Dudley Digges (born John Dudley Digges, 9 June 1879 – 24 October 1947) was an Irish stage actor, director, and producer as well as a film actor. Although he gained his initial theatre training and acting experience in Ireland, the vast majority of Digges' career was spent in the United States, where over the span of 43 years he worked in hundreds of stage productions and performed in over 50 films."Dudley Digges, 68, Noted Actor Dead", ''The New York Times'', October 25, 1947, p. L19. ProQuest Historical Newspapers (Ann Arbor, Michigan); subscription access through The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library.

Early life and stage work in Ireland

Digges was born in Ranelagh,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

in 1879, the child of James Digges and Catherine Forsythe. He became acquainted with theatre directors William and Frank Fay and took an interest in acting. He joined

W. G. Fay's Irish National Dramatic Company W. G. Fay's Irish National Dramatic Company was a precursor to Dublin's Abbey Theatre. It was founded in 1902 by two Irish brothers, William and Frank Fay. William had worked for a time in the 1890s with a touring company in Ireland, Scotland an ...

, along with others such as Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh,

James H. Cousins James Henry Cousins (22 July 1873 – 20 February 1956) was an Anglo-Irish writer, playwright, actor, critic, editor, teacher and poet. He used several pseudonyms, including Mac Oisín and the Hindu name Jayaram. Life Cousins was born at 18, Ke ...

, Fred Ryan and Maire Quinn (who became his wife). Their first production, ''

Cathleen Ni Houlihan ''Cathleen ni Houlihan'' is a one-act play written by William Butler Yeats and Augusta, Lady Gregory, Lady Gregory in 1902 in literature#New drama, 1902. It was first performed on 2 April of that year and first published in the October number of ...

'', with Maud Gonne in the lead role, and ''Déirdre'', was on 2 April 1902. The company, which had no funds to speak of, acquired a couple of bare rooms at 34 Lower Camden Street, which with the help of friends from Irish-revival societies they turned into a small theatre. However, this proved too small for the plays they were planning to stage. They rehearsed at the Coffee Palace in Westmoreland Street and also used the Molesworth Hall for productions.Edward Kenny (nephew of Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh): The Splendid Years: recollections of Maire Nic Shiubhlaigh, as told to Edward Kenny, with appendices and lists of Irish theatre plays, 1899–1916. Duffy and Co, Dublin. 1955 In 1903 the playwrights and most of the actors and staff from these productions went on to form the Irish National Theatre Society, which had its registered offices in Camden Street. The society founded the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the pu ...

Career in the United States

Digges went to America with a group of fellow-actors in 1904, and became successful as both actor and producer. He was stage manager for a time to both Charles Frohman and George Arliss, and by the 1920s he had become a notable performer on Broadway. One of Digges' best-known roles there was as Ficsur in the original 1921 production of Ferenc Molnár's '' Liliom'' (later adapted into the musical '' Carousel'' by Rodgers and Hammerstein). In 1924, in Woodstock, New York, he founded the Maverick Theater with the assistance of Hervey White, who had established the Maverick Arts Colony. Digges was also artistic director of a company that included Helen Hayes and

Edward G. Robinson Edward G. Robinson (born Emanuel Goldenberg; December 12, 1893January 26, 1973) was a Romanian-American actor of stage and screen, who was popular during the Hollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in 30 Broadway plays and more than 100 films duri ...

. Digges expanded his career into films by 1929, and over nearly two decades he performed in more than 50 films, including the original pre-Code adaptation of '' The Maltese Falcon'' (1931). Digges was cast in that feature as Casper Gutman, the character later portrayed by Sydney Greenstreet in the 1941 version. In '' The Invisible Man'' (1933) he played the Chief Detective who plots to capture the title character, opposite the unseen Claude Rains. He played the role of the Heavenly Examiner in both the original Broadway production and the 1930 screen version of Sutton Vane's '' Outward Bound''. He also worked as a director on Broadway.

