Sydney Greenstreet
Encyclopedia
Sydney Hughes Greenstreet (27 December 1879 – 18 January 1954) was an English actor. He is best known for his Warner Bros.
films with Humphrey Bogart
and Peter Lorre
, which include The Maltese Falcon
(1941) and Casablanca
(1942).
, Kent
, England, the son of a leather merchant, and had seven siblings. He left home at age 18 to make his fortune as a Ceylon tea planter, but drought forced him out of business and back to England. He managed a brewery and, to escape boredom, took acting lessons. His stage debut was as a murderer called Craigen in a 1902 production of a Sherlock Holmes
entry by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
at the Marina Theatre in Ramsgate
, Kent. He toured England with Ben Greet
's Shakespearean company, and in 1905, he made his New York
debut. Thereafter he appeared in such plays as a revival of As You Like It
in 1916 with revered actress Margaret Anglin
. Greenstreet appeared in numerous plays in England and America, working through most of the 1930s with Alfred Lunt
and Lynn Fontanne
at the Theatre Guild
. Throughout his stage career, his parts ranged from musical comedy to Shakespeare, and years of such versatile acting on two continents led to many offers to appear in films. He refused until he was 62.
In 1941, Greenstreet began working for Warner Bros.
His debut film role was as Kasper Gutman ("The Fat Man") in The Maltese Falcon
, which co-starred Peter Lorre
as the twitchy Joel Cairo, a pairing that would prove profitable and long-lasting for Warner Bros. The two men appeared in nine films together, including Casablanca
as crooked club owner Signor Ferrari (for which he received a salary of $3,750 per week for seven weeks), as well as Background to Danger
(1943, with George Raft
), Passage to Marseille
(1944, reteaming him with Casablanca stars Humphrey Bogart
and Claude Rains
), The Mask of Dimitrios
(1944, receiving top billing), The Conspirators
(1944, with Hedy Lamarr
and Paul Henreid), Hollywood Canteen
(1944), Three Strangers
(1946, receiving top billing), and The Verdict
(1946, with top billing). The actor played roles in both dramatic movies, such as William Makepeace Thackeray in Devotion and witty performances on screwball - comedies, for instance Alexander Yardley in Christmas in Connecticut
.
After a mere eight years, in 1949, Greenstreet's film career ended with Malaya, in which he was billed third, after Spencer Tracy
and James Stewart
. In those eight years, he worked with stars ranging from Clark Gable
to Ava Gardner
to Joan Crawford
. Author Tennessee Williams
wrote his one-act play The Last of My Solid Gold Watches with Greenstreet in mind, and dedicated it to him.
In 1950 and 1951, Greenstreet played Nero Wolfe
on the NBC radio program The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe, based loosely on the rotund detective genius created by Rex Stout
.
Greenstreet suffered from diabetes and Bright's disease
, a kidney disorder. Five years after leaving films, Greenstreet died in 1954 due to complications from diabetes. He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery
, in Glendale, California
in the Utility Columbarium area of the Great Mausoleum, inaccessible to the public. He was survived by his only child, John Ogden Greenstreet, born out of Sydney's marriage to Dorothy Marie Ogden. John Ogden Greenstreet died 4 March 2004 at age 74.
Sydney is the great-uncle of actor Mark Greenstreet
.
As a tribute to Greenstreet, the crime boss Hector Lemans in the computer game Grim Fandango
was based on him. Jim Ward voiced the character, and even copied Greenstreet's unmistakable evil laugh.
An episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation
called "The Big Goodbye" has holographic villain called Cyrus Redblock, played by Lawrence Tierney
, an apparent play on Greenstreet's character Kasper Gutman (The Fat Man) in The Maltese Falcon.
Greenstreet was partially the inspiration for the Jabba the Hutt
character in Return of the Jedi
(1983). The Marvel Comics crime boss The Kingpin
was based on Greenstreet's appearance.
