Melvyn Douglas (born Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg, April 5, 1901 – August 4, 1981) was an American actor. Douglas came to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man, perhaps best typified by his performance in the romantic comedy ''

Ninotchka ''Ninotchka'' is a 1939 American romantic comedy film made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by producer and director Ernst Lubitsch and starring Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas. It was written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, and Walter Reisch, based ...

'' (1939) with

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic ch ...

. Douglas later played mature and fatherly characters, as in his Academy Award-winning performances in '' Hud'' (1963) and '' Being There'' (1979) and his Academy Award–nominated performance in '' I Never Sang for My Father'' (1970). Douglas was one of 24 performers to win the

Triple Crown of Acting The Triple Crown of Acting is a term used in the American entertainment industry to describe actors who have won a competitive Academy Award, Emmy Award, and Tony Award in the acting categories, the highest accolades recognized in American film, t ...

. In the last few years of his life Douglas appeared in films with supernatural stories involving ghosts. Douglas appeared as "Senator Joseph Carmichael" in '' The Changeling'' in 1980 and ''

Ghost Story A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature'' ...

'' in 1981 in his final completed film role.

Early life

Douglas was born in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of G ...

, the son of Lena Priscilla (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Shackelford) and Edouard Gregory Hesselberg, a concert pianist and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

. His father was a Jewish emigrant from

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...

, Latvia, then part of Russia. His mother, a native of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

, was Protestant and a ''Mayflower'' descendant. Douglas, in his

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, ''See You at the Movies'' (1987), wrote that he was unaware of his Jewish background until later in his youth: "I did not learn about the non-Christian part of my heritage until my early teens," as his parents preferred to hide his Jewish heritage. It was his aunts, on his father's side, who told him "the truth" when he was 14. He writes that he "admired them unstintingly"; and they in turn treated him like a son. Though his father, a prominent concert pianist, taught music at a succession of colleges in the U.S. and Canada, Douglas never graduated from high school. He took the surname of his maternal grandmother and became known as Melvyn Douglas.

Career

Douglas developed his acting skills in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 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 nation ...

an repertory while in his teens and with stock companies in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city i ...

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th ...

and

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. He established an outdoor theatre in Chicago. He had a long theatre, film and television career as a lead player, stretching from his 1930 Broadway role in ''Tonight or Never'' (opposite his future wife, Helen Gahagan) until just before his death. Douglas shared top billing with

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...

and

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future ...

James Whale James Whale (22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957) was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: '' Frankenstein'' (1931), '' The ...

's sardonic horror classic '' The Old Dark House'' in 1932. He was the hero in the 1932 horror film '' The Vampire Bat'' and the sophisticated leading man in 1935's '' She Married Her Boss''. He played opposite

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...

in several films, most notably '' A Woman's Face'' (1941), and appeared opposite

in three films: '' As You Desire Me'' (1932), ''

'' (1939) and Garbo's final film ''

Two-Faced Woman ''Two-Faced Woman'' is a 1941 American romantic comedy film directed by George Cukor and starring Greta Garbo in her final film role, Melvyn Douglas, Constance Bennett, and Roland Young. The movie was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Garbo ...

'' (1941). One of his most sympathetic roles was as the belatedly attentive father in ''

Captains Courageous ''Captains Courageous: A Story of the Grand Banks'' is an 1897 novel by Rudyard Kipling that follows the adventures of fifteen-year-old Harvey Cheyne Jr., the spoiled son of a railroad tycoon, after he is saved from drowning by a Portuguese f ...

'' (1937). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Douglas served first as a director of the Arts Council in the Office of Civilian Defense, and he then again served in the

rising to the rank of major. According to his granddaughter Illeana Douglas, it was in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

when he first met his future '' Being There'' co-star Peter Sellers, who was in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

during the war. He returned to play more mature roles in '' The Sea of Grass'' and '' Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House''. In 1959 he made his musical debut playing Captain Boyle in the ill-fated

Marc Blitzstein Marcus Samuel Blitzstein (March 2, 1905January 22, 1964), was an American composer, lyricist, and librettist. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro- union musical ''The Cradle Will Rock'', directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the W ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

'' Juno'', based on Seán O'Casey's ''

Juno and the Paycock ''Juno and the Paycock'' is a play by Seán O'Casey. Highly regarded and often performed in Ireland, it was first staged at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1924. It is set in the working-class tenements of Dublin in the early 1920s, during the ...

''. From November 1952 to January 1953, Douglas starred in the DuMont detective show ''

Steve Randall ''Steve Randall'' (also known as ''Hollywood Off-Beat'') is an American detective television series starring Melvyn Douglas that ran on the DuMont Television Network from November 7, 1952, to January 30, 1953, and on CBS from June 16, 1953, to Aug ...

'' (''Hollywood Off Beat'') which then moved to CBS. In the summer of 1953, he briefly hosted the DuMont

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

'' Blind Date''. In the summer of 1959, Douglas hosted eleven original episodes of a CBS Western

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

called ''

Frontier Justice Frontier justice is extrajudicial punishment that is motivated by the nonexistence of law and order or dissatisfaction with justice. The phrase can also be used to describe a prejudiced judge. Lynching, vigilantism and gunfighting are considered ...

'', a production of

Dick Powell Richard Ewing Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American actor, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility, and successfully transformed into ...

's Four Star Television. As he aged, Douglas took on older-man and fatherly roles, in such movies as '' Hud'' (1963), for which he won his first

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role while worki ...

