Melvyn Douglas
Encyclopedia
Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg (April 5, 1901 – August 4, 1981), better known as Melvyn Douglas, was an American actor.
Coming to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man
(perhaps best typified by his performance in the 1939 romantic comedy Ninotchka
), Douglas later transitioned into more mature and fatherly roles as in his Academy Award-winning performances in Hud
(1963) and Being There
(1979).
, the son of Lena Priscilla (née
Shackelford) and Edouard Gregory Hesselberg, a concert pianist and composer. His father was a Jewish immigrant from Riga
, Latvia
, then part of Russia
. His mother, a native of Tennessee
, was Protestant and a Mayflower
descendant. His maternal grandfather, George Shackelford, was a General and Civil War
veteran.
Douglas, in his autobiography, See You at the Movies (1987), writes that he was unaware of his Jewish background until later in his youth: "I did not learn about the non-Christian part of my heritage until my early teens," as his parents preferred to hide his Jewish heritage. It was his aunts, on his father's side, who told him "the truth" when he was 14. He writes that he "admired them unstintingly and modeled" himself on them; they in turn treated him like a son.
Though his father taught music at a succession of colleges in the U.S. and Canada, Douglas never graduated from high school. He took the surname of his maternal grandmother and became known as Melvyn Douglas.
; Evansville, Indiana
; Madison, Wisconsin
, and Detroit, Michigan
. He established an outdoor theatre in Chicago. He had a long theatre, film and television career as a lead player, stretching from his 1930 Broadway role in Tonight or Never (opposite his future wife, Helen Gahagan
) until just before his death. Douglas shared top billing with Boris Karloff
and Charles Laughton
in James Whale's sardonic horror classic The Old Dark House
in 1932.
He was the hero in the 1932 horror film The Vampire Bat
and the sophisticated leading man in 1935's She Married Her Boss
. He played opposite Joan Crawford
in several films, most notably A Woman's Face
(1941), and with Greta Garbo
in three films: As You Desire Me
(1932), Ninotchka
(1939) and Garbo's final film Two-Faced Woman
(1941).
During World War II
, Douglas served first as a director of the Arts Council in the Office of Civilian Defense
, and then in the United States Army
. He returned to play more mature roles in The Sea of Grass
and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
. In 1959 he made his musical debut playing Captain Boyle in the ill-fated Marc Blitzstein
musical Juno
, based on Sean O'Casey
's Juno and the Paycock
.
From November 1952 to January 1953, Douglas starred in the DuMont
detective show Steve Randall (Hollywood Off Beat) which then moved to CBS. He briefly hosted the DuMont game show
Blind Date
in the summer of 1953. In the summer of 1959, Douglas hosted eleven original episodes of a CBS Western
anthology television series called Frontier Justice
, a production of Dick Powell
's Four Star Television
.
In addition to his Academy Awards (see below), Douglas won a Tony Award
for his Broadway lead role in the 1960 The Best Man
by Gore Vidal
, and an Emmy for his 1967 role in Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
. As Douglas grew older, he took on the older-man and father roles, in such movies as The Americanization of Emily
(1964), Hud
(1963), for which he won his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
, (1966) The Fugitive
, The Candidate
(1972) and I Never Sang for My Father
(1970), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor
. He won his second Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
for the comedy
-drama
Being There
(1979).
Douglas' final screen appearance was in Ghost Story
(1981). He did not finish his role in the film The Hot Touch (1982) before his death. Douglas has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
, one for movies at 6423 Hollywood Blvd. and one for television at 6601 Hollywood Blvd.
.
In 1931 Douglas married actress-turned-politician Helen Gahagan
. They traveled to Europe that same year, and "were horrified by French and German anti-Semitism." As a result, they became outspoken anti-Fascists, supporting the Democratic Party and Roosevelt's re-election. As a three-term Congresswoman
, she was later Richard Nixon
's opponent for the United States Senate
seat from California
in 1950.