Physicist Robert Serber
stated in his memoirs that his nickname for the Nagasaki
atomic bomb, "Fat Man
", was inspired by Greenstreet's "Kasper Gutman" character in The Maltese Falcon.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
films with Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
and Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
, which include The Maltese Falcon
The Maltese Falcon (1941 film)
The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros. film based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and a remake of the 1931 film of the same name...
(1941) and Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
(1942).
Biography
Greenstreet was born in SandwichSandwich, Kent
Sandwich is a historic town and civil parish on the River Stour in the Non-metropolitan district of Dover, within the ceremonial county of Kent, south-east England. It has a population of 6,800....
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England, the son of a leather merchant, and had seven siblings. He left home at age 18 to make his fortune as a Ceylon tea planter, but drought forced him out of business and back to England. He managed a brewery and, to escape boredom, took acting lessons. His stage debut was as a murderer called Craigen in a 1902 production of a Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
entry by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
at the Marina Theatre in Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...
, Kent. He toured England with Ben Greet
Ben Greet
Sir Philip Barling "Ben" Greet was a Shakespearean actor, director, and impresario.-Early life:The younger son of Captain William Greet RN and his wife, Sarah Barling, Greet was born on board HMS Crocodile, a Royal Navy recruiting ship tied up at the Tower of London. He was educated at the Royal...
's Shakespearean company, and in 1905, he made his New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
debut. Thereafter he appeared in such plays as a revival of As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
in 1916 with revered actress Margaret Anglin
Margaret Anglin
Mary Margaret Anglin was a Canadian-born Broadway actress, director and producer whom Encyclopædia Britannica calls "one of the most brilliant actresses of her day."...
. Greenstreet appeared in numerous plays in England and America, working through most of the 1930s with Alfred Lunt
Alfred Lunt
Alfred Lunt was an American stage director and actor, often identified for a long-time professional partnership with his wife, actress Lynn Fontanne...
and Lynn Fontanne
Lynn Fontanne
Lynn Fontanne was a British actress and major stage star in the United States for over 40 years. She teamed with her husband Alfred Lunt.She lived in the United States for more than 60 years but never relinquished her British citizenship. Lunt and Fontanne shared a special Tony Award in 1970...
at the Theatre Guild
Theatre Guild
The Theatre Guild is a theatrical society founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley and Theresa Helburn. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of the Washington Square Players.Its original purpose was to...
. Throughout his stage career, his parts ranged from musical comedy to Shakespeare, and years of such versatile acting on two continents led to many offers to appear in films. He refused until he was 62.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
His debut film role was as Kasper Gutman ("The Fat Man") in The Maltese Falcon
The Maltese Falcon (1941 film)
The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros. film based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and a remake of the 1931 film of the same name...
, which co-starred Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
as the twitchy Joel Cairo, a pairing that would prove profitable and long-lasting for Warner Bros. The two men appeared in nine films together, including Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
as crooked club owner Signor Ferrari (for which he received a salary of $3,750 per week for seven weeks), as well as Background to Danger
Background to Danger
Background to Danger is a 1943 film starring George Raft and featuring Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre. Based on the novel of the same title by Eric Ambler and set in Turkey , the screenplay was credited to W.R. Burnett, although William Faulkner also contributed, and the movie...
(1943, with George Raft
George Raft
George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
), Passage to Marseille
Passage to Marseille
Passage to Marseille is a 1944 war film made by Warner Brothers, directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Hal B. Wallis with Jack L. Warner as executive producer. The screenplay was by Casey Robinson and Jack Moffitt from the novel Sans Patrie by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall...
(1944, reteaming him with Casablanca stars Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
and Claude Rains
Claude Rains
Claude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 66 years. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man , a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Mr...
), The Mask of Dimitrios
The Mask of Dimitrios
The Mask of Dimitrios is an American film noir directed by Jean Negulesco and written by Frank Gruber, based on the 1939 novel of the same name written by Eric Ambler . Ambler is known as a major influence on writers and an inventor of the modern thriller genre...
(1944, receiving top billing), The Conspirators
The Conspirators
The Conspirators is a 1944 film directed by Jean Negulesco. It stars Hedy Lamarr and Paul Henreid.-Cast:*Hedy Lamarr as Irene Von Mohr*Paul Henreid as Vincent Van Der Lyn*Sydney Greenstreet as Ricardo Quintanilla*Peter Lorre as Jan Bernazsky...
