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 A leading actor, leading actress, or simply lead (), plays the role of the protagonist of a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person who typica ...

, 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 o ...

'' (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 tragedy, ...

. Douglas later played mature and fatherly characters, as in his Academy Award-winning performances in ''

Hud Hud or HUD may refer to: Entertainment * ''Hud'' (1963 film), a 1963 film starring Paul Newman * ''Hud'' (1986 film), a 1986 Norwegian film * ''HUD'' (TV program), or ''Heads Up Daily'', a Canadian e-sports television program Places * Hud, Fa ...

'' (1963) and ''

Being There ''Being There'' is a 1979 American satire film directed by Hal Ashby. Based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Jerzy Kosiński, it was adapted for the screen by Kosiński and the uncredited Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers an ...

'' (1979) and his Academy Award–nominated performance in ''

I Never Sang for My Father ''I Never Sang for My Father'' is a 1970 American drama film, based on the 1968 play of the same name. It tells the story of a widowed college professor who feels dominated by his aging father, yet still has regrets about his plan to leave him be ...

'' (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'' 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 Geo ...

, 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 A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

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 Defi ...

. His father was a Jewish

emigrant Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

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 Ba ...

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

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, 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 in ...

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-lar ...

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, cla ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. 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 Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

role in ''Tonight or Never'' (opposite his future wife,

Helen Gahagan Helen Gahagan Douglas (born Helen Mary Gahagan; November 25, 1900 – June 28, 1980) was an American actress and politician. Her career included success on Broadway, as a touring opera singer, and in Hollywood films. Her portrayal of the villain ...

) until just before his death. Douglas shared

top billing Billing is a performing arts term used in referring to the order and other aspects of how credits are presented for plays, films, television, or other creative works. Information given in billing usually consists of the companies, actors, direct ...

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 in

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 Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: ''Fran ...

's sardonic horror classic '' The Old Dark House'' in 1932. He was the hero in the 1932 horror film ''

The Vampire Bat ''The Vampire Bat'' is a 1933 American Pre-Code horror film directed by Frank R. Strayer and starring Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas, and Dwight Frye. Plot When the villagers of Kleinschloss start dying of blood loss, the town father ...

'' and the sophisticated leading man in 1935's ''

She Married Her Boss ''She Married Her Boss'' is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava and starring Claudette Colbert. Plot Julia Scott (Claudette Colbert) is a very efficient secretary at a department store. She is in love with her boss, Richard ...

''. 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 theatre, Broadway. Crawford was si ...

in several films, most notably ''

A Woman's Face ''A Woman's Face'' is a 1941 American drama film directed by George Cukor and starring Joan Crawford, Melvyn Douglas and Conrad Veidt. It tells the story of Anna Holm, a facially disfigured blackmailer, who because of her appearance, despises eve ...

'' (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 pla ...

'' (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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Douglas served first as a director of the Arts Council in the

Office of Civilian Defense Office of Civilian Defense was a United States federal emergency war agency set up May 20, 1941, by to co-ordinate state and federal measures for protection of civilians in case of war emergency. Its two branches supervised protective function ...

, and he then again served in the

rising to the rank of major. According to his granddaughter

Illeana Douglas Illeana Hesselberg (born July 25, 1961 or 1965), known professionally as Illeana Douglas, is an American actress and filmmaker. She appeared in three episodes of '' Six Feet Under'', for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination as O ...

, 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 Wells explai ...

when he first met his future ''

'' co-star

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

, 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) and ...

during the war. He returned to play more mature roles in '' The Sea of Grass'' and ''

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House ''Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House'' is a 1948 American comedy film directed by H. C. Potter and starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Melvyn Douglas. Written and produced by the team of Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, it was an adaptation ...

''. In 1959 he made his musical debut playing Captain Boyle in the ill-fated Marc Blitzstein musical ''

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

'', based on

Seán O'Casey Seán O'Casey ( ga, Seán Ó Cathasaigh ; born John Casey; 30 March 1880 – 18 September 1964) was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes. ...

's '' Juno and the Paycock''. From November 1952 to January 1953, Douglas starred in the DuMont detective show '' Steve Randall'' (''Hollywood Off Beat'') which then moved to

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. 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 Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

Blind Date A blind date is a social engagement between two people who have not met, usually arranged by a mutual acquaintance. Structure A blind date is arranged for by a mutual acquaintance of both participants. The two people who take part in the blind ...

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

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

anthology

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 television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

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 f ...

'', a production of Dick Powell's

Four Star Television Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Charles Boyer, and Joel McCrea, it was insp ...

. As he aged, Douglas took on older-man and fatherly roles, in such movies as ''

'' (1963), for which he won his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, ''

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), ''

'' (1970), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, and '' The Candidate'' (1972). He won his second Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 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 been ...

'' (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 sto ...

''. 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 cer ...

for his Broadway lead role in the 1960 '' The Best Man'' by

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and ...

, and an Emmy for his 1967 role in ''

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night "Do not go gentle into that good night" is a poem in the form of a villanelle by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914–1953), and is one of his best-known works. Though first published in the journal ''Botteghe Oscure'' in 1951, the poem was written in ...

''. Douglas' final completed screen appearance was in '' Ghost Story'' (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, 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

. In 1931, Douglas married actress-turned-politician

. They traveled to Europe that same year, and "were horrified by French and German anti-Semitism". As a result, they became outspoken

anti-fascists Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

. Gahagan, as a three-term

Congresswoman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

, 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 pow ...

seat from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in 1950. Nixon accused Gahagan of being soft on Communism because of her opposition to the House Un-American Activities Committee. 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. 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 severity ...

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 assoc ...

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 pr ...

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 The Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research (WCFTR) is a major archive of motion picture, television, radio, and theater research materials. Located in the headquarters building of the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, Wisconsin, the ...

*
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