Carl Henry Vogt (February 19, 1895 – May 12, 1956), known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Louis Calhern, was an American actor. Described as a “star leading man of the theater and a star character actor of the screen,” he appeared in over 100 roles on the Broadway stage and in films and television, between 1923 and 1956. He was nominated for the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

and the

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

for Best Actor for portraying U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in the 1950 film '' The Magnificent Yankee''. Often cast in films as distinguished and sophisticated characters, Calhern's other notable film roles included the scheming Ambassador Trentino in the classic

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chi ...

comedy '' Duck Soup'' (1933), the antagonist to Robert Donat's Edmond Dantès in ''

The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' () is an adventure novel by the French writer Alexandre Dumas. It was serialised from 1844 to 1846, and published in book form in 1846. It is one of his most popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers'' (184 ...

'' (1934), the head of the US Secret Service in

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

's ''Notorious'' (1946), the pivotal villain Alonzo Emmerich in

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...

’s film noir '' The Asphalt Jungle'' (1950), Buffalo Bill in the musical '' Annie Get Your Gun'' (1950), and the

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piëce. The title o ...

in Joseph L. Mankiewicz all-star 1953 film adaptation of Julius Caesar. He won a Special Jury Prize at the 15th Venice International Film Festival for his performance in '' Executive Suite'' (1954).

Early life

Calhern was born Carl Henry Vogt in Brooklyn, New York, in 1895, the son of German immigrants Eugene Adolf Vogt and Hubertina Friese Vogt. He had one known sibling, a sister. His father was a tobacco dealer. His family left New York while he was in elementary school and moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was raised. While playing high school football, a stage manager from a touring theatrical stock company noticed the tall, handsome youth and hired him as a bit player. Another source states "

Grace George Grace George (December 25, 1879 – May 19, 1961) was a prominent American stage actress, who had a long career on Broadway stage and also appeared in two films. Biography George was born on December 25, 1879. She married producer William A. ...

hired his entire high school football team as supers for a Shakespearean play."

Career

Louis Calhern in Annie Get Your Gun trailer

Just before World War I, Calhern returned to New York to pursue an acting career. He began as a prop boy and bit player with various touring and burlesque companies. He became a matinee idol after being in a play titled ''Cobra''. Calhern's burgeoning career was interrupted by

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

; he served in France in the 143rd Field Artillery of the U.S. Army. Due to the anti-German sentiment during World War I, he changed his German given name, Carl. His stage name is an amalgam of his adopted hometown of St. Louis and his first and middle names, Carl and Henry (Calhern). Calhern began working in silent films for director Lois Weber in the early 1920s, the most notable being '' The Blot'' (1921). A newspaper article commented: "The new arrival in stardom is Louis Calhern, who, until Miss Weber engaged him to enact the leading male role in '' What's Worth While?'', had been playing leads in the Morosco Stock company of Los Angeles." In 1923, Calhern left the movies, deciding to devote his career entirely to the stage. He returned to films early in the sound era where he was primarily cast as a character actor, while he continued to play leading roles on the stage. In 1945, Calhern won the Donaldson Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in ''The Magnificent Yankee''. Among Calhern's notable screen portrayals were as the partner in crime to

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the ...

and

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...

in '' 20,000 Years in Sing Sing'' (1932), as Ambassador Trentino in the classic

comedy '' Duck Soup'' (1933), as Major Dort in '' The Life of Emile Zola'' (1937), and as the spy boss of

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English and American actor. Known for his blended British and American accent, debonair demeanor, lighthearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing, he ...

's '' Notorious'' (1946). In 1948, Calhern joined

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

as a contract player, receiving wide acclaim for three diverse roles that he appeared in for the studio in 1950: a singing role as Buffalo Bill in the film version of the musical '' Annie Get Your Gun''; as a double-crossing lawyer and sugar daddy to a young

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

's '' The Asphalt Jungle''; and his Oscar-nominated performance as Oliver Wendell Holmes in '' The Magnificent Yankee'' (re-creating his role from the Broadway stage). He was subsequently cast in the title role of Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1953 all-star film version of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

’s

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

, earning more praise. Calhern played the role of the devious George Caswell, the manipulative board member of Tredway Corporation, in the 1954 production of '' Executive Suite'', followed by the role of a jaded, acerbic high school teacher in ''

Blackboard Jungle ''Blackboard Jungle'' is a 1955 American social drama film about an English teacher in an interracial inner-city school, based on the 1954 novel ''The Blackboard Jungle'' by Evan Hunter and adapted for the screen and directed by Richard Brook ...