(1944, with Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress celebrated for her great beauty who was a major contract star of MGM's "Golden Age".Lamarr also co-invented – with composer George Antheil – an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping, necessary to wireless...
and Paul Henreid), Hollywood Canteen
Hollywood Canteen (1944 film)
Hollywood Canteen is a 1944 Warner Bros. film starring Joan Leslie, Robert Hutton, and Dane Clark. The film was written and directed by Delmer Daves, and is notable for featuring many stars in cameo roles...
(1944), Three Strangers
Three Strangers
Three Strangers is a Warner Bros. crime drama, starring Peter Lorre, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Sydney Greenstreet, featuring Joan Lorring and Alan Napier. It was directed by Jean Negulesco from a script by John Huston and Howard Koch.-Plot:...
(1946, receiving top billing), and The Verdict
The Verdict (1946 film)
The Verdict is a 1946 film-noir drama directed by Don Siegel and written by Israel Zangwill and Peter Milne, based on Zangwill's novel The Big Bow Mystery. The film stars Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre in one of their nine film pairings, as well as Joan Lorring and George Coulouris. Ian Wolfe...
(1946, with top billing). The actor played roles in both dramatic movies, such as William Makepeace Thackeray in Devotion and witty performances on screwball - comedies, for instance Alexander Yardley in Christmas in Connecticut
Christmas in Connecticut
Christmas in Connecticut is a 1945 American Christmas film and romantic comedy directed by Peter Godfrey, and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, and Sydney Greenstreet.-Plot:...
.
After a mere eight years, in 1949, Greenstreet's film career ended with Malaya, in which he was billed third, after Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
and James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
. In those eight years, he worked with stars ranging from Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
to Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
to Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
. Author Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
wrote his one-act play The Last of My Solid Gold Watches with Greenstreet in mind, and dedicated it to him.
In 1950 and 1951, Greenstreet played Nero Wolfe
Nero Wolfe
Nero Wolfe is a fictional detective, created in 1934 by the American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe's confidential assistant Archie Goodwin narrates the cases of the detective genius. Stout wrote 33 novels and 39 short stories from 1934 to 1974, with most of them set in New York City. Wolfe's...
on the NBC radio program The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe, based loosely on the rotund detective genius created by Rex Stout
Rex Stout
Rex Todhunter Stout was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. Stout is best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective Nero Wolfe, described by reviewer Will Cuppy as "that Falstaff of detectives." Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin recorded the cases of the...
.
Greenstreet suffered from diabetes and Bright's disease
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....
, a kidney disorder. Five years after leaving films, Greenstreet died in 1954 due to complications from diabetes. He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a privately owned cemetery in Glendale, California. It is the original location of Forest Lawn, a chain of cemeteries in Southern California. The land was formerly part of Providencia Ranch.-History:...
, in Glendale, California
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
in the Utility Columbarium area of the Great Mausoleum, inaccessible to the public. He was survived by his only child, John Ogden Greenstreet, born out of Sydney's marriage to Dorothy Marie Ogden. John Ogden Greenstreet died 4 March 2004 at age 74.
Sydney is the great-uncle of actor Mark Greenstreet
Mark Greenstreet
Mark Greenstreet is a British actor who first came to prominence in the 1985 BBC television serial Brat Farrar. First and foremost a stage actor, Greenstreet played many of the great leading roles from the works of Shakespeare, Chekhov and Ibsen to Orton, Wilde and Coward in the UK and around the...
.
As a tribute to Greenstreet, the crime boss Hector Lemans in the computer game Grim Fandango
Grim Fandango
Grim Fandango is a personal computer game in the graphic adventure genre released by LucasArts in 1998 and primarily written by Tim Schafer. It is the first adventure game by LucasArts to use 3D computer graphics overlaid on pre-rendered, static backgrounds...
was based on him. Jim Ward voiced the character, and even copied Greenstreet's unmistakable evil laugh.
An episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
called "The Big Goodbye" has holographic villain called Cyrus Redblock, played by Lawrence Tierney
Lawrence Tierney
Lawrence Tierney was an American actor, known for his many screen portrayals of mobsters and hardened criminals, which mirrored his own frequent brushes with the law....
, an apparent play on Greenstreet's character Kasper Gutman (The Fat Man) in The Maltese Falcon.
Greenstreet was partially the inspiration for the Jabba the Hutt
Jabba the Hutt
Jabba the Hutt is a fictional character in George Lucas's space opera film saga Star Wars. Designed as a large, slug-like alien, his appearance has been described by film critic Roger Ebert as "Dickensian," a cross between a toad and the Cheshire Cat....
character in Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth in terms of the series' internal chronology...
(1983). The Marvel Comics crime boss The Kingpin
Kingpin (comics)
The Kingpin is a fictional character, a supervillain in the . Kingpin is one of the most feared and powerful crime lords in the Marvel Universe. The character is a major adversary of Daredevil, the Punisher, and Spider-Man...
was based on Greenstreet's appearance.
Physicist Robert Serber
Robert Serber
Robert Serber was an American physicist who participated in the Manhattan Project. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; he was the eldest son of David Serber and Rose Frankel. He married Charlotte Leof in 1933. Rose Serber died in 1922; David married Charlotte's cousin Frances Leof in...
stated in his memoirs that his nickname for the Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
atomic bomb, "Fat Man
Fat Man
"Fat Man" is the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9, 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons to be used in warfare to date , and its detonation caused the third man-made nuclear explosion. The name also refers more...
", was inspired by Greenstreet's "Kasper Gutman" character in The Maltese Falcon.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Director Film director A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:... |
Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | The Maltese Falcon The Maltese Falcon (1941 film) The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros. film based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and a remake of the 1931 film of the same name... |
Kasper Gutman | John Huston John Huston John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge... |
Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... |
| They Died with Their Boots On They Died with Their Boots On They Died with Their Boots On is a 1941 western film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Despite being rife with historical inaccuracies, the film was one of the top-grossing films of the year, being the last of eight Flynn–de Havilland collaborations.Like... |
Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott Winfield Scott Winfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852.... |
Raoul Walsh Raoul Walsh Raoul Walsh was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh... |
||
| 1942 | Across the Pacific Across the Pacific Across the Pacific is a 1942 spy film set on the eve of the entry of the United States into World War II. The film was directed first by John Huston, then by Vincent Sherman after Huston joined the United States Army Signal Corps... |
Dr. Lorenz | John Huston | |
| Casablanca Casablanca (film) Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in... |
Signor Ferrari | Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész... |
||
| 1943 | Background to Danger Background to Danger Background to Danger is a 1943 film starring George Raft and featuring Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre. Based on the novel of the same title by Eric Ambler and set in Turkey , the screenplay was credited to W.R. Burnett, although William Faulkner also contributed, and the movie... |
Colonel Robinson | Raoul Walsh | |
| 1944 | Passage to Marseille Passage to Marseille Passage to Marseille is a 1944 war film made by Warner Brothers, directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Hal B. Wallis with Jack L. Warner as executive producer. The screenplay was by Casey Robinson and Jack Moffitt from the novel Sans Patrie by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall... |
Major Duval | Michael Curtiz | |
| 1944 | Between Two Worlds | Reverend Tim Thompson | Edward A. Blatt | |
