William Alexander Kirkland (September 15, 1901, Mexico City, Mexico – 1986) was a leading man in Hollywood during the early sound era as well as a stage actor who starred in productions of the Group Theatre in New York.

Biography

Kirkland was born on September 15, 1901, in Mexico City, the son of Robert Gowland Kirkland and Charlotte Megan. He was the grandson of rear admiral William Alexander Kirkland and Consuela Gowland. Kirkland attended the

Taft School The Taft School is a private coeducational school located in Watertown, Connecticut, United States. It enrolls approximately 600 students in grades 9–12. Overview History The school was founded in 1890 as Mr. Taft's School (renamed t ...

Watertown, Connecticut Watertown is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region. The population was 22,105 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of Waterbury. The urban center of the town is the Wat ...

and the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. He later attended the

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...

, and while in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, he began his acting career at the

Hedgerow Theatre Hedgerow Theatre is a theatre company founded in 1923. It is based in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania, United States near Philadelphia. It was "for many years the only true U. S. professional repertory theater." The building is a contributing stru ...

Media, Pennsylvania Media is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located about west of Philadelphia. It is part of the Delaware Valley, also known as the Philadelphia metropolitan area. ...

. His first play on Broadway was ''The Devil to Pay''. He was also a freelance writer and contributed stories to popular national magazines. In the late 1920s, Kirkland moved to Hollywood and starred as leading man to

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lifeboat (194 ...

in ''

Tarnished Lady ''Tarnished Lady'' is a 1931 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code drama film directed by George Cukor and starring Tallulah Bankhead and Clive Brook. The screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart is based on his short story, ''A Story of a New York La ...

'' (1931). Other credits include ''

Charlie Chan's Chance ''Charlie Chan's Chance'' is a 1932 American pre-Code murder mystery film, the third to star Warner Oland as detective Charlie Chan. It is based on the 1928 novel '' Behind That Curtain'' by Earl Derr Biggers, who also contributed to the film. T ...

'' (1932), ''

Social Register The ''Social Register'' is a semi-annual publication in the United States that indexes the members of American high society. First published in the 1880s by newspaper columnist Louis Keller, it was later acquired by Malcolm Forbes. Since 2014, ...

'' (1934) '' A Face in the Crowd'' (1957), ''

A Passport to Hell ''A Passport to Hell'' is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and written by Leon Gordon and Bradley King. The film stars Elissa Landi, Paul Lukas, Warner Oland, Alexander Kirkland, Donald Crisp and Earle Foxe. The film ...

'' and ''

Devil's Lottery ''Devil's Lottery'' is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by Sam Taylor and written by Guy Bolton. The film stars Elissa Landi, Victor McLaglen, Alexander Kirkland, Ralph Morgan, Paul Cavanagh and Barbara Weeks. The film was re ...

''.

In the 1930s, he was associated with the

Group Theatre (New York) The Group Theatre was a theater collective based in New York City and formed in 1931 by Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford and Lee Strasberg. It was intended as a base for the kind of theatre they and their colleagues believed in—a forceful, ...

, founded by

Harold Clurman Harold Edgar Clurman (September 18, 1901 – September 9, 1980) was an American theatre director and drama critic. In 2003, he was named one of the most influential figures in U.S. theater by PBS.

Cheryl Crawford Cheryl Crawford (September 24, 1902 – October 7, 1986) was an American theatre producer and director. Biography Born in Akron, Ohio, Crawford majored in drama at Smith College. Following graduation in 1925, she moved to New York City a ...

and

Lee Strasberg Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American acting coach and actor. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed ...

. On radio, Kirkland played David Brewster in the soap opera '' Big Sister'' in the early 1940s, Curt Lansing in ''

John's Other Wife ''John's Other Wife'' is an American old-time radio soap opera. It was broadcast on NBC-Red from September 14, 1936, until March 1940. In that month it moved to NBC-Blue, where it ran until March 20, 1942. Overview ''John's Other Wife'' cent ...

'', and Russell Barrington in '' Society Girl'' in that same era. He toured as one of the Yale Puppeteers and then worked with the troupe at the

Turnabout Theatre The Turnabout Theatre was a company of marionette puppeteers who performed in Hollywood from 1941 through 1956. The company's shows began with marionette performances, and concluded with a revue. The name of the theater derives in part from the fa ...

in Los Angeles, which operated from 1941 to 1956. His friend and theater colleague

Forman Brown Forman Brown (January 8, 1901 – January 10, 1996) was one of the world's leaders in puppet theatre in his day, as well as an important early gay novelist. He was a member of the Yale Puppeteers and the driving force behind Turnabout Theatre. ...

used him as the model for one of his characters in the early gay novel ''

Better Angel ''Better Angel'' is a novel by Forman Brown first published in 1933 under the pseudonym Richard Meeker. It was republished as ''Torment'' in 1951. It is an early novel which describes a gay lifestyle without condemning it. Christopher Carey calle ...