, ''

The Americanization of Emily ''The Americanization of Emily'' is a 1964 British-American black-and-white romantic black comedy war film written by Paddy Chayefsky, produced by Martin Ransohoff, directed by Arthur Hiller and starring James Garner, Julie Andrews, Melvyn Dougl ...

'' (1964), an episode of '' The Fugitive'' (1966), '' I Never Sang for My Father'' (1970), for which he was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Actor The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The ...

, and '' The Candidate'' (1972). He won his second

for the

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

'' Being There'' (1979). However, Douglas confirmed in one of his final interviews that he refused to attend the 52nd Academy Awards because he could not bear competing against child actor

Justin Henry Justin Henry (born May 25, 1971) is an American actor and businessman, known for playing the object of the titular custody battle in the 1979 film ''Kramer vs. Kramer'', a debut role that earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supp ...

for ''

Kramer vs. Kramer ''Kramer vs. Kramer'' is a 1979 American legal drama film written and directed by Robert Benton, based on Avery Corman's 1977 novel of the same name. The film stars Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, and Justin Henry. It tells the stor ...

''. In addition to his Academy Awards, Douglas won a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

for his Broadway lead role in the 1960 '' The Best Man'' by Gore Vidal, and an Emmy for his 1967 role in '' Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night''. Douglas' final completed screen appearance was in ''

'' (1981). He did not finish shooting all of his scenes for the film '' The Hot Touch'' (1982) before his death; the film had to be edited to compensate for Douglas' incomplete role. Douglas has two stars on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

, one for movies at 6423 Hollywood Blvd. and one for television at 6601 Hollywood Blvd.

Personal life

Douglas was married briefly to artist Rosalind Hightower, and they had one child, (Melvyn) Gregory Hesselberg, in 1926. Hesselberg, an artist, is the father of actress Illeana Douglas. In 1931, Douglas married actress-turned-politician Helen Gahagan. They traveled to Europe that same year, and "were horrified by French and German anti-Semitism". As a result, they became outspoken anti-fascists. Gahagan, as a three-term Congresswoman, was later

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

's opponent for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

seat from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in 1950. Nixon accused Gahagan of being soft on Communism because of her opposition to the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, create ...

. Nixon went so far as to infamously call her "pink right down to her underwear". It was Gahagan who popularized Nixon's epithet "Tricky Dick". The couple hired architect

Roland Coate Roland Coate (December 5, 1890 – October 17, 1958) was an American architect. He designed many houses and buildings in California, three of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Early life Coate was born on December ...

to design a home for them in 1938 on a three-acre lot they owned in

Outpost Estates, Los Angeles Outpost Estates is a neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California, consisting of about 450 homes. It is bordered by Mulholland Drive to the north, Franklin Avenue to the south, Runyon Canyon Park to the west, and Hollywood Height ...

. The result was a one-story, 6,748-square-foot home. Douglas and Gahagan had two children: Peter Gahagan Douglas (1933) and Mary Helen Douglas (1938). The couple remained married until Helen Gahagan Douglas' death in 1980 from cancer. Melvyn Douglas died a year later, in 1981, aged 80, from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

and cardiac complications in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Broadway roles

* ''A Free Soul'' (1928) as Ace Wilfong * ''Back Here'' (1928) as Sergeant "Terry" O'Brien * ''Now-a-Days'' (1929) as Boyd Butler * ''Recapture'' (1930) as Henry C. Martin * ''Tonight or Never'' (1931) as the Unknown Gentleman * ''

No More Ladies ''No More Ladies'' is a 1935 American romantic comedy film directed by Edward H. Griffith. The film stars Joan Crawford and Robert Montgomery, and co-stars Charlie Ruggles, Franchot Tone, and Edna May Oliver. The screenplay credited to Donald ...

'' (1934) as Sheridan Warren * ''Mother Lode'' (1934) as Carey Ried (also staged) * ''De Luxe'' (1935) as Pat Dantry * ''Tapestry In Gray'' (1935) as Erik Nordgren * ''Two Blind Mice'' (1949) as Tommy Thurston * ''The Bird Cage'' (1950) as Wally Williams * ''The Little Blue Light'' (1951) as Frank * ''Glad Tidings'' (1951) as Steve Whitney * '' Time Out for Ginger'' (1952) as Howard Carol * '' Inherit the Wind'' (1955) as Henry Drummond (replacement) * ''The Waltz of the Toreadors'' (1958) as General St. Pé * ''Juno'' (1959) as "Captain" Jack Boyle * ''The Gang's All Here'' (1959) as Griffith P. Hastings * '' The Best Man'' (1960) as William Russell * ''Spofford'' (1967) as Spofford Douglas also staged ''Moor Born'' (1934), ''Mother Lode'' (1934) and ''Within the Gates'' (1934-1935) and produced ''Call Me Mister'' (1946-1948). Sources:

Internet Broadway Database The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It was conceived and created by Karen Hauser in 1996 and is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade asso ...

and ''

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's p ...

Filmography

Source:

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Partial television credits

Source: Internet Movie Database

Radio appearances

References

Sources

External links

*
"Melvyn Douglas (1901–1981)"
at the New Georgia Encyclopedia * *
Melvyn Douglas Papers
at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research *
Photographs and literature on Melvyn Douglas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Melvyn 1901 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American male actors Male actors from Georgia (U.S. state) American male film actors United States Army personnel of World War II American people of English descent American people of Latvian-Jewish descent American male stage actors American male television actors Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (film) winners California Democrats Deaths from pneumonia in New York City Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players New York (state) Democrats Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners Tony Award winners Spouses of California politicians Upper Canada College alumni United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War I