adaptation of the Leo Tolstoy novel Resurrection produced by Universal Studios. It was an all-talking version starring John Boles and Lupe Vélez. It was directed by Edwin Carewe, who had also directed the previous 1927 silent adaptation. A Spanish language...
(1931) - Seed (1931)
- FrankensteinFrankenstein (1931 film)Frankenstein is a 1931 Pre-Code Horror Monster film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff, and features...
(1931) - Good Sport (1931)
- Careless Lady (19321932 in film-Events:*Cary Grant's film career begins*Katharine Hepburn's film career begins*Shirley Temple's film career begins*Disney released Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon in three-strip Technicolor film.*Santa, first sound film made in Mexico released....
) - Back StreetBack Street (1932 film)Back Street is a 1932 film made by Universal Pictures, directed by John M. Stahl, and produced by Carl Laemmle Jr.. The screenplay was written by Gladys Lehman and based on the novel by Fannie Hurst. The film stars Irene Dunne and John Boles.-Plot:...
(1932) - 6 Hours to Live (1932)
- Child of ManhattanChild of Manhattan (film)Child of Manhattan is a 1933 Pre-code Columbia Pictures melodrama film based on the play of the same name by Preston Sturges, which was presented on Broadway in 1932...
(19331933 in film-Events:* March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.* June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey.* British Film Institute founded....
) - My Lips Betray (1933)
- Only YesterdayOnly Yesterday (1933 film)Only Yesterday is a 1933 drama film about a young woman who becomes pregnant by her boyfriend before he rushes off to fight in World War I. It stars Margaret Sullavan and John Boles. The film was based on the novel Briefe einer unbekannten by Stefan Zweig, though he was not credited...
(1933) - Beloved (19341934 in film-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
) - I Believed in You (1934)
- Bottoms UpBottoms Up (1934 film)Bottoms Up is a 1934 musical comedy film made by Fox Film Corporation, and was directed by David Butler who co-wrote original story and screenplay with producer Buddy G. DeSylva and co-star Sid Silvers. The film stars Spencer Tracy, Pat Paterson, John Boles and Herbert Mundin...
(1934) - Stand Up and Cheer!Stand Up and Cheer!Stand Up and Cheer! is a 1934 American musical film directed by Hamilton MacFadden. The screenplay by Lew Brown and Ralph Spence was based upon a story idea by Will Rogers and Philip Klein. The film is about efforts undertaken during the Great Depression to boost the morale of the country...
(1934) - Wild Gold (1934)
- The Life of Vergie Winters (1934)
- The Age of InnocenceThe Age of Innocence (1934 film)The Age of Innocence is a American drama film directed by Philip Moeller and starring Irene Dunne, John Boles and Lionel Atwill. The film is an adaptation of the novel The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton which is set amongst aristocrat New Yorkers in the 1870s.-Cast:* Irene Dunne - Countess...
(1934) - The White ParadeThe White ParadeThe White Parade is a 1934 film that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was written by Rian James, Jesse Lasky Jr., Sonya Levien and Ernest Pascal, from the novel by Rian James. The film was directed by Irving Cummings....
(1934) - Music in the AirMusic in the AirMusic in the Air is a musical written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern . It introduced songs such as "The Song Is You", "In Egern on the Tegern See" and "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star"...
(1934) - Curly Top (19351935 in film-Events:*Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .*Seven year old Shirley Temple wins a special Academy Award.*The Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment started in order to educate the Bantu peoples.-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:...
) - Orchids to You (1935)
- Redheads on Parade (1935)
- The Littlest RebelThe Littlest RebelThe Littlest Rebel is a 1935 American dramatic film directed by David Butler. The screenplay by Edwin J. Burke was adapted from a play of the same name by Edward Peple and focuses on the tribulations of a plantation-owning family during the American Civil War...
(1935) - Rose of the RanchoRose of the RanchoRose of the Rancho is a 1914 Western film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film cost $16,988 to make, and grossed $87,028.-Plot:Esra Kincaid takes land by force and, having taken the Espinoza land, his sights are set on the Castro rancho...
(19361936 in filmThe year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
) - A Message to GarciaA Message to GarciaA Message to Garcia is a best-selling inspirational essay written in 1899 by Elbert Hubbard that has been made into two motion pictures.Felix Shay, Hubbard's personal assistant, wrote:...
(1936) - Craig's WifeCraig's Wife (film)Craig's Wife is a 1936 drama film starring Rosalind Russell as a domineering wife. It was based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play of the same name by George Kelly , and directed by Dorothy Arzner...
(1936) - As Good as Married (19371937 in filmThe year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
) - Stella DallasStella Dallas (1937 film)Stella Dallas is a 1937 film based on the Olive Higgins Prouty novel of the same name. It was directed by King Vidor, and stars Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles, and Anne Shirley. Stanwyck was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Shirley for Best Actress in a Supporting Role...
(1937) - Fight for Your Lady (1937)
- She Married an Artist (1937)
- Romance in the DarkRomance in the DarkRomance in the Dark is a 1938 film directed by H. C. Potter and starring Gladys Swarthout, John Boles, John Barrymore, and Claire Dodd....
(19381938 in filmThe year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
) - Sinners in ParadiseSinners in Paradise- Plot summary :A passenger aircraft crashes in mid-Pacific and some of the survivors reach an island inhabited only by an American, Jim Taylor, with his Chinese servant, Ping. He declines to help them, telling them to build their own shelter and gather their own food and, though he has a boat and...
(1938) - Road to HappinessRoad to Happiness- Cast :*John Boles as Jeff Carter*Mona Barrie as Millie Rankin*Billy Lee as Danny Carter*Roscoe Karns as Charley Grady*Lillian Elliott as Mrs. Price*Paul Porcasi as Pietro Pacelli*Selmer Jackson as Sam Rankin*Brandon Hurst as Swayne...
(19421942 in filmThe year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
) - Between Us GirlsBetween Us GirlsBetween Us Girls is a 1942 drama film directed by Henry Koster and starring Diana Barrymore, Kay Francis, Robert Cummings, John Boles, Andy Devine, and Scotty Beckett....
(1942) - Thousands CheerThousands CheerThousands Cheer is a 1943 American comedy musical film released by MGM. Produced at the height of the Second World War, the film was intended as a morale booster for American troops and their families.-Plot:The film is essentially a two-part program...
(19431943 in filmThe year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....
) - Babes in Bagdad (19521952 in filmThe year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
)
Short Subjects:
- Screen Snapshots Series 9, No. 12 (19301930 in film-Events:* November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm, and a very early form of 70mm film and was the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era costing over $2 million. The film was praised for its aesthetic quality and realism...
) - Voice of Hollywood (19311931 in film-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:*Best Picture: Cimarron - MGM*Best Actor: Lionel Barrymore - A Free Soul*Best Actor: Wallace Beery - The Champ*Best Actor: Fredric March - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde...
) - Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 6 (1931)
- Hollywood on Parade No. A-9 (19331933 in film-Events:* March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.* June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey.* British Film Institute founded....
) - Hollywood on Parade No. B-9 (19341934 in film-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
) - Screen Snapshots Series 14, No. 8 (19351935 in film-Events:*Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .*Seven year old Shirley Temple wins a special Academy Award.*The Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment started in order to educate the Bantu peoples.-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:...
) - Starlit Days at the Lido (1935)
- Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 1 (19381938 in filmThe year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
) - Hollywood Hobbies (19391939 in filmThe year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
)