Nixon accused Gahagan of being soft on Communism because of her opposition to the House Un-American Activities Committee
. Nixon went so far as to call her "pink right down to her underwear". It was Gahagan who popularized Nixon's epithet "Tricky Dick." Douglas and Gahagan had two children: Peter Gahagan Douglas (1933) and Mary Helen Douglas (1938). The couple remained married until Helen Gahagan Douglas' death in 1980 from cancer. Melvyn Douglas died a year later, in 1981, aged 80, from pneumonia and cardiac complications in New York City
.
Coming to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man
Leading man
Leading man or leading gentleman is an informal term for the actor who plays a love interest to the leading actress in a film or play. A leading man is usually an all rounder; capable of singing, dancing, and acting at a professional level, but never outshining his female co-star...
(perhaps best typified by his performance in the 1939 romantic comedy Ninotchka
Ninotchka
Ninotchka is a 1939 American film made for Metro Goldwyn Mayer by producer and director Ernst Lubitsch which stars Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas. It was written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch, based on a screen story by Melchior Lengyel. Ninotchka is Greta Garbo's first full...
), Douglas later transitioned into more mature and fatherly roles as in his Academy Award-winning performances in Hud
Hud (film)
Hud is a 1963 western film whose title character is an embittered and selfish modern-day cowboy. With screenplay by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr., based on Larry McMurtry's 1961 novel Horseman, Pass By, it was directed by Martin Ritt and stars Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal and...
(1963) and Being There
Being There
Being There is a 1979 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby. Adapted from the 1971 novella written by Jerzy Kosinski, the screenplay was coauthored by Kosinski and Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard A...
(1979).
Early life
Douglas was born in Macon, GeorgiaMacon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
, the son of Lena Priscilla (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Shackelford) and Edouard Gregory Hesselberg, a concert pianist and composer. His father was a Jewish immigrant from Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, then part of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. His mother, a native of Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, was Protestant and a Mayflower
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
descendant. His maternal grandfather, George Shackelford, was a General and Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
veteran.
Douglas, in his autobiography, See You at the Movies (1987), writes that he was unaware of his Jewish background until later in his youth: "I did not learn about the non-Christian part of my heritage until my early teens," as his parents preferred to hide his Jewish heritage. It was his aunts, on his father's side, who told him "the truth" when he was 14. He writes that he "admired them unstintingly and modeled" himself on them; they in turn treated him like a son.
Though his father taught music at a succession of colleges in the U.S. and Canada, Douglas never graduated from high school. He took the surname of his maternal grandmother and became known as Melvyn Douglas.
Career
Douglas developed his acting skills in Shakespearean repertory while in his teens and with stock companies in Sioux City, IowaSioux City, Iowa
Sioux City is a city in Plymouth and Woodbury counties in the western part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 82,684 in the 2010 census, a decline from 85,013 in the 2000 census, which makes it currently the fourth largest city in the state....
; Evansville, Indiana
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
; Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, and Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. He established an outdoor theatre in Chicago. He had a long theatre, film and television career as a lead player, stretching from his 1930 Broadway role in Tonight or Never (opposite his future wife, Helen Gahagan
Helen Gahagan
Helen Gahagan was an American actress and politician. She was the third woman and first Democratic woman elected to Congress from California; her election made California one of the first two states to have elected female members of the House from both parties.-Early life and acting...
) until just before his death. Douglas shared top billing with Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
and Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
in James Whale's sardonic horror classic The Old Dark House
The Old Dark House
The Old Dark House is an American comedy horror film directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff, produced just one year after their success with Frankenstein, also released by Universal Studios.-Background:...
in 1932.
He was the hero in the 1932 horror film The Vampire Bat
The Vampire Bat
The Vampire Bat is an American horror movie starring Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas, and Dwight Frye.-Plot outline:When the villagers of Kleinschloss start dying of blood loss, the town fathers suspect a resurgence of vampirism. While police inspector Karl remains skeptical, scientist Dr...
and the sophisticated leading man in 1935's She Married Her Boss
She Married Her Boss
She Married Her Boss is a 1935 film directed by Gregory La Cava, and starring Claudette Colbert and Melvyn Douglas.-Plot:It tells the story of a secretary who married with her boss, however she has a hard time living up to him.-Cast:...
