Wikipedia

Louis Calhern

Carl Henry Vogt (February 19, 1895 – May 12, 1956), known by his stage name Louis Calhern, was an American actor.[1] Described as a “star leading man of the theater and a star character actor of the screen,”[2] he was appeared in over 100 roles on the Broadway stage and in films and television, between 1923 and 1956. He was nominated for the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for portraying U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in the 1950 film The Magnificent Yankee.

Louis Calhern
Calhern in 1946
Born
Carl Henry Vogt

(1895-02-19)February 19, 1895
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedMay 12, 1956(1956-05-12) (aged 61)
Nara, Nara, Japan
Resting placeHollywood Forever Cemetery
OccupationActor
Years active1921–1956
Spouses
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(m. 1926; div. 1927)​
Julia Hoyt
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(m. 1927; div. 1932)​
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(m. 1933; div. 1942)​
Marianne Stewart
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(m. 1946; div. 1955)​

Often cast in films as distinguished and sophisticated characters,[2] Calhern's other notable film roles included the scheming Ambassador Trentino in the classic Marx Brothers comedy Duck Soup (1933), the antagonist to Robert Donat's Edmond Dantès in The Count of Monte Cristo (1934), the head of the US Secret Service in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946), the pivotal villain Alonzo Emmerich in John Huston’s film noir The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Buffalo Bill in the musical Annie Get Your Gun (1950), and the title character in Joseph L. Mankiewicz all-star 1953 film adaptation of Julius Caesar. He won a Special Jury Prize at the 15th Venice International Film Festival for his performance in Executive Suite (1954).

Early life

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Calhern was born Carl Henry Vogt in Brooklyn, New York, in 1895, the son of German immigrants Eugene Adolf Vogt and Hubertina Friese Vogt. He had one known sibling, a sister.[3] His father was a tobacco dealer.[4] His family left New York while he was in elementary school and moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was raised. While playing high school football, a stage manager from a touring theatrical stock company noticed the tall, handsome youth and hired him as a bit player. Another source states "Grace George hired his entire high school football team as supers for a Shakespearean play."[4]

Career

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Calhern and Claire Windsor in The Blot (1921) directed by Lois Weber
 
As Buffalo Bill in the trailer for Annie Get Your Gun (1950)

Just before World War I, Calhern returned to New York to pursue an acting career. He began as a prop boy and bit player with various touring and burlesque companies. He became a matinee idol after being in a play titled Cobra.[citation needed] Calhern's burgeoning career was interrupted by World War I; he served in France in the 143rd Field Artillery of the U.S. Army.[5]

Due to the anti-German sentiment during World War I, he changed his German given name, Carl. His stage name is an amalgam of his hometown of St. Louis and his first and middle names, Carl and Henry (Calhern).[citation needed]

Calhern began working in silent films for director Lois Weber in the early 1920s, the most notable being The Blot (1921). A newspaper article commented: "The new arrival in stardom is Louis Calhern, who, until Miss Weber engaged him to enact the leading male role in What's Worth While?, had been playing leads in the Morosco Stock company of Los Angeles."[6]

In 1923, Calhern left the movies, deciding to devote his career entirely to the stage. He returned to films early in the sound era where he was primarily cast as a character actor, while he continued to play leading roles on the stage. In 1945, Calhern won the Donaldson Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in The Magnificent Yankee.

Among Calhern's notable screen portrayals were as the partner in crime to Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis in 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932), as Ambassador Trentino in the classic Marx Brothers comedy Duck Soup (1933), as Major Dort in The Life of Emile Zola (1937), and as the spy boss of Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946).

In the late 1940s, Calhern joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a contract player, receiving wide acclaim for three diverse roles that he appeared in for the studio in 1950: a singing role as Buffalo Bill in the film version of the musical Annie Get Your Gun; as a double-crossing lawyer and sugar daddy to a young Marilyn Monroe in John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle; and his Oscar-nominated performance as Oliver Wendell Holmes in The Magnificent Yankee (re-creating his role from the Broadway stage). He was subsequently cast in the title role of Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1953 all-star film version of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, earning more praise.

Calhern played the role of the devious George Caswell, the manipulative board member of Tredway Corporation, in the 1954 production of Executive Suite, followed by the role of a jaded, acerbic high school teacher in Blackboard Jungle (1955). His performance as cheerfully lecherous Uncle Willie in High Society (1956), a musical remake of The Philadelphia Story, was his final film appearance.

Personal life

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Calhern battled alcoholism for much of his adult life; as a result, he lost several important screen and stage roles.[3] According to former wife Natalie Schafer, Calhern's inability to overcome his addiction ended their marriage. While he was willing to consult doctors, she said Calhern refused to attend Alcoholics Anonymous because he was an atheist and considered AA to be a religious organization. Calhern ultimately overcame his alcohol addiction by the late 1940s.[7]

Death

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Calhern died May 12, 1956, at age 61 of a sudden heart attack in Nara, Japan, while there to film The Teahouse of the August Moon. His body was cremated and his remains interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.[8]

Selected filmography

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Stage credits

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Calhern's Broadway credits include:[9][10]

  • Roger Bloomer (1923)
  • The Song and Dance Man (1923–1924)
  • Cobra (1924)
  • In a Garden (1925–1926)
  • Hedda Gabler (1926)
  • The Woman Disputed (1926–1927)
  • Up the Line (1926)
  • The Dark (1927)
  • Savages Under the Skin (1927)
  • A Distant Drum (1928)
  • Gypsy (1929)
  • The Love Duel (1929)
  • The Rhapsody (1930)
  • The Tyrant (1930)
  • Give Me Yesterday (1931)
  • Brief Moment (1931–1932)
  • The Inside Story (1932)
  • Birthday (1934–1935)
  • Hell Freezes Over (1935–1936)
  • Robin Landing (1937)
  • Summer Night (1939)
  • The Great Big Doorstep (1942)
  • Jacobowsky and the Colonel (1944–1945)
  • The Magnificent Yankee (1946)
  • The Survivors (1948)
  • The Play's the Thing (1948)
  • King Lear (1950–1951)
  • The Wooden Dish (1955)

Awards and nominations

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Ceremony Category Work Outcome
23rd Academy Awards Best Actor The Magnificent Yankee Nominated
8th Golden Globe Awards Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama Nominated
15th Venice International Film Festival Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Acting Executive Suite Won

References

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  1. ^ Obituary Variety, May 16, 1956.
  2. ^ a b Dennis, Ken (November 5, 2011). "Louis Calhern: Distinguished Gentleman". Films of the Golden Age. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Dennis, Ken (Summer 2011). "Louis Calhern: Distinguished Gentleman". Films of the Golden Age (65): 58–68.
  4. ^ a b "Greetings". Mexico Evening Ledger. Mexico, Missouri. February 18, 1952. p. 6. Retrieved February 13, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.  
  5. ^ "Actor Favors Showing German War Pictures". The Gazette Times. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. June 12, 1921. p. 44. Retrieved February 13, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.  
  6. ^ "Star Studies". The Oregon Daily Journal. Oregon, Portland. The Oregon Daily Journal. January 16, 1921. p. 44. Retrieved February 13, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.  
  7. ^ Natalie Schafer Rare 1989 TV Interview, Gilligan's Island, Astrology. YouTube. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021.
  8. ^ Katz, Ephraim (1979). The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume. Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-50601-2. p. 195
  9. ^ "Louis Calhern". Playbill Vault. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  10. ^ Louis Calhern at the Internet Broadway Database  
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