Richard Hart (actor)
Encyclopedia
Richard Comstock Hart was an American
actor
. Hart appeared in film
and on TV, but his chief love was the stage.
Born in Providence
, Rhode Island
, Hart was the son and grandson of Henry Clay Hart and Richard Borden Comstock, leading Rhode Island lawyers. He went to Moses Brown School
and Brown University
, where he was an all-American soccer player. He married his teenage sweetheart in 1938, and had one son Christopher. Hart then worked as a journalist and at the Gorham Silver Company before becoming seriously interested in acting through a summer theater in Tiverton, Rhode Island. That soon led to studying acting in New York City
, some off-Broadway roles and divorce from his wife, who chose to stay in Providence with their son.
Hart's big break came when, as resident juvenile in a summer theater at the Brattle Playhouse in Cambridge, Massachusetts
, he played John the witch boy, the lead role in a new play trying out there, Dark of the Moon
. The Shuberts took it to Broadway (1945), keeping little of the original company except Hart, who won a Theatre World Award for his debut. A Broadway run of 318 performances then led to a national tour and a contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
For MGM, Hart appeared as a leading man in Green Dolphin Street
(1947), where he was loved by two sisters, played by Lana Turner
and Donna Reed
(and supported by the great MGM stock company). In Desire Me (1947), as the villain who takes Greer Garson
away from Robert Mitchum
, and in the more forgettable Reign of Terror
(1949). In B.F.'s Daughter
(1948), Hart played a supporting role as the jilted first love of the title character, played by Barbara Stanwyck
.
He married an actress he had met in Dark of the Moon, had two daughters, then voluntarily left MGM to go back to the stage. Back on Broadway he appeared in a flop, Leaf and Bough then took over for Sam Wanamaker
in Goodbye, My Fancy and had a hit as the original Uncle Desmonde in The Happy Time opposite Claude Dauphin
and the young Eva Gabor
.
He also did a lot of live television
on Silver Theater, Ford Theatre Hour, Masterpiece Playhouse, and Studio One, playing such roles as Eilert Lovborg (Hedda Gabler
) and Marc Antony (Julius Caesar
). He had played four episodes as Ellery Queen
in the DuMont Television Network
series The Adventures of Ellery Queen
-- the first to do so on TV—when he died suddenly at age 35 of a heart attack.
Hart's surviving acknowledged children are:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. Hart appeared in film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and on TV, but his chief love was the stage.
Born in Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, Hart was the son and grandson of Henry Clay Hart and Richard Borden Comstock, leading Rhode Island lawyers. He went to Moses Brown School
Moses Brown School
Moses Brown School is a Quaker school located in Providence, Rhode Island, founded by Moses Brown, a Quaker abolitionist, in 1784. It is one of the oldest preparatory schools in the country.-Founder:...
and Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, where he was an all-American soccer player. He married his teenage sweetheart in 1938, and had one son Christopher. Hart then worked as a journalist and at the Gorham Silver Company before becoming seriously interested in acting through a summer theater in Tiverton, Rhode Island. That soon led to studying acting in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, some off-Broadway roles and divorce from his wife, who chose to stay in Providence with their son.
Hart's big break came when, as resident juvenile in a summer theater at the Brattle Playhouse in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, he played John the witch boy, the lead role in a new play trying out there, Dark of the Moon
Dark of the Moon (play)
Dark of the Moon is a dramatic stage play by Howard Richardson and William Berney which had a ten-month run on Broadway in 1945, followed by numerous college and high-school productions....
. The Shuberts took it to Broadway (1945), keeping little of the original company except Hart, who won a Theatre World Award for his debut. A Broadway run of 318 performances then led to a national tour and a contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
For MGM, Hart appeared as a leading man in Green Dolphin Street
Green Dolphin Street
Green Dolphin Street is a 1947 historic drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.-Plot summary:In the 1840s, two sisters fall in love with the same man...
(1947), where he was loved by two sisters, played by Lana Turner
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
and Donna Reed
Donna Reed
Donna Reed was an American film and television actress.With appearances in over 40 films, Reed received the 1953 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as the tramp Lorene in the war drama From Here to Eternity. She is also noted for her role in the perennial Christmas...
(and supported by the great MGM stock company). In Desire Me (1947), as the villain who takes Greer Garson
Greer Garson
Greer Garson, CBE was a British-born actress who was very popular during World War II, being listed by the Motion Picture Herald as one of America's top ten box office draws in 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, and 1946. As one of MGM's major stars of the 1940s, Garson received seven Academy Award...
away from Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
, and in the more forgettable Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror (film)
Reign of Terror is a 1949 drama film set in the French Revolution. Plotters seek to bring down Maximilien Robespierre and end his bloodthirsty Reign of Terror...
(1949). In B.F.'s Daughter
B.F.'s Daughter
B.F.'s Daughter is a 1948 drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin. It is adapted from John P. Marquand's controversial 1946 novel of the same name, but the movie script soft-pedals the controversial elements and is a fairly conventional love...
(1948), Hart played a supporting role as the jilted first love of the title character, played by 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...
.
He married an actress he had met in Dark of the Moon, had two daughters, then voluntarily left MGM to go back to the stage. Back on Broadway he appeared in a flop, Leaf and Bough then took over for Sam Wanamaker
Sam Wanamaker
Samuel Wanamaker was an American film director and actor and is credited as the person most responsible for the modern recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London...
in Goodbye, My Fancy and had a hit as the original Uncle Desmonde in The Happy Time opposite Claude Dauphin
Claude Dauphin (actor)
Claude Dauphin was a French actor. He appeared in over 130 films between 1930 and 1978.He was born in Corbeil-Essonnes, Essonne. His father was Maurice Étienne Legrand, a poet who wrote as Franc-Nohain, and who was the librettist for Maurice Ravel's opera L'heure espagnole.Dauphin married...
and the young Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor was a Hungarian-born socialite and actress. She was widely known for her role on Green Acres as Lisa Douglas, the wife of Eddie Albert's character, Oliver Wendell Douglas, Duchess in the 1970 Disney film The Aristocats, and Miss Bianca in Disney's The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under...
.
He also did a lot of live television
Live television
Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957...
on Silver Theater, Ford Theatre Hour, Masterpiece Playhouse, and Studio One, playing such roles as Eilert Lovborg (Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
) and Marc Antony (Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
). He had played four episodes as Ellery Queen
Ellery Queen
Ellery Queen is both a fictional character and a pseudonym used by two American cousins from Brooklyn, New York: Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay and Manford Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee , to write, edit, and anthologize detective fiction.The fictional Ellery Queen created by...
in the DuMont Television Network
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
series The Adventures of Ellery Queen
The Adventures of Ellery Queen
The Adventures of Ellery Queen is the title of a radio series and four separate television series made from the 1950s through the 1970s. They were based on the fictional character and pseudonymous writer Ellery Queen.-Radio:...
-- the first to do so on TV—when he died suddenly at age 35 of a heart attack.
Hart's surviving acknowledged children are:
- Christopher Comstock Hart Rawson; as Christopher RawsonChristopher RawsonChristopher Rawson is an American writer and theater critic.Rawson was born in Providence, Rhode Island. His biological father was noted stage actor Richard Hart. His parents divorced shortly after he was born, and he was adopted by his stepfather, Jonathan Rawson.- Biography :Rawson's main...
, he is theater critic for the Pittsburgh Post-GazettePittsburgh Post-GazetteThe Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...
and on the English faculty at the University of Pittsburgh. - Hillary Hart, professor of writing in the Engineering School at the University of Texas.
- Sheila Hart Brown, who raises horses in Ohio.