George Brent
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- March 15, 1904
- Died
- May 26, 1979
- Birthplace
- Ballinasloe, County Galway, Ireland
George Brent (born George Brendan Nolan; 15 March 1904 – 26 May 1979) was an Irish-American stage, film, and television actor. Brent was born in Ballinasloe, County Galway in 1904 to John J. and Mary (née McGuinness) Nolan. His mother was a native of Clonfad, Moore, County Roscommon. Brent made his first film, Under Suspicion, in 1930. Over the next two years, he appeared in a number of minor films produced by Universal Studios and Fox, before being signed to contract by Warner Bros. in 1932. He remained at Warner Bros. for the next 20 years, carving out a successful career as a top-flight leading man during the late 1930s and 1940s. Highly regarded by Bette Davis, he became her most frequent male co-star, appearing with her in 13 films, including Front Page Woman (1935), Special Agent (1935), The Golden Arrow (1936), Jezebel (1938), The Old Maid (1939), Dark Victory (1939), and The Great Lie (1941). Brent also played opposite Ruby Keeler in 42nd Street (1933), Greta Garbo in The Painted Veil (1934), Ginger Rogers in In Person (1935), Madeleine Carroll in The Case Against Mrs. Ames (1936), Jean Arthur in More Than a Secretary (1936), Myrna Loy in Stamboul Quest (1934) and The Rains Came (1939), Merle Oberon in 'Til We Meet Again (1940), Ann Sheridan in Honeymoon for Three (1941), Joan Fontaine in The Affairs of Susan (1945), Barbara Stanwyck in So Big! (1932), The Purchase Price (1932), Baby Face (1933), The Gay Sisters (1942), and My Reputation (1946), Claudette Colbert in Tomorrow Is Forever (1946), Dorothy McGuire in The Spiral Staircase (1946), Lucille Ball in Lover Come Back (1946), and Yvonne De Carlo in Slave Girl (1947). Brent drifted into "B" pictures from the late 1940s and retired from film in 1953. He continued to appear on television until 1960, having appeared on the religion anthology series Crossroads. He was cast in the lead in the 1956 television series Wire Service. In 1978, he made one last film, the made-for-television production Born Again. In 1960, Brent was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with two stars. He received a motion-pictures star located at 1709 Vine Street, and a second star located at 1612 Vine Street for his work in television. Brent was married five times: Helen Louise Campbell (1925–1927), Ruth Chatterton (1932–1934), Constance Worth (1937), Ann Sheridan (1942–1943), and Janet Michaels (1947–1974). His final marriage to Janet Michaels, a former model and dress designer, lasted 27 years until her death in 1974. They had a son and a daughter. Brent also carried on a lengthy relationship with his frequent Warner Bros. co-star, actress Bette Davis, who described her last meeting with Brent after many years of estrangement. He was suffering from advanced emphysema, and she expressed great sadness at his ill health and deterioration. George Brent died in 1979 in Solana Beach, California.
Filmography
Jezebel: Legend of the South 2006
as Self (archive footage)
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill 1994
as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage 1983
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Born Again 1978
as Judge Gerhard Gesell
Death of a Scoundrel 1956
as Man with Balloon at Party
Mexican Manhunt 1953
as David L. 'Dave' Brady
Tangier Incident 1953
as Steve Gordon
Montana Belle 1952
as Tom Bradfield
Man Bait 1952
as John Harman
FBI Girl 1951
as Jeff Donley
Bride for Sale 1949
as Paul Martin
The Kid from Cleveland 1949
as Mike Jackson