Personal life and death

Digges married only once, to Irish actress Maire Quinn. The couple wed on August 27, 1907 in New York City and remained together until Maire's death in August 1947."Mrs. Digges, Once Active In Theatre", obituary, ''The New York Times'', August 22, 1947, p. 15. ProQuest. In New York on October 24—just two months after his wife's death—Digges died of a stroke in his

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

apartment at 1 West 64th Street. He was survived by three siblings, all living in Ireland: a sister, Mrs. Mai Gannen, and two brothers, James and Ernst. Following a requiem mass at Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church on October 28, he was buried next to Quinn at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York."Dudley Digges, 68"
obituary, '' Motion Picture Daily'' (New York, N.Y.), October 27, 1947, p. 2 (this obituary mistakenly identifies Mount Pleasant, New York as the location of Gate of Heaven Cemetery). Internet Archive. Retrieved April 8, 2020,

Partial filmography

* ''

Condemned Condemned or The Condemned may refer to: Legal * Persons awaiting execution * A condemned property, or condemned building, by a local authority, usually for public health or safety reasons * A condemned property seized by power of eminent domain ...

'' (1929) - Jean Vidal * '' Outward Bound'' (1930) - Thompson the Examiner * '' The Maltese Falcon'' (1931) - Casper Gutman * '' Alexander Hamilton'' (1931) - Senator Timothy Roberts * '' Devotion'' (1931) - Sergeant Coggins * '' The Ruling Voice'' (1931) - Abner Sneed * '' The Hatchet Man'' (1932) - Nog Hong Fah * '' The Strange Case of Clara Deane'' (1932) - Detective Garrison * '' Roar of the Dragon'' (1932) - Johnson * '' The First Year'' (1932) - Dr. Anderson * '' Tess of the Storm Country'' (1932) - Capt. Howland * '' The King's Vacation'' (1933) - Count Raven Lord Chamberlain * '' The Silk Express'' (1933) - Professor Axel Nyberg * ''

The Mayor of Hell ''The Mayor of Hell'' is a 1933 American pre-Code Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner B ...

'' (1933) - Thompson * ''

The Narrow Corner ''The Narrow Corner'' is a novel by the British writer W. Somerset Maugham, published by William Heinemann in 1932. A quote from ''Meditations'', iii 10, by Marcus Aurelius, introduces the work: "Short therefore, is man's life, and narrow is th ...

'' (1933) - Doctor Saunders * '' Before Dawn'' (1933) - Horace Merrick * '' The Emperor Jones'' (1933) - Smithers * '' Fury of the Jungle'' (1933) - 'Doc' Parrish * '' The Invisible Man'' (1933) - Chief Detective * ''

Massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

'' (1934) - Elihu P. Quissenberry * '' Caravan'' (1934) - Estate Administrator * '' The World Moves On'' (1934) - Mr. Manning * '' What Every Woman Knows'' (1934) - James Wylie * '' I Am a Thief'' (1934) - Col. Jackson * '' A Notorious Gentleman'' (1935) - Marleybone * '' China Seas'' (1935) - Dawson * '' The Bishop Misbehaves'' (1935) - 'Red' * ''

Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and se ...

'' (1935) - Bacchus * '' Kind Lady'' (1935) - Mr. Edwards * '' Three Live Ghosts'' (1936) - Inspector Briggs * '' The Voice of Bugle Ann'' (1936) - Jacob Terry * ''

The Unguarded Hour ''The Unguarded Hour'' is a 1936 American drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Loretta Young and Franchot Tone. In England, a prominent young prosecutor in a murder trial is unaware that his wife is involved. It is based on Bernard Meriv ...

'' (1936) - Metford * '' The General Died at Dawn'' (1936) - Mr. Wu * '' Valiant Is the Word for Carrie'' (1936) - Dennis Ringrose * ''

Love Is News ''Love Is News'' is a 1937 romantic comedy film starring Tyrone Power, Loretta Young, and Don Ameche. The movie was directed by Tay Garnett and was the first film for which Power had top billing. The picture was remade in 1947 as ''That Wonderf ...

'' (1937) - Cyrus Jeffrey * '' Raffles'' (1939) - MacKenzie * '' The Light That Failed'' (1939) - The Nilghai * '' The Fight for Life'' (1940) - Head Doctor * '' Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake'' (1942) - Pratt * '' The Searching Wind'' (1946) - Moses (final film role)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Digges, Dudley 1879 births 1947 deaths Irish male film actors Irish male stage actors Male actors from County Dublin Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) 20th-century Irish male actors Burials at Gate of Heaven Cemetery (Hawthorne, New York)