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person_profile-Roland Young

Roland Young Died at age: 65

Actor | Producer

Fullname:

Roland Young

Date of Birth:

Nov 11, 1887

Country of birth:

UK

Died:

Jun 05, 1953

Biography of

Roland Young

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Roland Young (11 November 1887 – 5 June 1953) was an English actor.

    Young made his first stage appearance in London's West End in Find the Woman in 1908, and in 1912 he made his Broadway debut in Hindle Wakes. He appeared in two comedies written for him by Clare Kummer, Good Gracious Annabelle! (1916) and A Successful Calamity (1917) before he served with the United States Army during World War I. He returned to New York when the war ended, and married Kummer's daughter, Frances. For the next few years he alternated between New York and London. He made his film debut in the 1922 silent film Sherlock Holmes, in which he played Watson opposite John Barrymore as Holmes.

    He signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and made his talkie debut in The Unholy Night (1929), directed by Lionel Barrymore. He was loaned to Warner Bros. to appear in Her Private Life, with Billie Dove and Fox Film Corporation, winning critical approval for his comedic performance as Jeanette MacDonald's husband in Don't Bet on a Woman. He was again paired with MacDonald in the film version of Good Gracious Annabelle!, titled Annabelle's Affairs. He appeared in Cecil B. de Mille's The Squaw Man, and played opposite Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in The Guardsman (both 1931). He appeared with Evelyn Brent in Columbia's The Pagan Lady (1932) and Pola Negri in RKO's A Woman Commands (1932). His final film under his MGM contract was Lovers Courageous (1932), opposite Robert Montgomery. In 1933 he had a starring role in the risqué comedy for Fox Film called Pleasure Cruise along side Genevieve Tobin.

    Young began to work as a freelance performer and found himself in constant demand. He appeared with Jeanette MacDonald, Genevieve Tobin and Maurice Chevalier in One Hour With You (1932) and with Kay Francis in Street of Women (1932). Alexander Korda invited him to return to Britain to make his British film debut in Wedding Rehearsal (1932). He returned to Hollywood and appeared in a diverse group of films that included comedies, murder mysteries, and dramas, and also worked on Broadway. Among his films of this period were Ruggles of Red Gap (1935), David Copperfield (1935) (playing Uriah Heep), and the H.G. Wells fantasy The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936).

    In 1937, he achieved one of the most important successes of his career in Topper, as a bank president haunted by the ghosts of his clients, played by Cary Grant and Constance Bennett. It was one of the most successful films of the year, and Young was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Topper's wife was played by Billie Burke, who wrote in her memoir that Young "was dry and always fun to work with". They also appeared together in The Young in Heart (1938), and both of the Topper sequels, Topper Takes a Trip (1938) and Topper Returns (1941).

    He continued working steadily through the 1940s, playing small roles opposite some of Hollywood's leading actresses, such as Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Paulette Goddard and Greta Garbo in her final film, Two-Faced Woman (1941). In the 1950s, Young appeared on several episodic television series, including Lux Video Theatre, Studio One, Pulitzer Prize Playhouse and The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre.

Photos of

Roland Young

Photos ( 4 Photos

Filmography of

Roland Young

Found 65 Movies in total

That's Entertainment! III

(archive footage) ( Actor )

... 1994

That Man from Tangier

George ( Actor )

... 1953

St. Benny the Dip

Matthew ( Actor )

... 1951

Let's Dance

Edmund Pohlwhistle ( Actor )

... 1950

The Great Lover

C.J. Dabney ( Actor )

... 1949

You Gotta Stay Happy

Ralph Tutwiler ( Actor )

... 1948

Bond Street

George Chester-Barrett ( Actor )

... 1948

And Then There Were None

William Blore ( Actor )

... 1945

Standing Room Only

Ira Cromwell ( Actor )

... 1944

Forever and a Day

Henry Barringer ( Actor )

... 1943

Tales of Manhattan

Edgar - Wilson's butler ( Actor )

