Leo G Carroll & Cedric Hardwicke
Posted: September 28th, 2007, 11:45 am
Not exactly major stars so I may not get many responses to this thread, but I've been taking more notice of the contributions each made to so many classic films (and television).
I have always taken both for granted, and for the longest time didn't even distinguish their names from a host of other venerable English character actors, but lately I've acquired a better appreciation of them individually.
Carroll was always more familiar to me because of the Alfred Hitchcock movie appearances---he made six in all, more than any other actor, aside from Hitch himself. He always seemed harmless and somewhat "grey" in demeanor but then the plot would reveal he was something altogether less benign or he would deliver an astute but possibly cold-blooded line which made my eyebrows stand up on end.
Hardwicke, whose identity I constantly confused with C. Aubrey Smith's, did not attract my specific notice until I watched him in two "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" episodes, particularly in "A Man Greatly Beloved." Suddenly I detected a very sly sense of humor behind that somewhat rigid front (accounted for, I think, the seven years he served in the military, including the duration of WWI) and after reading some quotes (below) by him, I realized my guess was right.
So Hitchcock is my link for rediscovery of both men. In doing a little research I learned the actors had a couple of other similarities: both were born within a year of each other; each had their stage debuts in the same year (1912)---in New York and London, respectively; and---that's about all they had in common.
Carroll's career is probably considered the more successful over-all due to the television shows and numerous Hitchcock appearances. He also has a more approachable or harmless-seeming manner. But in terms of choice acting roles, Hardwicke's is by far the more illustrious (he was well known for his stage interpretations of Bernard Shaw characters) and though intimidating, I think he was equally beloved of those who knew him.
I've included some tid-bits about each of these actors whom most of us, perhaps, have taken for granted. Each contributed greatly to the wonderfully rich movies of their era.
Leo G Carroll - b 1892, d 1972
Born in Weedon, England to wealthy Catholic family and named after Pope Leo XIII
Made Broadway debut in 1912; In 1940s was the original Broadway actor in title role of The Late George Apley (played on screen by Ronald Colman)
Served in WWI
Appeared in 6 Hitchcock movies, more than any other actor
TV Shows: "Topper", "Man/Girl from U.N.C.L.E." and "Going My Way"
Notable movies (besides Hitch's): Wuthering Heights, Enchantment, Father of the Bride, Captain's Courageous, Forever Amber, Private Lives of Elizabeth & Essex, Snows of Kilimanjaro, The Bad & The Beautiful, The Desert Fox: Story of Rommell, We're No Angels, The Swan, Tarantula, The Parent Trap
Sir Cedric Hardwicke b 1893, d 1964
Born in Lye, Worcestershire, England
Debuted London stage 1912
Served seven years in military, including France in WWI
Knighted by George V in 1934, one of the few and youngest actor (41) ever at that time
5th favorite actor of Bernard Shaw---the other four being the Marx brothers
Published two volumes of memoirs: 1932's Let's Pretend: Recollections and Reflections of a Lucky Actor. London, England: Grayson and Grayson; and, in 1961 A Victorian in Orbit. London, England: Methuen.
Notable movies: King Solomon's Mines(1937-played Alan Quartermain(!)); On Borrowed Time (played personification of "death", Mr Brink); Stanley & Livingstone (played Livingstone); The Hunchback of Notre Dame (played the wicked Frollo); Tom Brown's School Days, The Howard's of Virginia (excellent as Fleetwood Peyton); Suspicion (played General MacLaidlaw, he of the grim portrait); The Keys of the Kingdom, The Lodger, Wilson, Sentimental Journey (a fave!); The Picture of Dorian Gray; Ivy; Lured; Tycoon; I Remember Mamma (played kindly boarder, Jonathan Hyde); The Winslow Boy; Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (sings!); Salome; Around the World in 80 Days; The Pumpkin Eater
TV appearences include "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" episodes "Wet Saturday" and "A Man Greatly Beloved"
QUOTES by Hardwicke:
"I can't act. I have never acted. And I shall never act. What I can do is suspend my audience's power of judgement till I've finished."
"I believe that God felt sorry for actors, so he created Hollywood to give them a place in the sun and a swimming pool. The price they had to pay was to surrender their talent."
"Actors and burglars work better at night."
"England is my wife. America is my mistress. It is very good sometimes to get away from one's wife."
[On TV commercials] "The last refuge of optimism in a world of gloom."
*[On 'sneak previews'] "Let one dim-witted schoolboy scrawl 'lousy' on his card, and the entire studio may be stampeded the following morning in an executive meeting to discuss slicing and revising the picture to shreds. On Hollywood's theory that the customer must know best, the schoolboy's 'lousy' is regarded as the last word in dramatic criticism."
"The director's tricks are accomplished by converting plays into spectacles of love, landscape, and lust, and the actors into puppets. Unhappily, a lot of young actors and actresses are destroyed in the process. They are drilled to perfection in a single role, while the director tries to produce performances by direction alone. As a result, they may be ruined for anything beyond the single role."
"By temperament, a young actor needs to be mercurial, if nothing else, able to shed misfortunes like a duck shedding water and to magnify a pinpoint of hope into a golden dawn."
