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Wikipedia / Louis Calhern

Carl Henry Vogt (February 19, 1895 May 12, 1956), known by his stage name Louis Calhern, was an American actor. Described by one film historian as a “star leading man of the theater and a star character actor of the screen,” he appeared in over 100 roles on the Broadway stage and in films and television, between 1923 and 1956. He was nominated for the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for portraying U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in the 1950 film The Magnificent Yankee.

Often cast in films as distinguished and sophisticated characters, Calhern had other notable roles including the scheming Ambassador Trentino in the classic Marx Brothers comedy Duck Soup (1933), the antagonist to Robert Donat's Edmond Dantès in The Count of Monte Cristo (1934), the head of the US Secret Service in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946), the pivotal villain Alonzo Emmerich in John Huston’s film noir The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Buffalo Bill in the musical Annie Get Your Gun (1950), and the title character in Joseph L. Mankiewicz all-star 1953 film adaptation of Julius Caesar. He won a Special Jury Prize at the 15th Venice International Film Festival for his performance in Executive Suite (1954).

Early life

Calhern was born Carl Henry Vogt in Brooklyn, New York, in 1895, the son of German immigrants Eugene Adolf Vogt and Hubertina Friese Vogt. He had one known sibling, a sister. His father was a tobacco dealer. His family left New York while he was in elementary school and moved to St.Louis, Missouri, where he was raised. While playing high school football, the tall, handsome youth was noticed by a stage manager from a touring theatrical stock company, who hired him as a bit player. Another source states, "Grace George hired his entire high school football team as supers for a Shakespearean play."

Career

Just before World War I, Calhern returned to New York to pursue an acting career. He began as a prop boy and bit player with various touring and burlesque companies. He became a matinee idol after being in a play titled Cobra. Calhern's burgeoning career was interrupted by World War I; he served in France in the 143rd Field Artillery of the U.S. Army.

Due to the anti-German sentiment during World War I, he changed his German given name, Carl. His stage name is an amalgam of his adopted hometown of St. Louis and his first and middle names, Carl and Henry (Calhern).

Calhern began working in silent films for director Lois Weber in the early 1920s, the most notable being The Blot (1921). A 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, deciding to devote his career entirely to the stage. He returned to films early in the sound era where he was primarily cast as a character actor, while he continued to play leading roles on the stage. In 1945, Calhern won the Donaldson Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in The Magnificent Yankee.

Among Calhern's notable screen portrayals were as the partner in crime to Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis in 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932), as Ambassador Trentino in the classic Marx Brothers comedy Duck Soup (1933), as Major Dort in The Life of Emile Zola (1937), and as the spy boss of Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946).

In 1948, Calhern joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a contract player, receiving wide acclaim for his many fine supporting performances, including three diverse roles that he appeared in for the studio in 1950: a singing role as Buffalo Bill in the film version of the musical Annie Get Your Gun; as a double-crossing lawyer and sugar daddy to a young Marilyn Monroe in John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle; and his Oscar-nominated performance as Oliver Wendell Holmes in The Magnificent Yankee (his only true starring role in a sound film, re-creating his role from the Broadway stage). He was subsequently cast in the title role of Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1953 all-star film version of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, earning more praise.

Calhern played the role of the devious George Caswell, the manipulative board member of Tredway Corporation, in the 1954 production of Executive Suite, followed by the role of a jaded, acerbic high school teacher in Blackboard Jungle (1955). His performance as cheerfully lecherous Uncle Willie in High Society (1956), a musical remake of The Philadelphia Story, was his final film appearance.

Personal life

Calhern battled alcoholism for much of his adult life; as a result, he lost several important screen and stage roles. According to former wife Natalie Schafer, Calhern's inability to overcome his addiction ended their marriage. While he was willing to consult doctors, she said Calhern refused to attend Alcoholics Anonymous because he was an atheist and considered AA to be a religious organization. Calhern ultimately overcame his alcohol addiction by the late 1940s.

Death

On May 12, 1956, Calhern, aged 61, died unexpectedly of a heart attack while in Nara, Japan to begin filming The Teahouse of the August Moon (Paul Ford replaced Calhern in the film). His body was cremated and was interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Selected filmography

Stage credits

Calhern's Broadway credits include:

  • Roger Bloomer (1923)

  • The Song and Dance Man (1923–1924)

  • Cobra (1924)

  • In a Garden (1925–1926)

  • Hedda Gabler (1926)

  • The Woman Disputed (1926–1927)

  • Up the Line (1926)

  • The Dark (1927)

  • Savages Under the Skin (1927)

  • A Distant Drum (1928)

  • Gypsy (1929)

  • The Love Duel (1929)

  • The Rhapsody (1930)

  • The Tyrant (1930)

  • Give Me Yesterday (1931)

  • Brief Moment (1931–1932)

  • The Inside Story (1932)

  • Birthday (1934–1935)

  • Hell Freezes Over (1935–1936)

  • Robin Landing (1937)

  • Summer Night (1939)

  • The Great Big Doorstep (1942)

  • Jacobowsky and the Colonel (1944–1945)

  • The Magnificent Yankee (1946)

  • The Survivors (1948)

  • The Play's the Thing (1948)

  • King Lear (1950–1951)

  • The Wooden Dish (1955)

Awards and nominations

References