George Bancroft (actor)

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George Bancroft
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedOctober 2, 1956(1956-10-02) (aged 74)
Alma materUnited States Naval Academy
OccupationActor
Years active1925–1942

George Bancroft (September 30, 1882 – October 2, 1956) was an American film actor, whose career spanned seventeen years from 1925 to 1942. He was cast in many notable films alongside major film stars throughout his Hollywood years.[1]

Early years

George Bancroft in Berlin (1929)

Bancroft was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1882. He attended Tomes Institute in Port Deposit, Maryland.[2]

Maritime work

After working on merchant marine vessels at age 14, Bancroft was an apprentice on USS Constellation and later served on USS Essex and West Indies. Additionally, during the Battle of Manila Bay (1898), he was a gunner on USS Baltimore.[3] During his days in the Navy, he staged plays aboard ship.[4]

In 1900, he swam underneath the hull of the battleship USS Oregon to check the extent of the damage after it struck a rock off the coast of China.[4] For this, he was appointed to the United States Naval Academy, but found it too restrictive for his tastes and left to pursue a theatrical career.[4][note 1][3]

Acting career

In 1901, Bancroft began acting in earnest, as he toured in plays and had juvenile leads in musical comedies. In vaudeville, he did blackface routines and impersonated celebrities.[3] His Broadway credits include the musical comedies Cinders (1923) and The Rise of Rosie O'Reilly (1923).[1]

One of his early films was The Journey's End (1921).

Wall Street Crash), and appeared in Paramount's all-star revue Paramount on Parade (1930) and Rowland Brown's Blood Money (1933), condemned by the censors because they feared the film would "incite law-abiding citizens to crime."[citation needed
] Bancroft had enjoyed his career height in silent pictures and none of his early sound films in which he played the lead had the same impact.

Reportedly, he refused to fall down on set after a prop revolver was fired at him, saying "Just one bullet can't stop Bancroft!". By 1934, he had slipped to being a supporting actor, although he still appeared in such classics as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) with Gary Cooper, Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, Each Dawn I Die (1939) with Cagney and George Raft, and Stagecoach (1939) with John Wayne and Thomas Mitchell. In 1942, he left Hollywood to be a full-time rancher.

Personal life

Bancroft first married actress Edna Brothers.[4] Three years later, he married musical comedy star Octavia Broske.[4] In 1934, Brothers sued him, claiming they had never divorced.[4] Two years later, the case was settled, and Brothers obtained a divorce.[4]

Death

On October 2, 1956, Bancroft died in

Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery
.

Complete filmography

Notes

  1. ^ The reference work American Classic Screen Profiles says of Bancroft, "He left the Academy after one year for a theatrical career."
  2. ^ The Academy Awards Database provides this comment: "[NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL NOMINATION. There were no announcements of nominations, no certificates of nomination or honorable mention, and only the winners (*) were revealed during the awards banquet on April 3, 1930. Though not official nominations, the additional names in each category, according to in-house records, were under consideration by the various boards of judges.]"

References

  1. ^ a b "George Bancroft". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  2. ^ . Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  3. ^ . Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  4. ^
  5. ^ "("George Bancroft" search results)". Academy Awards Database.[permanent dead link]

External links