'' (1933). He married entertainer

Gypsy Rose Lee Gypsy Rose Lee (born Rose Louise Hovick, January 8, 1911 – April 26, 1970) was an American burlesque entertainer, stripper, actress, author, playwright and vedette, famous for her striptease act. Her 1957 memoir, '' Gypsy: A Memoir'', was a ...

in 1942.

Carl Van Doren Carl Clinton Van Doren (September 10, 1885 – July 18, 1950) was an American critic and biographer. He was the brother of critic and teacher Mark Van Doren and the uncle of Charles Van Doren. He won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Aut ...

introduced them. They separated after three months and finally were divorced in 1944. Their son Eric later was recognized as the son of director

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( ; ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian Americans, Austrian-American film and theatre director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the the ...

. From 1944 to 1950, he was married to socialite, actress, and TV producer Phyllis Adams (1923-2004), and they had one daughter, Alexandra "Sandy" Marsh, who committed suicide falling from the Park Belvedere 28th floor in 1987. Adams later remarried in 1955 to art director George Jenkins. In the 1950s, Kirkland owned an art gallery in

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...

, and in 1945, he purchased Villa del Sarmiento, an oceanfront Palm Beach estate. In 1959, he married Greta Hunter-Thompson Baldridge, a former

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Foll ...

girl, widow of a co-heir of the

National Steel Corporation The National Steel Corporation (1929–2003) was a major American steel producer. It was founded on October 1, 1929 through a merger arranged by Weirton Steel with the new Great Lakes Steel Corporation, which was then in the process of construc ...

. They lived in Palm Beach,

Fairfield, Connecticut Fairfield is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Connecticut, Trumbull, Easton, Connecticut, Easton, Weston, Connecticut, W ...

, and

Cuernavaca, Mexico Cuernavaca (; , "near the woods" , Otomi: ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. Along with Chalcatzingo, it is likely one of the origins of the Mesoamerican civilization. Olmec works of art, currently displayed ...

. Greta died in 1972 in Mexico City. After the death of his third wife, Kirkland was connected to British actress

Margot Grahame Margot Grahame (born Margaret Clark; 20 February 1911 – 1 January 1982) was an English actress most noted for starring in '' The Informer'' (1935) and ''The Three Musketeers'' (1935). She started acting in 1930 and made her last screen app ...

. At the time of his death, Kirkland was living in Cuernavaca, and his daughter said he had wasted all of his money. He died in

Alimodian Alimodian, officially the Municipality of Alimodian (; ; ), is a municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 39,722 people. Nicknamed as the ''Banana Capital of Iloilo, According to ...

Iloilo Iloilo ( ; ), officially the Province of Iloilo (; ; ; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Iloilo City, the regional center of Western Visayas and politically independen ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

In Literature

, early gay novelist and member of the

Yale Puppeteers The Turnabout Theatre was a company of marionette puppeteers who performed in Hollywood from 1941 through 1956. The company's shows began with marionette performances, and concluded with a revue. The name of the theater derives in part from the fa ...

, stated that the character of Tony in his novel ''

'' was based on Kirkland and presumably his own experiences with him.

Broadway credits

* ''

Wings Over Europe ''Wings Over Europe'' is a combat flight simulator game set during the Cold War era where the USSR has attacked NATO forces in West Germany. It was developed by Third Wire Productions and released for Microsoft Windows in 2006. The US release ...

'' (1928) * '' Men in White'' (1933) * ''

Gold Eagle Guy ''Gold Eagle Guy'' is a 1934 Broadway five scene drama written by Melvin Levy, produced by the Group Theatre with D. A. Doran, Jr., staged by Lee Strasberg, choreography by Helen Tamiris with scenic design by Donald Oenslager and costume desig ...

'' (1934) * ''

Till the Day I Die image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

'' (1935) * ''Weep for the Virgins'' (1935) * ''The Case of Clyde Griffiths'' (1936) * ''Many Mansions'' (1937)

Filmography

This filmography is believed to be complete.

References

External links

* *
Alexander Kirkland profile
hollywoodheyday.blogspot.com, August 2009; accessed July 26, 2015.
Profile
broadway.cas.sc.edu; accessed July 26, 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkland, Alexander 1901 births 1980s deaths American male film actors 20th-century American male actors Year of death uncertain Place of death missing Date of death missing American expatriates in Mexico