Louis Calhern
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- February 18, 1895
- Died
- May 12, 1956 (aged 61)
- Birthplace
- Brooklyn [now in New York City], New York, USA
Biography
Carl Henry Vogt (February 19, 1895 – May 12, 1956), known professionally as Louis Calhern, was an American stage and screen actor. For portraying Oliver Wendell Holmes in the film The Magnificent Yankee (1950), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Calhern began working in silent films for director Lois Weber in the early 1920s; the most notable being The Blot in 1921. A 1921 newspaper article commented, "The new arrival in stardom is Louis Calhern, who, until Miss Weber engaged him to enact the leading male role in What's Worth While?, had been playing leads in the Morosco Stock company of Los Angeles." In 1923 Calhern left the movies, but would return to the screen eight years later after the advent of sound pictures. He was primarily cast as a character actor in films while he continued to play leading roles on the stage. He reached his peak in the 1950s as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player. Among his many memorable screen roles were Ambassador Trentino in the Marx Brothers classic Duck Soup (1933) and three that he appeared in at MGM in 1950: a singing role as Buffalo Bill in the film version of the musical Annie Get Your Gun, the double-crossing lawyer and sugar-daddy to Marilyn Monroe in John Huston's film noir The Asphalt Jungle, and his Oscar-nominated performance as Oliver Wendell Holmes in The Magnificent Yankee (re-creating his role from the Broadway stage). He was also praised for his portrayal of the title role in the John Houseman production of Julius Caesar (adapted from the Shakespeare play) in 1953, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Calhern also played the role of the devious George Caswell, the manipulative board member of Tredway Corporation in the 1954 production of Executive Suite. Calhern's other film roles included the grandfather in The Red Pony (1949), adapted from the novel by John Steinbeck and starring Robert Mitchum, and the spy boss of Cary Grant in the Alfred Hitchcock suspense classic Notorious (1946). A performance as Uncle Willie in High Society (1956), a musical remake of The Philadelphia Story, turned out to be his final film. Description above from the Wikipedia article Louis Calhern, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Becoming Marilyn
Movie · as (archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II
Movie · as (archive footage)
High Society
Movie · as Uncle Willie
Forever, Darling
Movie · as Charles Bewell
Blackboard Jungle
Movie · as Jim Murdock
The Prodigal
Movie · as Nahreeb
Executive Suite
Movie · as George Nyle Caswell
The Student Prince
Movie · as King of Karlsberg
Betrayed
Movie · as Gen. Ten Eyck
Men of the Fighting Lady
Movie · as James A. Michener
Rhapsody
Movie · as Nicholas Durant
Athena
Movie · as Grandpa Mulvain
Julius Caesar
Movie · as Julius Caesar
Latin Lovers
Movie · as Grandfather Eduardo Santos
Remains to Be Seen
Movie · as Benjamin Goodman
Main Street to Broadway
Movie · as Self
Confidentially Connie
Movie · as Opie Bedloe
We're Not Married!
Movie · as Freddie Melrose
The Prisoner of Zenda
Movie · as Col. Zapt
Invitation
Movie · as Simon Bowker
Washington Story
Movie · as Charles W. Birch
The Bad and the Beautiful
Movie · as Georgia Lorrison's Father (voice) (uncredited)
It's a Big Country
Movie · as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
The Man with a Cloak
Movie · as Charles Theverner
Annie Get Your Gun
Movie · as Col. Buffalo Bill Cody
Devil's Doorway
Movie · as Verne Coolan
Two Weeks with Love
Movie · as Horatio Robinson
The Asphalt Jungle
Movie · as Alonzo D. Emmerich
The Magnificent Yankee
Movie · as Oliver Wendell Holmes
Nancy Goes to Rio
Movie · as Gregory Elliott
A Life of Her Own
Movie · as Jim Leversoe
The Red Pony
Movie · as Grandfather
The Red Danube
Movie · as Colonel Piniev
Arch of Triumph
Movie · as Boris Morosov
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Notorious
Movie · as Paul Prescott
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Movie · as Don Andre - The Viceroy
Up in Arms
Movie · as Colonel Ashley
Heaven Can Wait
Movie · as Randolph Van Cleve
Nobody's Darling
Movie · as Curtis Farnsworth
Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet
Movie · as Dr. Brockdorf
I Take This Woman
Movie · as Dr. Martin Sumner Duveen
Fifth Avenue Girl
Movie · as Dr. Kessler
Charlie McCarthy, Detective
Movie · as Arthur Aldrich
Juarez
Movie · as LeMarc
Fast Company
Movie · as Elias Z. Bannerman
Her Husband Lies
Movie · as Joe Sorrell
The Life of Emile Zola
Movie · as Major Dort
The Gorgeous Hussy
Movie · as Leroy Sunderland
The Arizonian
Movie · as Sheriff Jake Mannen
The Last Days of Pompeii
Movie · as Prefect Allus Martius
Woman Wanted
Movie · as Smiley
The Count of Monte Cristo
Movie · as De Villefort Jr.
Sweet Adeline
Movie · as Major Jim Day
The Man with Two Faces
Movie · as Stanley Vance
The Affairs of Cellini
Movie · as Ottaviano
Duck Soup
Movie · as Ambassador Trentino
The Woman Accused
Movie · as Leo Young
Frisco Jenny
Movie · as Steve Dutton
The World Gone Mad
Movie · as Christopher Bruno
Diplomaniacs
Movie · as Winkelreid
Strictly Personal
Movie · as Jack Magruder
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
Movie · as Joe Finn
Okay, America!
Movie · as Mileaway Russell
Afraid to Talk
Movie · as Asst. District Attorney John Wade
Night After Night
Movie · as Dick Bolton
They Call It Sin
Movie · as Ford Humphries
Blonde Crazy
Movie · as 'Dapper Dan' Barker
Stolen Heaven
Movie · as Steve Perry
The Road to Singapore
Movie · as Dr. George March
The Last Moment
Movie · as Harry Gaines
The Blot
Movie · as Phil West
Too Wise Wives
Movie · as David Graham
What's Worth While?
Movie · as 'Squire' Elton