1904-05-21 ( 120 years old ) in Fishkill Landing [now Beacon], New York, USA
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.
Movies
Lusitanian Illusion
2010-04-22
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
2006-03-21
Jornal Português (1938-1951)
2005-12-12
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
2004-02-03
Complicated Women
2003-05-06
Ingrid Bergman Remembered
1996-04-06
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976-05-16
That's Entertainment!
1974-06-21
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972-01-10
The Gallant Hours
1960-06-13
Your Witness
1950-03-06
Breakdowns of 1949
1949-12-31
Once More, My Darling
1949-09-10
June Bride
1948-10-29
The Secret Land
1948-10-22
The Saxon Charm
1948-09-28
Ride the Pink Horse
1947-10-08
Lady in the Lake
1946-12-19
They Were Expendable
1945-12-07
Unfinished Business
1941-08-27
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
1941-08-07
Rage in Heaven
1941-03-07
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
1941-01-31
Busman's Honeymoon
1940-07-22
The Earl of Chicago
1940-01-05
From the Ends of the Earth
1939-05-28
Fast and Loose
1939-02-17
Three Loves Has Nancy
1938-09-02
Hollywood Goes to Town
1938-07-07
Hollywood Handicap
1938-05-28
Yellow Jack
1938-05-19
The First Hundred Years
1938-03-12
Live, Love and Learn
1937-10-29
The Romance of Celluloid
1937-08-27
Ever Since Eve
1937-07-15
Night Must Fall
1937-04-30
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
1937-02-19
Piccadilly Jim
1936-08-14
Trouble for Two
1936-05-29
Petticoat Fever
1936-03-20
Starlit Days at the Lido
1935-09-28
No More Ladies
1935-06-14
Vanessa: Her Love Story
1935-03-01
Biography of a Bachelor Girl
1935-01-04
Forsaking All Others
1934-12-23
Hide-Out
1934-08-24
Riptide
1934-03-29
The Mystery of Mr. X
1934-02-23
Fugitive Lovers
1934-01-05
Going Hollywood
1933-12-22
Night Flight
1933-10-06
Another Language
1933-07-28
When Ladies Meet
1933-06-23
Hell Below
1933-06-08
Made on Broadway
1933-05-19
Faithless
1932-10-15
Blondie of the Follies
1932-09-01
Letty Lynton
1932-04-30
But the Flesh Is Weak
1932-04-09
Lovers Courageous
1932-01-23
Private Lives
1931-12-12
The Man in Possession
1931-07-04
Shipmates
1931-04-25
Strangers May Kiss
1931-04-04
The Easiest Way
1931-02-07
Inspiration
1931-01-31
War Nurse
1930-11-22
Love in the Rough
1930-09-05
The Voice of Hollywood
1930-08-30
Our Blushing Brides
1930-07-19
Estrellados
1930-07-07
The Sins of the Children
1930-06-27
The Big House
1930-06-14
The Divorcee
1930-04-19
Free and Easy
1930-03-22
Their Own Desire
1929-12-27
Untamed
1929-11-23
So This Is College
1929-11-08
Three Live Ghosts
1929-09-15
The Single Standard
1929-07-27
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