'' (1955). His performance as cheerfully lecherous Uncle Willie in ''

High Society High society, sometimes simply Society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth, power, fame and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open ...

'' (1956), a musical remake of '' The Philadelphia Story'', was his final film appearance.

Personal life

Calhern battled alcoholism for much of his adult life; as a result, he lost several important screen and stage roles. According to former wife Natalie Schafer, Calhern's inability to overcome his addiction ended their marriage. While he was willing to consult doctors, she said Calhern refused to attend

Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a global, peer-led Mutual aid, mutual-aid fellowship focused on an abstinence-based recovery model from alcoholism through its spiritually inclined twelve-step program. AA's Twelve Traditions, besides emphasizing anon ...

because he was an atheist and considered AA to be a religious organization. Calhern ultimately overcame his alcohol addiction by the late 1940s.

Death

On May 12 1956, Calhern died unexpectedly at age 61 of a heart attack in Nara, Japan, while there to film '' The Teahouse of the August Moon''. His body was cremated and was interred at

Hollywood Forever Cemetery Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a full-service cemetery, funeral home, crematorium, crematory, and cultural events center which regularly hosts community events such as live music and summer movie screenings. It is one of the oldest cemeteries ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

.Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. . p. 195

Selected filmography

* '' What's Worth While?'' (1921) as "Squire" Elton * '' Too Wise Wives'' (1921) as Mr. David Graham * '' The Blot'' (1921) as The Professor's Pupil as Phil West * '' Woman, Wake Up'' (1922) as Monte Collins * '' The Last Moment'' (1923) as Harry Gaines * '' Stolen Heaven'' (1931) as Steve Perry * ''

The Road to Singapore ''The Road to Singapore'' is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring William Powell and Doris Kenyon, who play two thirds of a romantic triangle, along with Louis Calhern. It was produced and ...

'' (1931) as Dr. George March * '' Blonde Crazy'' (1931) as Dapper Dan Barker * '' Okay, America!'' (1932) as Mileaway Russell * '' Night After Night'' (1932) as Dick Bolton * '' They Call It Sin'' (1932) as Ford Humphries * '' Afraid to Talk'' (1932) as Asst. District Attorney John Wade * '' 20,000 Years in Sing Sing'' (1932) as Joe Finn * '' Frisco Jenny'' (1932) as Steve Dutton * '' The Woman Accused'' (1933) as Leo Young * '' Strictly Personal'' (1933) as Magruder * '' The World Gone Mad'' (1933) as Christopher Bruno * '' Diplomaniacs'' (1933) as Winkelreid * '' Duck Soup'' (1933) as Ambassador Trentino of Sylvania * ''

'' (1934) as De Villefort Jr. * '' The Man with Two Faces'' (1934) as Stanley Vance * '' The Affairs of Cellini'' (1934) as Ottaviano * '' Sweet Adeline'' (1934) as Major Day * '' The Arizonian'' (1935) as Sheriff Jake Mannen * '' Woman Wanted'' (1935) as Smiley * '' The Last Days of Pompei'' (1935) as Prefect * '' The Gorgeous Hussy'' (1936) as Sunderland * '' Her Husband Lies'' (1937) as Joe Sorrell * '' The Life of Emile Zola'' (1937) as Major Dort * ''

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...

