George Arliss

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George Arliss, photo by George Grantham Bain

George Arliss (born April 10, 1868 in London , England ; † February 5, 1946 , ibid; actually George Augustus Andrews ) was a British theater and film actor and screenwriter. After a very successful stage career, he began to appear in films in the early 1920s, mostly in film adaptations of his theater roles. He won the Oscar for Best Actor for Disraeli at the Academy Awards in November 1930 .

life and career

George Arliss was born the son of a publisher and attended the renowned Harrow School . After initially working briefly at his father's publishing house, he decided to pursue an acting career in the late 1880s. Already at the beginning of the 20th century Arliss was a well-known stage star on both sides of the Atlantic, who played alongside Mrs. Patrick Campbell , among others . Leading roles in successful plays such as The Devil from 1908, Disraeli , which was to become the greatest success of his stage career in 1911, and The Green Goddess from 1921 brought him international fame. Since the beginning of the 1920s, Arliss had worked in a number of film adaptations of his stage successes, including the version of The Green Goddess in 1923 . 1928, at the age of 61 years, decided Arliss, a very financially lucrative offer of $ 100,000 for three sound films from Warner Brothers to accept. At the same time, he was granted the right to add "Mister" to his first name in promotions for his films, an honor the studio allowed only a few stars, including John Barrymore and Ruth Chatterton , who received the addition of "Miss".

Arliss won the Best Actor Oscar for Disraeli at the 1930 Academy Awards (November) , making him the earliest winner of the Oscar statute of the year of birth. He received a second nomination for his appearance in The Green Goddess , another remake that even reinstated the original 1923 leading actress Alice Joyce . In the next few years the actor was seen almost exclusively in historical roles, mostly in dramas. Occasionally Arliss also starred in comedies, such as The Millionaire . During the time at First National, most of the films were made by the director John Adolfi, which usually led to very static productions that were more reminiscent of filmed theater performances. In 1933 Arliss left the company together with Darryl F. Zanuck and switched to the newly founded 20th Century Pictures , which only two years later merged with the old Fox studios to form 20th Century Fox . There he played some of his best roles: banker Rothschild, Richelieu and the Duke of Wellington. In 1936 he went back to England at the request of his wife, actress Florence Montgomery.

Arliss wrote two autobiographies: Up the Years from Bloomsbury and My Ten Years in the Studios . In the latter book he told an anecdote about Bette Davis , who played a minor supporting role in the sound film remake of The Man Who Played God in 1932 . Arliss reported that he expected Davis to be acceptable in what was an inherently boring role. In fact, the young woman impressed him more than any other actress before her. So excited was Arliss that he insisted on expanding Davis' role. Davis would later also be very friendly about Arliss. In her own biography, The Lonely Life , she stated that she had acted in films that she would have liked better, but no other film had done as much for her professionally as the collaboration with George Arliss in The Man, Who Played God .

Filmography

George Arliss as Benjamin Disraeli on a theater magazine (1911)
  • 1921: The Devil
  • 1921: Disraeli
  • 1922: The Ruling Passion
  • 1922: The Man Who Played God
  • 1923: The Green Goddess
  • 1924: Twenty Dollars a Week
  • 1929: Disraeli
  • 1930: The Green Goddess
  • 1930: Old English
  • 1931: The Millionaire
  • 1931: Alexander Hamilton
  • 1932: The Man Who Played God
  • 1932 saving ruin ( A Successful Calamity )
  • 1933: Holiday from the throne ( The King's Vacation )
  • 1933: The Working Man
  • 1933: Voltaire
  • 1934: The Rothschilds ( The House of Rothschild )
  • 1934: The Last Gentleman
  • 1934: The Iron Duke
  • 1935: The Guv'nor
  • 1935: Cardinal Richelieu
  • 1935: The Tunnel
  • 1936: East Meets West
  • 1936: His Lordship
  • 1937: Doctor Syn

Awards

Oscar / Best Actor

Academy Awards 1930 (November)

According to the Academy's statutes, actors could be nominated for one or more films during the first three awards. In the case of George Arliss, the Oscar was then only awarded for portrayal in a film.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert M. Fells: George Arliss. The Man Who Played God (= Filmmakers. Vol. 113). Scarecrow Press, Lanham MD et al. 2004, ISBN 08108-5160-1 , p. 35.
personal data
SURNAME Arliss, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Andrews, George Augustus (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actor
DATE OF BIRTH April 10, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH February 5, 1946
Place of death London