Grant Withers

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Grant Withers (born January 17, 1905 in Pueblo , Colorado as Granville G. Withers , † March 27, 1959 in North Hollywood , Los Angeles , California ) was an American actor who appeared in around 180 films and various between 1925 and 1959 TV series appeared.

Life

After attending a military academy, Grant Withers initially worked as a salesman for an oil company and as a newspaper reporter. He made his film debut in 1925 in the short film So Long Bill , after which he appeared in comedies with Buster Keaton and WC Fields, among others . Towards the end of the silent film era , the 1.91 meter tall actor was given bigger roles and was considered a promising talent. He was with Warner Brothers under a studio contract . In 1930 he was partner of Joan Blondell in the crime drama Sinners' Holiday , one of his most famous films from this period, in which James Cagney made his screen debut. Later that year, Withers unexpectedly married his film partner Loretta Young in Yuma , whom he met while filming The Second Floor Mystery . Young was only 17 years old at the time. The marriage made big headlines and was annulled at the instigation of Young's mother the following year, just as their second film together came out, ironically titled Too Young to Marry .

In the course of the 1930s, the interest of the major film studios in Withers waned and he played mainly in B-movies . He was the leading actor in the film series The Fighting Marines (1935) and Radio Patrol (1937). From the 1940s, the now quite corpulent Withers had to be content with supporting roles, where he found his niche as a villain actor in westerns. For ten years he had a studio contract with Republic Pictures , where mainly westerns were shot. In a total of nine films, he appeared on the side of his friend John Wayne , who was best man at Withers' fourth wedding; Withers also shot more often with director John Ford . He had notable villain roles in western flicks like Right of the Prairie , Up to the Last Man and At the Last Second . In the last phase of his career, Withers was also seen more frequently as a guest actor in various US television series.

By his suicide in 1959 at the age of 54, Withers had made around 200 film and television appearances. Health problems were considered to be the reason for the suicide; in his suicide note, he apologized to anyone he might have hurt during his time in Hollywood. Grant Withers was married five times, including the annulled marriage to Young, all of which were divorced. He was buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park celebrity cemetery in Glendale, California .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Grant Withers at Fandango
  2. ↑ Grant Withers , Files of Jerry Blake
  3. ↑ Grant Withers , Files of Jerry Blake
  4. ^ Grant Withers in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved February 21, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Withers, Grant
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Withers, Granville G.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 17, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Pueblo , Colorado , United States
DATE OF DEATH March 27, 1959
Place of death North Hollywood , Los Angeles , California , United States