. He played opposite Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
in several films, most notably A Woman's Face
A Woman's Face
A Woman's Face is a 1941 drama film directed by George Cukor, starring Joan Crawford, Melvyn Douglas and Conrad Veidt. It tells the story of Anna Holm, a facially disfigured blackmailer, who because of her appearance despises everyone she encounters...
(1941), and with Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
in three films: As You Desire Me
As You Desire Me (film)
As You Desire Me is a 1932 film adaptation of the play by Luigi Pirandello made by MGM. It was produced and directed by George Fitzmaurice with Irving Thalberg as co-producer. The adaptation was by Gene Markey, the cinematography byWilliam H...
(1932), Ninotchka
Ninotchka
Ninotchka is a 1939 American film made for Metro Goldwyn Mayer by producer and director Ernst Lubitsch which stars Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas. It was written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch, based on a screen story by Melchior Lengyel. Ninotchka is Greta Garbo's first full...
(1939) and Garbo's final film Two-Faced Woman
Two-Faced Woman
Two-Faced Woman is a romantic comedy made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film stars Greta Garbo, in her final film role, and Melvyn Douglas, with Constance Bennett, Roland Young and Ruth Gordon...
(1941).
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Douglas served first as a director of the Arts Council in the Office of Civilian Defense
Office of Civilian Defense
Office of Civilian Defense was a United States federal emergency war agency set up May 20, 1941 by Executive Order 8757 to co-ordinate state and federal measures for protection of civilians in case of war emergency...
, and then in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. He returned to play more mature roles in The Sea of Grass
The Sea of Grass
The Sea of Grass is a 1936 novel by Conrad Richter. It is set in New Mexico in the late 19th century, and concerns the clash between rich ranchers, whose cattle range freely through the vast sea of grass, and the farmers, or "nesters," who build fences and turn the sod. It is an epic depiction of...
and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is a 1948 American comedy film directed by H.C. Potter and starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. The film was written and produced by the team of Melvin Frank and Norman Panama...
. In 1959 he made his musical debut playing Captain Boyle in the ill-fated Marc Blitzstein
Marc Blitzstein
Marcus Samuel Blitzstein, better known as Marc Blitzstein , was an American composer. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Works Progress Administration...
musical Juno
Juno (musical)
Juno is a Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Marc Blitzstein and book by Joseph Stein, based closely on the 1924 play Juno and the Paycock by Sean O'Casey. The original Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre, New York, on March 9, 1959.Despite light moments, the musical,...
, based on Sean O'Casey
Seán O'Casey
Seán O'Casey was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes.- Early life:...
's Juno and the Paycock
Juno and the Paycock
Juno and the Paycock is a play by Sean O'Casey, and one of the most highly regarded and oft-performed plays in Ireland. It was first staged at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1924...
.
From November 1952 to January 1953, Douglas starred in the DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
detective show Steve Randall (Hollywood Off Beat) which then moved to CBS. He briefly hosted the DuMont game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
Blind Date
Blind Date (1950s game show)
Blind Date was a television game show, also known as Your Big Moment, which aired on ABC, NBC, and then DuMont after many years on radio.-Broadcast history:...
in the summer of 1953. In the summer of 1959, Douglas hosted eleven original episodes of a CBS Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
anthology television series called Frontier Justice
Frontier Justice (TV series)
For the NBC western anthology, see Frontier .Frontier Justice is a CBS television Western anthology series which had thirty-one telecasts over the summers of 1958, 1959, and 1961. It was a repackaging of episodes from CBS's Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater, and was hosted by Lew Ayres, Melvyn...
