Monty Woolley
Monty Woolley | |
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Saratoga County, New York | |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1929?–1955 |
Known for | The Man Who Came to Dinner |
Edgar Montilion "Monty" Woolley[1] (August 17, 1888 – May 6, 1963) was an American film and theater actor.[2] At the age of 50, he achieved a measure of stardom for his role in the 1939 stage play The Man Who Came to Dinner and its 1942 film adaptation. His distinctive white beard was his trademark and he was affectionately known as "The Beard."[3]
Early life
Woolley was born in the New York City borough of Manhattan to William Edgar Woolley (1845-1927) and Jessie née Arms (1857-1927) and grew up in the highest social circles. Woolley received a bachelor's degree at Yale University, where Cole Porter was an intimate friend and classmate,[citation needed] and master's degrees from Yale and Harvard Universities.[4] He eventually became an assistant professor of English and drama coach at Yale.[5] Thornton Wilder and Stephen Vincent Benét were among his students. He served in World War I in the United States Army as a first lieutenant assigned to the general staff in Paris.[4][6]
Acting career
Woolley began directing on Broadway in 1929 with Fifty Million Frenchmen,[7] and began acting there in 1936 after leaving his academic career. In 1939 he starred in the Kaufman and Hart comedy The Man Who Came to Dinner for 783 performances. It was for this well-reviewed role he was typecast as the wasp-tongued, supercilious sophisticate.[8][9]
Woolley signed with
He was also a frequent radio guest performer, first appearing in the medium as a foil to
Woolley first appeared on television in cameos, then in his own dramatic play series On Stage with Monty Woolley.[5] He starred in a CBS TV adaptation of The Man Who Came to Dinner in 1954,[13] which he and some reviewers lambasted,[14][15] and appeared in other televised dramas in the series Best of Broadway.[8][13][16]
After completing his last film, Kismet (1955), he returned to radio for about a year, after which he was forced to retire due to ill health.
Woolley was nominated twice for an
His hands and beard were impressed in the pavement of
Personal life
Woolley and Cole Porter enjoyed many adventures together in New York and on foreign travels, although Porter reportedly disapproved of Woolley taking a black man as his lover.[21] Woolley has been described in scholarly and other works as gay and closeted.[22][23][24]
Starting in 1939, Woolley was living with a gay companion, Cary Abbott, who had also graduated from Yale in 1911. Abbott was discreetly identified publicly as Woolley's "courier-secretary-traveling companion." In 1942, Woolley and Abbott moved into a house in
According to
In 1943, Alfred Hitchcock wrote a mystery story for Look titled "The Murder of Monty Woolley."[27]
Death
On April 6, 1963, Woolley was taken to the Saratoga Springs Hospital with heart problems, and two days later transferred to the Albany Hospital.
