Ronald Colman
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- February 8, 1891
- Died
- May 19, 1958
- Birthplace
- Richmond, Surrey, England, UK
British leading man of primarily American films, one of the great stars of the Golden Age. Raised in Ealing, the son of a successful silk merchant, he attended boarding school in Sussex, where he first discovered amateur theatre. He intended to attend Cambridge and become an engineer, but his father's death cost him the financial support necessary. He joined the London Scottish Regionals and at the outbreak of World War I was sent to France. Seriously wounded at the battle of Messines--he was gassed--he was invalided out of service scarcely two months after shipping out for France. Upon his recovery he tried to enter the consular service, but a chance encounter got him a small role in a London play. He dropped other plans and concentrated on the theatre, and was rewarded with a succession of increasingly prominent parts. He made extra money appearing in a few minor films, and in 1920 set out for New York in hopes of finding greater fortune there than in war-depressed England. After two years of impoverishment he was cast in a Broadway hit, "La Tendresse". Director Henry King spotted him in the show and cast him as Lillian Gish's leading man in The White Sister (1923). His success in the film led to a contract with Samuel Goldwyn, and his career as a Hollywood leading man was underway. He became a vastly popular star of silent films, in romances as well as adventure films. The coming of sound made his extraordinarily beautiful speaking voice even more important to the film industry. He played sophisticated, thoughtful characters of integrity with enormous aplomb, and swashbuckled expertly when called to do so in films like The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). A decade later he received an Academy Award for his splendid portrayal of a tormented actor in A Double Life (1947). Much of his later career was devoted to "The Halls of Ivy", a radio show that later was transferred to television "The Halls of Ivy" (1954). He continued to work until nearly the end of his life, which came in 1958 after a brief lung illness. He was survived by his second wife, actress Benita Hume, and their daughter Juliet Benita Colman.
Filmography
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies 2001
as Self (archive footage)
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind 1988
as Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II 1976
as (archive footage)
The Story of Mankind 1957
as The Spirit of Man
Around the World in 80 Days 1956
as Railway Official
Champagne for Caesar 1950
as Beauregard Bottomley
The Art Director 1949
as Self - from 'Late George Apley' (archive footage) (uncredited)
A Double Life 1947
as Anthony John
The Late George Apley 1947
as George Apley
Kismet 1944
as Hafiz
Random Harvest 1942
as Charles Rainier
The Talk of the Town 1942
as Michael Lightcap
My Life with Caroline 1941
as Anthony Mason
Lucky Partners 1940
as David Grant
The Light That Failed 1939
as Dick Heldar
If I Were King 1938
as François Villon
The Prisoner of Zenda 1937
as Major Rudolf Rassendyll / The Prisoner of Zenda
Lost Horizon 1937
as Robert " Bob " Conway
Under Two Flags 1936
as Sgt. Victor
A Tale of Two Cities 1935
as Sydney Carton
The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo 1935
as Paul Gaillard
Clive of India 1935
as Robert Clive
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back 1934
as Captain Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond
The Masquerader 1933
as Sir John Chilcote / John Loder
Cynara 1932
as James Warlock
Arrowsmith 1931
as Dr. Martin Arrowsmith
The Unholy Garden 1931
as Barrington Hunt
Governor C.C. Young Hails Greater Talkie Season 1930
Actor
The Devil to Pay! 1930
as Willie Hale
- Terra Melophon Magazin Nr. 1
Terra Melophon Magazin Nr. 1 1930
Actor
Raffles 1930
as A.J. Raffles
Condemned! 1929
as Michel
Bulldog Drummond 1929
as Captain Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond
The Rescue 1929
as Tom Lingard
Two Lovers 1928
as Mark van Rycke
The Magic Flame 1927
as Tito the Clown / The Count
The Night of Love 1927
as Montero
The Winning of Barbara Worth 1926
as Willard Holmes
Beau Geste 1926
as Michael 'Beau' Geste
Kiki 1926
as Victor Renal
Lady Windermere's Fan 1925
as Lord Darlington
Stella Dallas 1925
as Stephen Dallas
The Dark Angel 1925
as Captain Alan Trent
Her Sister from Paris 1925
as Joseph
A Thief in Paradise 1925
as Maurice Blake
His Supreme Moment 1925
as John Douglas
- The Sporting Venus
The Sporting Venus 1925
as Donald MacAllan
Romola 1924
as Carlo Bucellini
Her Night of Romance 1924
as Paul Menford
Tarnish 1924
as Emmet Carr
- Twenty Dollars a Week
Twenty Dollars a Week 1924
as Chester Reeves
The White Sister 1923
as Capt. Giovanni Severi
Handcuffs or Kisses 1921
as Lodyard
- The Black Spider
The Black Spider 1920
as Vicomte de Beaurais
- Anna the Adventuress
Anna the Adventuress 1920
as Brendan
- The Toilers
The Toilers 1919
as Bob
Credits from TMDB.