Robert Montgomery

Acting · 1.1 popularity

Age

122

Movies

Born: May 21, 1904 – September 27, 1981
From: Fishkill Landing [now Beacon], New York, USA

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Robert Montgomery (born Henry Montgomery Jr.; May 21, 1904 – September 27, 1981) was an American film and television actor, director, and producer. He was also the father of actress Elizabeth Montgomery. Montgomery settled in New York City to try his hand at writing and acting. He established a stage career, and became popular enough to turn down an offer to appear opposite Vilma Bánky in the film This Is Heaven (1929). Sharing a stage with George Cukor gave him an entry to Hollywood and a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he debuted in So This Is College (also 1929). Montgomery initially played exclusively in comedy roles, but portrayed a character in his first drama film in The Big House (1930). MGM was initially reluctant to assign him in such a role, until "his earnestness, and his convincing arguments, with demonstrations of how he would play the character" won him the assignment. From The Big House on, he was in constant demand. Appearing as Greta Garbo's romantic interest in Inspiration (1930) started him toward stardom with a rush. Norma Shearer chose him to star opposite her in The Divorcee (1930), Strangers May Kiss (1931), and Private Lives (1931), which led him to stardom. In another challenging role, Montgomery played a psychopath in the chiller Night Must Fall (1937), for which he received an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination. After World War II broke out in Europe in September, 1939, and while the United States was still officially neutral, Montgomery enlisted in London for American field service and drove ambulances in France until the Dunkirk evacuation. He then returned to Hollywood and addressed a massive rally on the MGM lot for the American Red Cross in July 1940. Montgomery returned to playing light comedy roles, such as Alfred Hitchcock's Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) with Carole Lombard. He continued his search for dramatic roles. For his role as Joe Pendleton, a boxer and pilot in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), Montgomery was nominated for an Oscar a second time. After the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, he joined the United States Navy, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander, and served on the USS Barton (DD-722) which was part of the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. In 1945, Montgomery returned to Hollywood, making his uncredited directing debut with They Were Expendable, where he directed some of the PT boat scenes when director John Ford was unable to work for health reasons. Montgomery's first credited film as director and his final film for MGM was the film noir Lady in the Lake (1947), in which he also starred, which received mixed reviews. Adapted from Raymond Chandler's detective novel and sanitized for the censorship of the day, the film is unusual because it was filmed entirely from Marlowe's vantage point. Montgomery only appeared on camera a few times, three times in a mirror reflection. Active in Republican politics and concerned about communist influence in the entertainment industry, Montgomery was a friendly witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947. Montgomery has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for movies at 6440 Hollywood Boulevard, and another for television at 1631 Vine Street.

Works

82 films

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

19416.0

June Bride

19487.1

That's Entertainment!

19747.4

They Were Expendable

19456.5

That's Entertainment, Part II

19767.0

Lady in the Lake

19466.1

The Gallant Hours

19606.7

Complicated Women

20036.9

Rage in Heaven

19416.4

Here Comes Mr. Jordan

19417.0

Breakdowns of 1949

19496.0

Ride the Pink Horse

19477.2

Forsaking All Others

19346.0

Night Flight

19335.8

Free and Easy

19306.2

Blondie of the Follies

19326.3

Letty Lynton

19327.0

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney

19375.9

Hollywood: The Dream Factory

19727.3

Three Loves Has Nancy

19384.2

The Romance of Celluloid

19377.0

So This Is College

19294.7

The Big House

19306.6

Ingrid Bergman Remembered

19966.7

Lusitanian Illusion

20106.4

Biography of a Bachelor Girl

19356.8

Hell Below

19336.0

From the Ends of the Earth

19395.0

Untamed

19296.2

Our Blushing Brides

19305.6

Riptide

19346.7

42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage

20066.0

When Ladies Meet

19335.7

The Earl of Chicago

19406.3

The Divorcee

19306.2

Fugitive Lovers

19346.2

Hollywood Goes to Town

19387.0

Night Must Fall

19377.0

Live, Love and Learn

19375.6

Fast and Loose

19395.9

A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound

19406.8

Going Hollywood

19335.5

Checking Out: Grand Hotel

20047.0

The Saxon Charm

19484.6

War Nurse

19305.2

Your Witness

19506.2

Private Lives

19316.5

Hide-Out

19347.3

Jornal Português (1938-1951)

2015

Their Own Desire

19295.1

Hollywood Handicap

19384.8

Faithless

19327.0

Love in the Rough

19305.7

The Single Standard

19295.9

Vanessa: Her Love Story

19356.2

Strangers May Kiss

19315.2

Piccadilly Jim

19366.8

Ever Since Eve

19375.8

Inspiration

19315.9

Busman's Honeymoon

19406.0

Made on Broadway

19337.0

Once More, My Darling

19496.5

The Sins of the Children

19304.7

Trouble for Two

19366.5

The Secret Land

19485.9

Another Language

19336.8

No More Ladies

19355.0

The First Hundred Years

19387.3

But the Flesh Is Weak

19326.3

Yellow Jack

19385.9

The Easiest Way

19315.4

Lovers Courageous

19326.0

Unfinished Business

19416.5

The Voice of Hollywood

1930

Starlit Days at the Lido

19355.7

The Mystery of Mr. X

19346.8

The Man in Possession

19316.7

Estrellados

19307.0

Shipmates

19315.8

Three Live Ghosts

19296.0

Petticoat Fever

19366.1

Screen Snapshots Series 14, No. 8

1935