... 1942

... 1942

The Lady Has Plans

Ronald Dean ( Actor )

... 1942

Two-Faced Woman

Oscar 'O.O.' Miller ( Actor )

... 1941

The Flame of New Orleans

Charles Giraud ( Actor )

... 1941

Topper Returns

Cosmo Topper ( Actor )

... 1941

No, No, Nanette

Mr. 'Happy' Jimmy Smith ( Actor )

... 1940

The Philadelphia Story

Uncle Willie ( Actor )

... 1940

Dulcy

Roger Forbes ( Actor )

... 1940

Private Affairs

Amos Bullerton ( Actor )

... 1940

Irene

Mr. Smith ( Actor )

... 1940

Star Dust

Thomas Brooke ( Actor )

... 1940

He Married His Wife

Bill Carter ( Actor )

... 1940

The Night of Nights

Barry Keith-Trimble ( Actor )

... 1939

Here I Am a Stranger

Professor Daniels ( Actor )

... 1939

Yes, My Darling Daughter

Titus Jaywood ( Actor )

... 1939

Topper Takes a Trip

Cosmo Topper ( Actor )

... 1938

The Young in Heart

Col. Anthony 'Sahib' Carleton ( Actor )

... 1938

Sailing Along

Anthony Gulliver ( Actor )

... 1938

Ali Baba Goes to Town

Sultan ( Actor )

... 1937

Topper

Cosmo Topper ( Actor )

... 1937

King Solomon's Mines

Cmdr. John Good ( Actor )

... 1937

Call It a Day

Frank Haines ( Actor )

... 1937

Give Me Your Heart

Edward 'Tubbs' Barrow ( Actor )

... 1936

The Man Who Could Work Miracles

George McWhirter Fotheringay ( Actor )

... 1936

One Rainy Afternoon

Maillot ( Actor )

... 1936

The Unguarded Hour

William "Bunny" Jeffers ( Actor )

... 1936

Ruggles of Red Gap

Earl of Burnstead ( Actor )

... 1935

David Copperfield

Uriah Heep ( Actor )

... 1935

Here Is My Heart

Nicki ( Actor )

... 1934

His Double Life

Priam Farrel ( Actor )

... 1933

Blind Adventure

Holmes ( Actor )

... 1933

Pleasure Cruise

Andrew Poole ( Actor )

... 1933

A Lady's Profession

Lord Reginald Withers ( Actor )

... 1933

They Just Had to Get Married

Hillary Hume ( Actor )

... 1933

Wedding Rehearsal

Reggie Buckley Candysshe - Marquis of Buckminster ( Actor )

... 1932

Street of Women

Linkhorne 'Link' Gibson ( Actor )

... 1932

This Is the Night

Gerald ( Actor )

... 1932

One Hour with You

Professor Olivier ( Actor )

... 1932

A Woman Commands

King Alexander ( Actor )

... 1932

Lovers Courageous

Jeffrey ( Actor )

... 1932

The Guardsman

The Critic ( Actor )

... 1931

The Pagan Lady

Dr. Heath ( Actor )

... 1931

The Squaw Man

Sir John Applegate ( Actor )

... 1931

Annabelle's Affairs

Roland Wimbleton ( Actor )

... 1931

The Prodigal

Doc ( Actor )

... 1931

Don't Bet on Women

Herbert Drake ( Actor )

... 1931

New Moon

Count Strogoff ( Actor )

... 1930

Madam Satan

Jimmy Wade ( Actor )

... 1930

The Bishop Murder Case

Sigurd 'Erik' Arnesson ( Actor )

... 1929

Wise Girls

Duke Merrill ( Actor )

... 1929

The Unholy Night

Lord Montague ( Actor )

... 1929

Her Private Life

Charteris ( Actor )

... 1929

Grit

Houdini Hart ( Actor )

... 1924

Sherlock Holmes

Dr. Watson ( Actor )

... 1922