Illegal Entry 1949
as Chief Agent Dan Collins
Red Canyon 1949
as Matthew Bostel
Luxury Liner 1948
as Captain Jeremy Bradford
Angel on the Amazon 1948
as Jim Warburton
Christmas Eve 1947
as Michael Brooks
Slave Girl 1947
as Matt Claibourne
The Corpse Came C.O.D. 1947
as Joe Medford
Out of the Blue 1947
as Arthur Earthleigh
Temptation 1946
as Nigel Armine
Lover Come Back 1946
as Bill Williams
Tomorrow Is Forever 1946
as Lawrence Hamilton
The Spiral Staircase 1946
as Professor Warren
My Reputation 1946
as Major Scott Landis
The Affairs of Susan 1945
as Roger Berton
Breakdowns of 1944 1944
as Self
Experiment Perilous 1944
as Dr. Huntington Bailey
Breakdowns of 1942 1942
as Self
Silver Queen 1942
as James Kincaid
You Can't Escape Forever 1942
as Steve Mitchell
The Gay Sisters 1942
as Charles Barclay
In This Our Life 1942
as Craig Fleming
Twin Beds 1942
as Mike Abbott
International Lady 1941
as Tim Hanley
They Dare Not Love 1941
as Prince Kurt von Rotenberg
The Great Lie 1941
as Peter 'Pete' Van Allen
Honeymoon for Three 1941
as Kenneth Bixby
Breakdowns of 1940 1940
as Self
South of Suez 1940
as John Gamble
The Man Who Talked Too Much 1940
as Stephen Forbes
'Til We Meet Again 1940
as Dan Hardesty
Adventure in Diamonds 1940
as Capt. Stephen Dennett
The Fighting 69th 1940
as Wild Bill Donovan
The Rains Came 1939
as Tom Ransome
The Old Maid 1939
as Clem Spender
Land of Liberty 1939
as Buck Cantrell (edited from 'Jezebel')
Dark Victory 1939
as Dr. Frederick Steele
Wings of the Navy 1939
as Cass Harrington
Breakdowns of 1938 1938
as Buck Cantrell (archive footage) (uncredited)
Swingtime in the Movies 1938
as Himself (uncredited)
Secrets of an Actress 1938
as Richard 'Dick' Orr
Racket Busters 1938
as Denny Jordan
Out Where the Stars Begin 1938
as Jared Whitney (archive footage)
Jezebel 1938
as Buck Cantrell
Gold Is Where You Find It 1938
as Jared Whitney
Breakdowns of 1937 1937
as Self
Submarine D-1 1937
as Lt. Commander Dan Matthews
The Go-Getter 1937
as Bill Austin
Mountain Justice 1937
as Paul Cameron
God's Country and the Woman 1937
as Steve Russett
Breakdowns of 1936 1936
as Self
More Than a Secretary 1936
as Fred Gilbert
Give Me Your Heart 1936
as James 'Jim' Baker
The Golden Arrow 1936
as Johnny Jones
The Case Against Mrs. Ames 1936
as Matt Logan
Snowed Under 1936
as Alan Tanner
A Dream Comes True 1935
as Himself (uncredited)
Things You Never See on the Screen 1935
as Self
In Person 1935
as Emory Muir
The Goose and the Gander 1935
as Bob McNear
Special Agent 1935
as Bill Bradford
Front Page Woman 1935
as Curt Devlin
Stranded 1935
as Mack Hale
Living on Velvet 1935
as Terry Parker
The Right to Live 1935
as Colin Trent
The Painted Veil 1934
as Jack Townsend
Desirable 1934
as McAllister
Housewife 1934
as William H. Reynolds
Stamboul Quest 1934
as Douglas Beall
From Headquarters 1933
as Lt. Jim Stevens
Female 1933
as Jim Thorne
Baby Face 1933
as Courtland Trenholm
Lilly Turner 1933
as Bob Chandler
The Keyhole 1933
as Neil Davis
42nd Street 1933
as Pat Denning
Luxury Liner 1933
as Dr. Karl Bernhard
They Call It Sin 1932
as Dr. Tony Travers
The Crash 1932
as Geoffrey Gault
The Purchase Price 1932
as Jim Gilson
Week-End Marriage 1932
as Peter Acton
Miss Pinkerton 1932
as Police Inspector Patten
The Rich Are Always with Us 1932
as Julian Tierney
So Big! 1932
as Adult Roelf Pool
The Lightning Warrior 1931
as Alan Scott
Homicide Squad 1931
as Jimmy
Ex-Bad Boy 1931
as Donald Swift
Charlie Chan Carries On 1931
as Capt. Ronald Keane
Fair Warning 1931
as Les Haines
Once a Sinner 1931
as James Brent
Under Suspicion 1930
as Inspector Turner
The Iron Horse 1925
as Worker (uncredited)
Credits from TMDB.