Raymond Massey

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Portrait of Raymond Massey. Photo of Carl Van Vechten

Raymond Hart Massey (* thirtieth August 1896 in Toronto , Ontario ; † 29. July 1983 in Los Angeles , California ) was a Canadian - American actor , among other things, by his depictions of Abraham Lincoln was known. He played major roles in classic films such as Arsenic and Lace Cap and Beyond Eden .

Life

Massey was the son of an agricultural machinery factory owner. His older brother Vincent Massey later became Governor General of Canada . Massey took part in the First World War for the Canadian Army and was wounded several times in France . He gained his first stage experience as a soldier, but was initially supposed to work for his father's company after the war. He went to England in the early 1920s and appeared on a theater stage for the first time in London in 1922 . In 1940, Massey actually embodied the role of Abraham Lincoln in the biopic Abe Lincoln in Illinois, for which he won an Oscar nomination for Best Actor . He slipped into the role of Lincoln for the last time in 1962 in the western epic That Was the Wild West .

From the 1930s onwards, Massey was seen as a film actor in both England and the United States. Mostly he played larger supporting roles of a rather unsympathetic or harsh nature, often authority figures or the film villains. His best-known film roles include the face-operated felon Jonathan Brewster in Frank Capra's classic comedy Arsen und Spitzenhäubchen (1944), the prosecutor in Fritz Lang's film noir Dangerous Encounter (1944) and James Dean's strict father in Elia Kazan's literary adaptation Jenseits von Eden (1955).

During the Second World War he rejoined the Canadian army and was dismissed from the army in 1943 after being wounded again. After the war, he became a US citizen. In the 1950s and 1960s he mainly starred in television films. Between 1961 and 1966 he played the role of Dr. Gillespie in 191 episodes of the popular doctor series Dr. Kildare . Massey made his last appearance in 1973 in the TV movie My Darling Daughters' Anniversary , after which he retired into private life.

Raymond Massey was married three times. He had two children with his second wife, actress Adrianne Allen: Anna Massey and Daniel Massey both became successful actors. The tumultuous divorce between Massey and Allen in 1939 turned into a war of the roses that kept the gossip papers busy for months. Massey was married to his third wife, Dorothy Whitney, from 1939 until her death in 1982. Raymond Massey died of pneumonia in 1983 at the age of 86.

Awards

For his appearance as Abraham Lincoln in Abe Lincoln, Illinois , he was nominated for an Oscar in 1941 for Best Actor . Two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame were given to him for his film and television work .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Raymond Massey. In: Turner Classic Movies . Accessed October 30, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Massey, Raymond
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Massey, Raymond Hart (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH August 30, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Toronto , Canada
DATE OF DEATH July 29, 1983
Place of death Los Angeles , California