'' (1938) as Elias Z. "Eli" Bannerman * '' Juarez'' (1939) as Le Marc * '' 5th Ave Girl'' (1939) as Dr. Kessler * '' Charlie McCarthy, Detective'' (1939) as Arthur Aldrich * '' I Take This Woman'' (1940) as Dr. Duveen * '' Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet'' (1940) as Dr. Brockdorf * '' Heaven Can Wait'' (1943) as Randolph Van Cleve * '' Nobody's Darling'' (1943) as Curtis Farnsworth * '' The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' (1944) as Don Andre, The Viceroy * '' Up in Arms'' (1944) as Colonel Ashley * '' Notorious'' (1946) as Captain Paul Prescott * '' Arch of Triumph'' (1948) as "Col." Boris Morosov * '' The Red Pony'' (1949) as Grandfather * '' The Red Danube'' (1949) as Colonel Piniev * '' Nancy Goes to Rio'' (1950) as Gregory Elliott * '' Annie Get Your Gun'' (1950) as Colonel William "Buffalo Bill" Cody * '' The Asphalt Jungle'' (1950) as Alonzo D. Emmerich * '' A Life of Her Own'' (1950) as Jim Leversoe * '' Devil's Doorway'' (1950) as Verne Coolan * '' Two Weeks with Love'' (1950) as Horatio Robinson * '' The Magnificent Yankee'' (1950) as Oliver Wendell Holmes * '' It's a Big Country'' (1951) as narrator * '' The Man with a Cloak'' (1951) as Charles Francois Thevenet * ''A Letter from a Soldier'' (1951 short) as narrator * '' Invitation'' (1952) as Simon Bowker * '' Washington Story'' (1952) as Charles W. Birch * '' We're Not Married!'' (1952) as Frederick C. "Freddie" Melrose * '' The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1952) as Col. Zapt * '' The Bad and the Beautiful'' (1952) as voice of Georgia Lorrison's Father * '' Confidentially Connie'' (1953) as Opie Bedloe * ''

'' (1953) as Julius Caesar * '' Remains to Be Seen'' (1953) as Benjamin Goodman * '' Latin Lovers'' (1953) as Grandfather Eduardo Santos * '' Main Street to Broadway'' (1953) as himself * '' Executive Suite'' (1954) as George Nyle Caswell * '' Rhapsody'' (1954) as Nicholas Durant * '' Men of the Fighting Lady'' (1954) as James A. Michener * ''

The Student Prince ''The Student Prince'' is an operetta in a prologue and four acts with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Dorothy Donnelly. It is based on Wilhelm Meyer-Förster's play ''Old Heidelberg (play), Old Heidelberg''. The piece has a scor ...

'' (1954) as King Ferdinand of Karlsberg * '' Betrayed'' (1954) as General Ten Eyck * ''

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

'' (1954) as Grandpa Ulysses Mulvain * '' The Prodigal'' (1955) as Nahreeb * ''

'' (1955) as Jim Murdock * '' Forever, Darling'' (1956) as Charles Y. Bewell * ''

'' (1956) as Uncle Willie

Stage credits

Calhern's Broadway credits include: * ''Roger Bloomer'' (1923) * ''The Song and Dance Man'' (1923–1924) * ''Cobra'' (1924) * ''In a Garden'' (1925–1926) * ''Hedda Gabler'' (1926) * ''The Woman Disputed'' (1926–1927) * ''Up the Line'' (1926) * ''The Dark'' (1927) * ''Savages Under the Skin'' (1927) * ''A Distant Drum'' (1928) * ''

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'' (1929) * ''The Love Duel'' (1929) * ''The Rhapsody'' (1930) * ''The Tyrant'' (1930) * ''Give Me Yesterday'' (1931) * ''Brief Moment'' (1931–1932) * ''The Inside Story'' (1932) * ''Birthday'' (1934–1935) * ''Hell Freezes Over'' (1935–1936) * ''Robin Landing'' (1937) * ''Summer Night'' (1939) * ''The Great Big Doorstep'' (1942) * ''Jacobowsky and the Colonel'' (1944–1945) * ''The Magnificent Yankee'' (1946) * ''The Survivors'' (1948) * ''The Play's the Thing'' (1948) * ''King Lear'' (1950–1951) * ''The Wooden Dish'' (1955)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *
Wedding photograph of Louis Calhern and Natalie Schafer, Glendale, 1933.

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,

Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Calhern, Louis 1895 births 1956 deaths American male film actors American male stage actors American male silent film actors American people of German descent Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Male actors from St. Louis Donaldson Award winners 20th-century American male actors American atheists United States Army personnel of World War I Male actors from Brooklyn Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players