Stage
- Fifty Million Frenchmen (1929) - Director
- The Second Little Show (1930) - Director
- The New Yorkers (1930) - Director
- America's Sweetheart (1931) - Director
- Walk a Little Faster (1933) - Book director
- Champagne, Sec (1933) - Director
- Jubilee (1935) - Dialogue director
- On Your Toes (1936) - Sergei Alexandrovitch
- Knights of Song (1938) - His Royal Highness, Albert Edward
- The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939) - Sheridan Whiteside[29][30]
Complete filmography
- Ladies in Love (1936)[31] (uncredited and unconfirmed)
- Live, Love and Learn (1937) - Mr. Bawltitude
- Nothing Sacred (1937) - Dr. Oswald Vunch (uncredited)
- Everybody Sing (1938) - John Fleming
- Arsène Lupin Returns (1938) - Georges Bouchet
- The Girl of the Golden West (1938) - Governor
- The Forgotten Step (1938 short) - The Art Collector
- Three Comrades (1938) - Dr. Jaffe
- Lord Jeff (1938) - Jeweler
- Vacation from Love (1938) - Wedding Guest in Car (uncredited)
- Young Dr. Kildare (1938) - Dr. Lane-Porteus
- Artists and Models Abroad (1938) - Gantvoort
- Zaza (1939) - Fouget
- Midnight (1939) - The Judge
- Never Say Die (1939) - Dr. Schmidt
- Man About Town (1939) - Henri Dubois
- Honeymoon in Bali (1939) - Parker, Smitty's Publisher (uncredited)
- Dancing Co-Ed (1939) - Professor Lange
- See Your Doctor (1939 short) - Doctor (uncredited)
- The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) - Sheridan Whiteside
- The Pied Piper (1942) - John Sidney Howard
- Life Begins at Eight-Thirty (1942) - Madden Thomas
- Holy Matrimony (1943) - Priam Farll
- Since You Went Away (1944) - Col. William G. Smollett
- Irish Eyes Are Smiling (1944) - Edgar Brawley
- Molly and Me (1945) - John Graham
- Night and Day (1946) - himself
- Paris 1900 (1947 documentary) - Narrator (US version)
- The Bishop's Wife (1947) - Professor Wutheridge
- Miss Tatlock's Millions (1948) - Miles Tatlock
- As Young as You Feel (1951) - John R. Hodges
- Kismet (1955) - Omar
Radio appearances
Year | Program | Episode/source |
---|---|---|
1942 | Philip Morris Playhouse | The Man Who Came to Dinner[32] |
1943 | Duffy's Tavern | Christmas show 12/21/43 |
1950 | The Magnificent Montague | Comedy, 11/10/1950-11/10/1951[33] |
References
Notes
- ^ Truitt, Evelyn Mack. Who Was Who Onscreen New York: Bowker (1977)
- ^ Obituary Variety, May 8, 1963, page 223.
- ^ Miami News. May 6, 1963.
- ^ The Evening Independent. May 4, 1963. p. 3A.
- ^ Schenectady Gazette', NY, July 11, 1953. p. 8. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-472-09858-3.
- ISBN 9780786746842.
- ^ St. Petersburg Times, May 7, 1963. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
- ^ New York Times. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
- ^ "Played himself" is something of a stretch. In the movie he played himself "as a relentless 'skirt chaser' despite the fact that in real life Woolley, himself gay, chased pants (particularly if they encased a sailor) and not skirts." George F. Curten, "Where Is the Life that Late He Led? Hollywood's Construction of Sexuality in the Life of Cole Porter", in Larry Gross & James D. Woods, eds., The Columbia Reader on Lesbians and Gay Men in Media, Society, and Politics (1999, NYC, Columbia Univ. Press) page 320.
- ISBN 0-19-507678-8.
- ISBN 978-0-8156-0676-5. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7864-1132-0.
- ^ Thomas, Bob (AP) (June 27, 1955). "Monte Woolley Snorts At Liberace, Bore Bars". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
- New York Times. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
- Time Magazine. October 11, 1954. Archived from the originalon December 5, 2008. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
- ^ ASIN B0007EW7W8. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
- ^ 1940s Archived 2011-03-02 at the Wayback Machine. Grauman's Chinese Theatre
- ^ "Monty Woolley". hollywoodchamber.net. Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. October 25, 2019. Note: Official category is Motion Pictures but his star bears the television emblem.
- ^ "Hollywood Star Walk—Monty Woolley". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
- ISBN 0-306-80097-7.
woolley.
- ISBN 978-0-472-09858-3.
- ISBN 978-0-8065-2199-2.
- ISBN 978-0-231-10447-0.
- ISBN 978-0-472-09858-3.
- ^ Cerf, p. 57. (remainder of quote).
- ISBN 978-0313345302.
- ISBN 978-0-472-09858-3.
- ^ "Monty Woolley". Internet Broadway Database.
- ^ Green, p. 455.
- ^ "Ladies In Love". TV Guide.
- ISBN 0-19-507678-8.
External links
- Monty Woolley at IMDb
- Monty Woolley at the Internet Broadway Database