Ronald Colman
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- February 8, 1891
- Died
- May 19, 1958 (aged 67)
- Birthplace
- Richmond, Surrey, England, UK
Biography
British leading man of primarily American films, one of the great stars of the Golden Age. Raised in Ealing, the son of a successful silk merchant, he attended boarding school in Sussex, where he first discovered amateur theatre. He intended to attend Cambridge and become an engineer, but his father's death cost him the financial support necessary. He joined the London Scottish Regionals and at the outbreak of World War I was sent to France. Seriously wounded at the battle of Messines--he was gassed--he was invalided out of service scarcely two months after shipping out for France. Upon his recovery he tried to enter the consular service, but a chance encounter got him a small role in a London play. He dropped other plans and concentrated on the theatre, and was rewarded with a succession of increasingly prominent parts. He made extra money appearing in a few minor films, and in 1920 set out for New York in hopes of finding greater fortune there than in war-depressed England. After two years of impoverishment he was cast in a Broadway hit, "La Tendresse". Director Henry King spotted him in the show and cast him as Lillian Gish's leading man in The White Sister (1923). His success in the film led to a contract with Samuel Goldwyn, and his career as a Hollywood leading man was underway. He became a vastly popular star of silent films, in romances as well as adventure films. The coming of sound made his extraordinarily beautiful speaking voice even more important to the film industry. He played sophisticated, thoughtful characters of integrity with enormous aplomb, and swashbuckled expertly when called to do so in films like The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). A decade later he received an Academy Award for his splendid portrayal of a tormented actor in A Double Life (1947). Much of his later career was devoted to "The Halls of Ivy", a radio show that later was transferred to television "The Halls of Ivy" (1954). He continued to work until nearly the end of his life, which came in 1958 after a brief lung illness. He was survived by his second wife, actress Benita Hume, and their daughter Juliet Benita Colman.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II
Movie · as (archive footage)
The Story of Mankind
Movie · as The Spirit of Man
Around the World in 80 Days
Movie · as Railway Official
The Halls of Ivy
TV · 38 eps
General Electric Theater
TV · as Graham · 1 ep
Four Star Playhouse
TV · as Caller, Cameron, Dr. Bosanquent, Narrator · 1 ep
Champagne for Caesar
Movie · as Beauregard Bottomley
The Jack Benny Program
TV · as Ronald Colman · 1 ep
The Art Director
Movie · as Self - from 'Late George Apley' (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
A Double Life
Movie · as Anthony John
The Late George Apley
Movie · as George Apley
Kismet
Movie · as Hafiz
The Talk of the Town
Movie · as Michael Lightcap
Random Harvest
Movie · as Charles Rainier
My Life with Caroline
Movie · as Anthony Mason
Lucky Partners
Movie · as David Grant
The Light That Failed
Movie · as Dick Heldar
If I Were King
Movie · as François Villon
Lost Horizon
Movie · as Robert " Bob " Conway
The Prisoner of Zenda
Movie · as Major Rudolf Rassendyll / The Prisoner of Zenda
Under Two Flags
Movie · as Sgt. Victor
A Tale of Two Cities
Movie · as Sydney Carton
Clive of India
Movie · as Robert Clive
The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo
Movie · as Paul Gaillard
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
Movie · as Captain Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond
The Masquerader
Movie · as Sir John Chilcote / John Loder
Cynara
Movie · as James Warlock
Arrowsmith
Movie · as Dr. Martin Arrowsmith
The Unholy Garden
Movie · as Barrington Hunt
Governor C.C. Young Hails Greater Talkie Season
Movie
The Devil to Pay!
Movie · as Willie Hale
Raffles
Movie · as A.J. Raffles
Terra Melophon Magazin Nr. 1
Movie
Bulldog Drummond
Movie · as Captain Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond
Condemned!
Movie · as Michel
The Rescue
Movie · as Tom Lingard
Two Lovers
Movie · as Mark van Rycke
The Magic Flame
Movie · as Tito the Clown / The Count
The Night of Love
Movie · as Montero
The Winning of Barbara Worth
Movie · as Willard Holmes
Beau Geste
Movie · as Michael 'Beau' Geste
Kiki
Movie · as Victor Renal
Lady Windermere's Fan
Movie · as Lord Darlington
Stella Dallas
Movie · as Stephen Dallas
Her Sister from Paris
Movie · as Joseph
A Thief in Paradise
Movie · as Maurice Blake
The Sporting Venus
Movie · as Donald MacAllan
The Dark Angel
Movie · as Captain Alan Trent
His Supreme Moment
Movie · as John Douglas
Romola
Movie · as Carlo Bucellini
Her Night of Romance
Movie · as Paul Menford
Twenty Dollars a Week
Movie · as Chester Reeves
Tarnish
Movie · as Emmet Carr
The White Sister
Movie · as Capt. Giovanni Severi
Handcuffs or Kisses
Movie · as Lodyard
Anna the Adventuress
Movie · as Brendan
The Black Spider
Movie · as Vicomte de Beaurais
The Toilers
Movie · as Bob