Ralph Forbes (born Ralph Forbes Taylor; 30 September 1904 – 31 March 1951) was an English film and stage actor active in Britain and the United States.

Early life

Forbes was born in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

, London, the son of Ernest John "E.J." and Ethel Louise Taylor. His mother would become known as

Mary Forbes Mary Forbes (born Ethel Louise Young; 1 January 1883 – 22 July 1974) was a British-American film actress, based in the United States in her latter years, where she died. She appeared in more than 130 films from 1919 to 1958.Brenda Forbes (born Dorothy Brenda Taylor). Born on 30 September 1904, Forbes was baptized on 6 November and his birth was legally registered with the authorities during the last quarter of 1904. Forbes met with an accident while playing

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

at Denstone College in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

which resulted in a scar on his cheek. He came to the United States as a member of a British troupe that performed ''Havoc'', a war play. He started off in films, then went on stage. In the United States he appeared onstage opposite actress

Ruth Chatterton Ruth Chatterton (December 24, 1892 – November 24, 1961) was an American stage, film, and television actress, aviator and novelist. She was at her most popular in the early to mid-1930s, and in the same era gained prominence as an aviator, ...

, whom he wed on 20 December 1924 in New York City. He was 20 years old and she was four days shy of her 32nd birthday. The couple divorced in 1932. He married actress Heather Angel in

Yuma, Arizona Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 95,548 at the 2020 census, up from the 2010 census population of 93,064. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, Metropolitan ...

, on 29 August 1934; that marriage ended in divorce on 18 July 1941. His last wife, whom he married in 1946, was actress Dora Sayers.

Later years

Following a film career that spanned from 1926 to 1944, Forbes’s latter years were given to working on the Broadway stage. One of his last stage appearances was in a revival of Shaw's '' You Never Can Tell'' in 1948. He died at Montefiore Hospital in

The Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City bo ...

, in 1951, aged 46.

Filmography

* '' The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's'' (1921) as Oliver Greenfield (film debut) * ''

A Lowland Cinderella ''A Lowland Cinderella'' is a 1921 British silent romance film adaptation of S. R. Crockett's novel directed by Sidney Morgan and starring Joan Morgan, Ralph Forbes and George Foley. Plot A Scottish girl, Hester Stirling, whose father, D ...

'' (1921) as Master of Darrock * '' The Glorious Adventure'' (1922) as Courtier (uncredited) * '' Comin' Thro the Rye'' (1923) as George Tempest * ''

Reveille "Reveille" ( , ), called in French "Le Réveil" is a bugle call, trumpet call, drum, fife-and-drum or pipes call most often associated with the military; it is chiefly used to wake military personnel at sunrise. The name comes from (or ), the ...

'' (1924) as The Kid * ''

Owd Bob ''Owd Bob: The Grey Dog of Kenmuir'', also titled ''Bob, Son of Battle'' for US editions, is a children's book by English author Alfred Ollivant (writer), Alfred Ollivant. It was published in 1898 and became popular in the United Kingdom and ...

'' (1924) as Davie McAdam * '' Charley's Aunt'' (1926) as Jack Chesney * ''

Beau Geste ''Beau Geste'' is an adventure novel by British writer P. C. Wren, which details the adventures of three English brothers who enlist separately in the French Foreign Legion following the theft of a valuable jewel from the country house of a r ...

'' (1926) as John Geste * '' Mr. Wu'' (1927) as Basil Gregory * '' The Enemy'' (1927) as Carl Behrend * '' The Latest from Paris'' (1928) as Joe Adams * '' The Trail of '98'' (1928) as Larry * '' Under the Black Eagle'' (1928) as Karl von Zorn * ''

The Actress ''The Actress'' is a 1953 American comedy-drama film directed by George Cukor based on Ruth Gordon's autobiographical play ''Years Ago''. Gordon also wrote the screenplay. The film stars Spencer Tracy, Jean Simmons, and Teresa Wright, and featur ...

'' (1928) as Arthur Gower * '' The Whip'' (1928) as Lord Brancaster * '' The Masks of the Devil'' (1928) as Manfred * '' Restless Youth'' (1928) as Bruce Neil * '' Lilies of the Field'' (1930) as Ted Willing * '' The Green Goddess'' (1930) as Dr. Traherne * ''

Mamba Mambas are fast-moving, highly venomous snakes of the genus ''Dendroaspis'' (which literally means "tree asp") in the family Elapidae. Four extant species are recognised currently; three of those four species are essentially arboreal and gre ...

'' (1930) as Karl von Reiden * '' The Lady of Scandal'' (1930) as John * '' Inside the Lines'' (1930) as Eric Woodhouse * '' Her Wedding Night'' (1930) as Larry Charters * '' The Bachelor Father'' (1931) - John Ashley * '' Beau Ideal'' (1931) as John Geste * '' Thunder Below'' (1932) as Davis * '' Smilin'Through'' (1932) as Willie Ainley * ''

Christopher Strong ''Christopher Strong'' (also known as ''The Great Desire'' and ''The White Moth'') is a 1933 American pre-Code romantic drama film produced by RKO and directed by Dorothy Arzner. It is a tale of illicit love among the English aristocracy and ...