| The Mask of Dimitrios The Mask of Dimitrios The Mask of Dimitrios is an American film noir directed by Jean Negulesco and written by Frank Gruber, based on the 1939 novel of the same name written by Eric Ambler . Ambler is known as a major influence on writers and an inventor of the modern thriller genre... |
Mr. Peters | Jean Negulesco Jean Negulesco Jean Negulesco was a Romanian-born American film director and screenwriter.... |
||
| The Conspirators | Ricardo Quintanilla | Jean Negulesco | ||
| Hollywood Canteen | Himself | Delmer Daves Delmer Daves Delmer Daves was an American screenwriter, director, and producer.-Life and career:Born in San Francisco, Delmer Daves first pursued a career as a lawyer... |
||
| 1945 | Pillow to Post | Colonel Michael Otley | Vincent Sherman Vincent Sherman Vincent Sherman was an American director, and actor, who worked in Hollywood. His movies include Mr. Skeffington , Nora Prentiss , and The Young Philadelphians .... |
|
| Conflict | Dr. Mark Hamilton | Curtis Bernhardt Curtis Bernhardt Curtis Bernhardt was a German film director born in Worms, Germany, under the name Kurt Bernhardt. Some of his American films were called "woman's films" including the Joan Crawford film Possessed . Bernhardt trained as an actor in Germany, and performed on the stage, before starting as a film... |
||
| Christmas in Connecticut Christmas in Connecticut Christmas in Connecticut is a 1945 American Christmas film and romantic comedy directed by Peter Godfrey, and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, and Sydney Greenstreet.-Plot:... |
Alexander Yardley | Peter Godfrey | ||
| 1946 | Three Strangers Three Strangers Three Strangers is a Warner Bros. crime drama, starring Peter Lorre, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Sydney Greenstreet, featuring Joan Lorring and Alan Napier. It was directed by Jean Negulesco from a script by John Huston and Howard Koch.-Plot:... |
Jerome K. Arbutny | Jean Negalesco | |
| Devotion | William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.-Biography:... |
Curtis Bernhardt | ||
| The Verdict The Verdict (1946 film) The Verdict is a 1946 film-noir drama directed by Don Siegel and written by Israel Zangwill and Peter Milne, based on Zangwill's novel The Big Bow Mystery. The film stars Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre in one of their nine film pairings, as well as Joan Lorring and George Coulouris. Ian Wolfe... |
Supt. George Edward Grodman | Don Siegel Don Siegel Donald Siegel was an influential American film director and producer. His name variously appeared in the credits of his films as both Don Siegel and Donald Siegel.-Early life:... |
||
| 1947 | That Way with Women | James P. Alden | Frederick De Cordova | |
| The Hucksters The Hucksters The Hucksters is a 1947 MGM film directed by Jack Conway and starring Clark Gable that marked the debut of Deborah Kerr in an American film. It also featured Sydney Greenstreet, Adolphe Menjou, Keenan Wynn, Edward Arnold and Ava Gardner... |
Evan Llewellyn Evans | Jack Conway | ||
| 1948 | The Velvet Touch The Velvet Touch The Velvet Touch is an American drama film released by RKO Radio Pictures.-Production background:The dialogue in Leo Rosten's screenplay, adapted from a story by William Mercer and Annabel Ross, anticipates the witty repartee in All About Eve and Auntie Mame .The cast, directed by Jack Gage,... |
Capt. Danbury | Jack Gage | |
| Ruthless Ruthless (film) Ruthless is a drama film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring Zachary Scott and Louis Hayward.-Plot:Horace Vendig shows himself to the world as a rich philanthropist. In fact, the history of his rise from his unhappy broken home shows this to be far from the case... |
Buck Mansfield | Edgar G. Ulmer | ||
| The Woman in White The Woman in White (1948 film) The Woman in White is a 1948 film adaptation of Wilkie Collins' novel of the same name. It stars Alexis Smith, Eleanor Parker, Sydney Greenstreet, and Gig Young... |
Count Alessandro Fosco | Peter Godfrey | ||
| 1949 | Flamingo Road | Sheriff Titus Semple | Michael Curtiz | |
| Malaya Malaya (film) Malaya is a 1949 war film set in colonial Malaya during World War II, starring Spencer Tracy and James Stewart. The movie was directed by Richard Thorpe.-Plot:... |
The Dutchman | Richard Thorpe Richard Thorpe Richard Thorpe was an American film director.Born Rollo Smolt Thorpe in Hutchinson, Kansas, he began his entertainment career performing in vaudeville and onstage. In 1921 he began in motion pictures as an actor and directed his first silent film in 1923. He went on to direct more than one hundred... |