"Actors must practice restraint else think what might happen in a love scene." Hee!---Miss G
"When actors are talking, they are servants of the dramatist. It is what they can show the audience when they are not talking that reveals the fine actor."
I have always taken both for granted, and for the longest time didn't even distinguish their names from a host of other venerable English character actors, but lately I've acquired a better appreciation of them individually.
Carroll was always more familiar to me because of the Alfred Hitchcock movie appearances---he made six in all, more than any other actor, aside from Hitch himself. He always seemed harmless and somewhat "grey" in demeanor but then the plot would reveal he was something altogether less benign or he would deliver an astute but possibly cold-blooded line which made my eyebrows stand up on end.
Hardwicke, whose identity I constantly confused with C. Aubrey Smith's, did not attract my specific notice until I watched him in two "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" episodes, particularly in "A Man Greatly Beloved." Suddenly I detected a very sly sense of humor behind that somewhat rigid front (accounted for, I think, the seven years he served in the military, including the duration of WWI) and after reading some quotes (below) by him, I realized my guess was right.
So Hitchcock is my link for rediscovery of both men. In doing a little research I learned the actors had a couple of other similarities: both were born within a year of each other; each had their stage debuts in the same year (1912)---in New York and London, respectively; and---that's about all they had in common.
Carroll's career is probably considered the more successful over-all due to the television shows and numerous Hitchcock appearances. He also has a more approachable or harmless-seeming manner. But in terms of choice acting roles, Hardwicke's is by far the more illustrious (he was well known for his stage interpretations of Bernard Shaw characters) and though intimidating, I think he was equally beloved of those who knew him.
I've included some tid-bits about each of these actors whom most of us, perhaps, have taken for granted. Each contributed greatly to the wonderfully rich movies of their era.
Leo G Carroll - b 1892, d 1972
Born in Weedon, England to wealthy Catholic family and named after Pope Leo XIII
Made Broadway debut in 1912; In 1940s was the original Broadway actor in title role of The Late George Apley (played on screen by Ronald Colman)
Served in WWI
Appeared in 6 Hitchcock movies, more than any other actor
TV Shows: "Topper", "Man/Girl from U.N.C.L.E." and "Going My Way"
Notable movies (besides Hitch's): Wuthering Heights, Enchantment, Father of the Bride, Captain's Courageous, Forever Amber, Private Lives of Elizabeth & Essex, Snows of Kilimanjaro, The Bad & The Beautiful, The Desert Fox: Story of Rommell, We're No Angels, The Swan, Tarantula, The Parent Trap
Sir Cedric Hardwicke b 1893, d 1964
Born in Lye, Worcestershire, England
Debuted London stage 1912
Served seven years in military, including France in WWI
Knighted by George V in 1934, one of the few and youngest actor (41) ever at that time
5th favorite actor of Bernard Shaw---the other four being the Marx brothers
Published two volumes of memoirs: 1932's Let's Pretend: Recollections and Reflections of a Lucky Actor. London, England: Grayson and Grayson; and, in 1961 A Victorian in Orbit. London, England: Methuen.
Notable movies: King Solomon's Mines(1937-played Alan Quartermain(!)); On Borrowed Time (played personification of "death", Mr Brink); Stanley & Livingstone (played Livingstone); The Hunchback of Notre Dame (played the wicked Frollo); Tom Brown's School Days, The Howard's of Virginia (excellent as Fleetwood Peyton); Suspicion (played General MacLaidlaw, he of the grim portrait); The Keys of the Kingdom, The Lodger, Wilson, Sentimental Journey (a fave!); The Picture of Dorian Gray; Ivy; Lured; Tycoon; I Remember Mamma (played kindly boarder, Jonathan Hyde); The Winslow Boy; Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (sings!); Salome; Around the World in 80 Days; The Pumpkin Eater
TV appearences include "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" episodes "Wet Saturday" and "A Man Greatly Beloved"
QUOTES by Hardwicke:
"I can't act. I have never acted. And I shall never act. What I can do is suspend my audience's power of judgement till I've finished."
"I believe that God felt sorry for actors, so he created Hollywood to give them a place in the sun and a swimming pool. The price they had to pay was to surrender their talent."
"Actors and burglars work better at night."
"England is my wife. America is my mistress. It is very good sometimes to get away from one's wife."
[On TV commercials] "The last refuge of optimism in a world of gloom."
*[On 'sneak previews'] "Let one dim-witted schoolboy scrawl 'lousy' on his card, and the entire studio may be stampeded the following morning in an executive meeting to discuss slicing and revising the picture to shreds. On Hollywood's theory that the customer must know best, the schoolboy's 'lousy' is regarded as the last word in dramatic criticism."
"The director's tricks are accomplished by converting plays into spectacles of love, landscape, and lust, and the actors into puppets. Unhappily, a lot of young actors and actresses are destroyed in the process. They are drilled to perfection in a single role, while the director tries to produce performances by direction alone. As a result, they may be ruined for anything beyond the single role."
"By temperament, a young actor needs to be mercurial, if nothing else, able to shed misfortunes like a duck shedding water and to magnify a pinpoint of hope into a golden dawn."
"Actors must practice restraint else think what might happen in a love scene." Hee!---Miss G
"When actors are talking, they are servants of the dramatist. It is what they can show the audience when they are not talking that reveals the fine actor."