James Rennie (actor)
James Rennie | |
---|---|
Born | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | April 18, 1889
Died | July 31, 1965 New York City, U.S. | (aged 76)
Nationality | Canadian; American from 1933 |
Occupation(s) | Stage and film actor |
Years active | 1920–1945 |
Spouses |
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James Malachi Rennie (April 18, 1889 – July 31, 1965)[1] was a Canadian American actor who performed on the New York stage and also appeared in several Hollywood films during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. He became a U.S. citizen in New York in 1933.[2]
Early life
Of Scottish descent, he was born on April 18, 1889, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the son of John and Margaret Rennie, both of whom were
Film career
His first film role came in
During the 1920s he made ten other appearances in silent films between 1922 and 1926; his other silent film credits included roles in Dust Flower (1922), The Bad Man (1923), The Moral Sinner (1924), Restless Wives (1924),
Career in sound films
In 1930, Rennie made his return to the American screen in his talking debut in a sound remake of The Bad Man originating the role he played in the original version. He would make six other sound films between 1932 and 1933; during this time he began co-starring with some of Hollywood's other silent film stars making the transition to sound films as well as up-and-coming actors who would gain their popularity by decade's end; they including the likes of Ann Harding in Girl of the Golden West (1930), Barbara Stanwyck in Illicit (1931), Richard Barthelmess, Mary Astor, and Marian Nixon in The Lash (1931), Dorothy Mackaill and Donald Cook in Party Husband (1931), and Olive Borden in The Divorce Racket (1932). In 1933, he made one more film entitled The Little Damozel opposite Anna Neagle and upon the film's completion he did not return to the screen for seven years.
Later stage and screen career and retirement
By 1934, Rennie's union with Dorothy Gish was disintegrating and on October 11, 1935 he and Gish divorced. In the following year he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In 1939 he married a Warner Bros. dress extra named Sara Eldon McConnell who had been a divorcee herself a few years prior to their marriage. In 1941, he returned to the screen in the role of Ned Franklyn in Skylark opposite such acclaimed performers as Claudette Colbert, Ray Milland, Brian Aherne, and Grant Mitchell. After his screen return Rennie found that he enjoyed being back to the art of screen acting. However, as with the case of Ona Munson, Hollywood wasn't kind to the actors who abandoned the film industry during the midpoint of the early sound era and decent roles were difficult to find.
Meanwhile, his career on the New York stage continued to flourish. He starred in many Broadway productions, including Murder at the Vanities (1933–34); Divided By Three (1935); Knock on Wood (1935); Co-Respondent Unknown (1936) with Ilka Chase; Miss Quis (1937); I Must Love Someone (1939) with Martha Sleeper; Russian Bank (1940), One Man Show (1945) with Constance Cummings and Frank Conroy; Remains to be Seen (1951); and Four Winds (1957), with Ann Todd, Conrad Nagel and Carl Esmond. He also toured in many plays and appeared in off-Broadway productions including State of the Union (1947), with Neil Hamilton and Erin O'Brien-Moore; Mister Roberts (1949) with John Forsythe and Jackie Cooper; and Annie Get Your Gun (1958), with Betty Jane Watson.
In his later Hollywood years, Rennie would appear in small, bit parts in such films as Now, Voyager with Bette Davis and the star-studded Tales of Manhattan (1942) whose grand cast consisted of such talents as Charles Boyer, Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth, Edward G. Robinson, Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, and Cesar Romero. In 1945, Rennie made his last screen appearance in A Bell for Adano and upon the film's completion he retired from films. Moving to New York City, he and his wife would live comfortably, thanks to all the fortunes Rennie had earned and saved from his acting days. During his retirement Rennie devoted his time to his wife and was active in his church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
Death
On July 31, 1965, at age 76, Rennie died due to heart failure in his New York apartment (or at Harkness Pavilion
Filmography
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1920 | Remodeling Her Husband | Jack Valentine | Lost film |
Flying Pat | Robert Van Nuys | ||
1922 | Stardust | Thomas Clemons | |
Dust Flower | Rashleigh Allerton | ||
1923 | Mighty Lak' a Rose
|
Jimmy Harrison | Lost film |
The Bad Man | |||
His Children's Children | Lloyd Maitland | ||
1924 | Restless Wives | James Benson | |
The Moral Sinner | Paul Sylvain | Lost film | |
Argentine Love | Philip Sears | ||
Clothes Make the Pirate | Lieutenant Cavendish | Lost film | |
Share and Share Alike
|
Sam Jefford | ||
1926 | Camille
|
Philippe | Short film |
1930 | The Bad Man | Gilbert Jones | |
The Girl of the Golden West | Dick Johnson | Lost film | |
The Lash | David Howard | ||
An Intimate Dinner in Celebration of Warner Bros. Silver Jubilee | Self | Short film | |
1931 | Illicit | 'Dick' Ives II | |
Party Husband | Jay Hogarth | ||
1932 | The Divorce Racket | Detective Malcom 'Duke' Ayres | |
1933 | The Little Damozel | Recky Poole | |
1939 | The Glass Case | Robert Williams | Short film |
1941 | Skylark | Ned Franklyn | |
1942 | Crossroads | Monsieur Charles Martin | uncredited |
Tales of Manhattan | H.R. 'Hank' Bronson (Robinson sequence) | ||
Now, Voyager | Frank McIntyre | ||
1944 | Wilson | Jim Beeker | |
1945 | A Bell for Adano | Lt. Colonel Sartorius | Uncredited, (final film role) |
References
- ISBN 0-7864-1059-0
- ISBN 0-486-24555-1
- ^ a b c d "James Rennie, Actor, Dies at 76; Long a Broadway Leading Man". The New York Times. August 1, 1965. p. 77. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
- ^ League, The Broadway. "James Rennie – Broadway Cast & Staff - IBDB".
- ISBN 0-8108-1201-0
External links
- James Rennie at IMDb
- James Rennie at the Internet Broadway Database
- portraits(University of Washington, Sayre)