John Halliday (September 14, 1880 – October 17, 1947) was an American actor of stage and screen, who often played suave aristocrats and foreigners.

Biography

Halliday was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. In infancy, he moved with his parents to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, and he lived abroad until he was 18. He served with the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

1901–02 in the Boer War in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. In 1905 Halliday, a civil/mining engineer from before his South Africa adventure, migrated to

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

and dug up a fortune in gold nuggets and managed to lose the lot. After losing his money in the stock market in Sacramento, Halliday became an actor with a stock theater company headed by Nat Goodwin. He progressed from that group to touring the world as leading man in a troupe headed by T. Daniel Frawley. Making his Broadway debut in 1912 in Cecil Raleigh and Henry Hamilton's '' The Whip'', he became a familiar presence there, especially in sophisticated comedies such as W. Somerset Maugham's '' The Circle'' (1921), Vincent Lawrence's ''Sour Grapes'' (1926), Louis Verneuil's ''Jealousy'' (1928) and S. N. Behrman's ''Rain from Heaven'' (1934). He was also well known for his film roles. He was one of the leading actors in the drama film '' Millie''. His best-known movie appearance was as "Seth Lord", father of Tracy Lord (

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose Katharine Hepburn on screen and stage, career as a Golden Age of Hollywood, Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong ...

) in the film adaptation of Philip Barry's '' The Philadelphia Story'' (1940). The following year he played his final role in ''

Lydia Lydia (; ) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis. At some point before 800 BC, ...

'' (1941).

Personal life

In 1912, Halliday's wife, Camille Personi, sued May Buckley for alienation of affections. "'May Buckley has broken up my home and ruined my life,' Mrs. Halliday said, 'and I am determined that she shall suffer.'" His second wife was actress Eva Lang; they married in 1917, and divorced in 1928. In 1929, Halliday married actress Eleanor Griffith in Greenwich, Connecticut. He died from a heart ailment at the age of 67 on October 17, 1947, in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Partial filmography

* '' The Devil's Toy'' (1916) – Paul La France * '' The Woman Gives'' (1920) – Daniel Garford * '' The Blue Pearl'' (1920) – Richard Drake * '' The Love Expert'' (1920) – Jim Winthrop * ''Masked Lover'' (1928) * ''East Side Sadie'' (1929) * '' Recaptured Love'' (1930) – Brentwood Parr * '' Scarlet Pages'' (1930) – John Remington * '' Once a Sinner'' (1931) – Richard Kent * '' Captain Applejack'' (1931) – Ambrose Applejohn * '' Millie'' (1931) – Jimmy Damier * '' 50 Million Frenchmen'' (1931) – Michael Cummins * '' Father's Son'' (1931) – Dr. Franklin * '' The Spy'' (1931) – Sergei Krasnoff * '' Transatlantic'' (1931) – Henry D. Graham * '' Smart Woman'' (1931) – Sir Guy Harrington * '' Consolation Marriage'' (1931) – Jeff Hunter * ''

The Ruling Voice ''The Ruling Voice'' is a 1931 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code gangster drama directed by Rowland V. Lee, starring Walter Huston, Loretta Young, and Doris Kenyon. It had an alternate title ''Upper Underworld'', and was produced by First N ...

'' (1931) – Dexter Burroughs * '' Men of Chance'' (1931) – Dorval * '' The Impatient Maiden'' (1932) – Albert Hartman * '' Week Ends Only'' (1932) – Arthur Ladden * '' The Man Called Back'' (1932) – Gordon St. Claire * '' Bird of Paradise'' (1932) – Mac * '' The Age of Consent'' (1932) – Prof. David Mathews * '' Perfect Understanding'' (1933) – Ivan Ronnson * '' The Woman Accused'' (1933) – Stephen Bessemer * '' Terror Aboard'' (1933) – Maximilian Kreig * '' Bed of Roses'' (1933) – Stephen Paige * '' The House on 56th Street'' (1933) – Lyndon Fiske * '' A Woman's Man'' (1934) – Tom Cleary – Director * ''

Registered Nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a healthcare professional who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized ...

'' (1934) – Dr. Hedwig * '' The Witching Hour'' (1934) – Jack Brookfield * '' Finishing School'' (1934) – Mr. Frank S. Radcliff * '' Return of the Terror'' (1934) – Dr. John Redmayne * ''

Housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which may include Parenting, caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; Sew ...

'' (1934) – Paul * '' Desirable'' (1934) – Austin * '' Happiness Ahead'' (1934) – Henry Bradford * '' Mystery Woman'' (1935) – Dr. Theodore Van Wyke * '' The Dark Angel'' (1935) – Sir George Barton * '' Peter Ibbetson'' (1935) – The Duke of Towers * '' The Melody Lingers On'' (1935) – Marco Turina * ''

Desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of affa ...

'' (1936) – Carlos Margoli * '' Fatal Lady'' (1936) – Martan Fontes * '' Three Cheers for Love'' (1936) – Charles Dormant * '' Hollywood Boulevard'' (1936) – John Wellington Blakeford * '' Arsène Lupin Returns'' (1938) – Count de Grissac * '' Blockade'' (1938) – Andre Gallinet * '' That Certain Age'' (1938) – Gilbert Fullerton * ''

Hotel for Women ''Hotel for Women'' (or ''Elsa Maxwell's Hotel for Women'') is a 1939 American drama film directed by Gregory Ratoff and starring Ann Sothern, Linda Darnell, and James Ellison (actor), James Ellison. It was Darnell's screen debut. As work publish ...

'' (1939) – John Craig * '' Intermezzo'' (1939) – Thomas Stenborg * '' Escape to Glory'' (1940) – John Morgan * '' The Philadelphia Story'' (1940) – Seth Lord * ''

'' (1941) – Fitzpatrick (final film role)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Halliday, John 1880 births 1947 deaths American male film actors American male silent film actors American male stage actors Male actors from Brooklyn 20th-century American male actors