'' (1933) as Harry Rawlinson * '' The Phantom Broadcast'' (1933) as Norman Wilder * '' Pleasure Cruise'' (1933) as Richard Orloff aka Taversham * '' The Avenger'' (1933) as Norman Craig * ''

The Solitaire Man ''The Solitaire Man'' is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film directed by Jack Conway and starring Herbert Marshall and Mary Boland. Plot After a job in Monte Carlo, an English jewel theft ring returns to Paris. Suave cat burglar Oliver Lane ...

'' (1933) as Robert Bascom * '' Bombay Mail'' (1934) as William Luke-Patson * '' The Mystery of Mr. X'' (1934) as Sir Christopher Marche * '' Riptide'' (1934) as Fenwick * '' Twentieth Century'' (1934) as George Smith * ''

Shock Shock may refer to: Common uses Healthcare * Acute stress reaction, also known as psychological or mental shock ** Shell shock, soldiers' reaction to battle trauma * Circulatory shock, a medical emergency ** Cardiogenic shock, resulting from ...

'' (1934) as Derek Marbury * '' The Fountain'' (1934) as Ballater * '' The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' (1934) as Captain Surtees Cook * '' Outcast Lady'' (1934) as Boy Fenwick * '' Strange Wives'' (1934) as Paul * '' Enchanted April'' (1935) as Peppo Briggs * ''

Rescue Squad A rescue squad is an emergency service that provides technical rescue services, and may additionally provide emergency medical services and firefighting services. Rescue squads may be standalone organizations or an integrated part of fire dep ...

'' (1935) as DeWitt Porter * ''

Streamline Express ''Streamline Express'' is a 1935 American comedy drama film directed by Leonard Fields, starring Victor Jory, Evelyn Venable and Esther Ralston, distributed by Mascot Pictures. The film is an adaptation of '' Twentieth Century'', released the ...

'' (1935) as Fred Arnold * '' The Goose and the Gander'' (1935) as Ralph Summers * ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...

'' (1935) as

Duke of Buckingham Duke of Buckingham, referring to the market town of Buckingham, England, is an extinct title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There were creations of double dukedoms of Bucki ...

* ''

La Fiesta de Santa Barbara ''La Fiesta de Santa Barbara'' is a 1935 American comedy film, comedy short film directed by Louis Lewyn. It was nominated for an Academy Award at the 9th Academy Awards in 1936 for Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film, Best Short Subj ...

'' (1935, Short) * '' I'll Name the Murderer'' (1936) as Tommy Tilton * '' Mary of Scotland'' (1936) as Randolph * '' Piccadilly Jim'' (1936) as Lord Frederick 'Freddie' Priory * ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' (1936) as Paris - Young Nobleman Kinsman to the Prince * ''

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...

'' (1936) as Stephen Marlowe * '' Love Letters of a Star'' (1936) as Meredith Landers * '' Rich Relations'' (1937) as Dave Walton * '' The Last of Mrs. Cheyney'' (1937) as Cousin John * '' The Thirteenth Chair'' (1937) as Lionel Trent * '' The Legion of Missing Men'' (1937) as Bob Carter * '' Make a Wish'' (1937) as Walter Mays * '' Woman Against the World'' (1937) as Larry Steele * ''

Stage Door ''Stage Door'' is a 1937 American Tragicomedy, tragicomedy film directed by Gregory La Cava, and starring Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, Gail Patrick, Constance Collier, Andrea Leeds, Samuel S. Hinds, and Lucille Ball. Adapt ...

'' (1937) as Cast of Stage Play * '' Women Are Like That'' (1938) as Martin Brush * '' Kidnapped'' (1938) as James * ''

If I Were King ''If I Were King'' is a 1938 American biographical and historical film starring Ronald Colman as medieval poet François Villon, and featuring Basil Rathbone and Frances Dee. It is based on the 1901 play and novel, both of the same name, by ...

'' (1938) as Oliver Le Dain * '' Annabel Takes a Tour'' (1938) as Viscount Ronald River-Clyde * ''Convicts at Large'' (1938) as David Brent * ''

The Hound of the Baskervilles ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four Detective fiction, crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serial (literature), serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from ...

'' (1939) as Sir Hugo Baskerville * '' The Magnificent Fraud'' (1939) as Harrison Todd * ''

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex ''The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex'', for a time also entitled ''Elizabeth the Queen'', is a 1939 American historical romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, and Olivia de Havilland. Based on ...

'' (1939) as Lord Knollys * ''

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

'' (1939) as Henry Tudor * '' Calling Philo Vance'' (1940) as Tom McDonald * '' Adventure in Diamonds'' (1940) as Mr. Perrins * ''

Curtain Call A curtain call (often known as a walkdown or a final Bowing, bow) occurs at the end of a performance when one or more performers return to the stage to be recognized by the audience for the performance. In musical theatre, the performers typi ...

'' (1940) as Leslie Barrivale * '' Frenchman's Creek'' (1944) as Harry St. Columb (final film)

References

External links

* *
Ralph Forbes
at Virtual History {{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, Ralph 1904 births 1951 deaths English emigrants to the United States English male film actors English male stage actors English male silent film actors Male actors from London Actors from the London Borough of Wandsworth 20th-century English male actors People from Wandsworth