, a production of Dick Powell
Dick Powell
Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.Despite the same last name he was not related to William Powell, Eleanor Powell or Jane Powell.-Biography:...
's Four Star Television
Four Star Television
Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Ida Lupino, and Charles Boyer, the company produced many well-known shows of the early days of...
.
In addition to his Academy Awards (see below), Douglas won a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for his Broadway lead role in the 1960 The Best Man
The Best Man (play)
The Best Man is a 1960 play by American playwright Gore Vidal. The play premiered on Broadway at the Morosco Theatre on March 31, 1960, and ran for 520 performances before closing on July 8, 1961.Vidal adapted it into a film with the same title in 1964....
by Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
, and an Emmy for his 1967 role in Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Do not go gentle into that good night
Do not go gentle into that good night, a villanelle, is considered to be among the finest works by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas . Originally published in the journal Botteghe Oscure in 1951, it also appeared as part of the collection "In Country Sleep." Written for his dying father, it is one of...
. As Douglas grew older, he took on the older-man and father roles, in such movies as The Americanization of Emily
The Americanization of Emily
The Americanization of Emily is a 1964 American comedy-drama war film written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Arthur Hiller, loosely adapted from the novel of the same name by William Bradford Huie who had been a SeaBee officer on D-Day....
(1964), Hud
Hud (film)
Hud is a 1963 western film whose title character is an embittered and selfish modern-day cowboy. With screenplay by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr., based on Larry McMurtry's 1961 novel Horseman, Pass By, it was directed by Martin Ritt and stars Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal and...
(1963), for which he won his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
, (1966) The Fugitive
The Fugitive (TV series)
The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
, The Candidate
The Candidate (1972 film)
The Candidate is a 1972 American film starring Robert Redford. Its themes include how the political machine corrupts. There are many parallels between the then-recent 1970 California Senate election between John V. Tunney and George Murphy; however, Redford's character Bill McKay is a political...
(1972) and I Never Sang for My Father
I Never Sang for My Father
I Never Sang for My Father is a 1970 American film, based on a play by the same name, which tells the story of a college professor who wants to get out from under the thumb of his aging father yet still has regrets about his plan to leave him behind when he marries a younger woman and moves to...
(1970), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
. He won his second Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for the comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
-drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
Being There
Being There
Being There is a 1979 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby. Adapted from the 1971 novella written by Jerzy Kosinski, the screenplay was coauthored by Kosinski and Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard A...
(1979).
Douglas' final screen appearance was in Ghost Story
Ghost Story (film)
Ghost Story is a 1981 American horror film directed by John Irvin and based on the book of the same name by Peter Straub. It stars Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman and Craig Wasson . It was the last film to feature Astaire, Fairbanks, and Douglas, and the first...
(1981). He did not finish his role in the film The Hot Touch (1982) before his death. Douglas has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
, one for movies at 6423 Hollywood Blvd. and one for television at 6601 Hollywood Blvd.
Personal life
Douglas was married briefly to artist Rosalind Hightower, and they had one child, (Melvyn) Gregory Hesselberg, in 1925. Gregory Hesselberg, an artist, is the father of actress Illeana DouglasIlleana Douglas
Illeana Douglas is an American actress, director, screenwriter, and producer.-Background:Douglas is a granddaughter of the actor Melvyn Douglas and his first wife, artist Rosalind Hightower, and has said that her grandfather's performance in Being There, in particular, was influential on her own...
.
In 1931 Douglas married actress-turned-politician Helen Gahagan
Helen Gahagan
Helen Gahagan was an American actress and politician. She was the third woman and first Democratic woman elected to Congress from California; her election made California one of the first two states to have elected female members of the House from both parties.-Early life and acting...
. They traveled to Europe that same year, and "were horrified by French and German anti-Semitism." As a result, they became outspoken anti-Fascists, supporting the Democratic Party and Roosevelt's re-election. As a three-term Congresswoman
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, she was later Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
's opponent for the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
seat from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1950.
Nixon accused Gahagan of being soft on Communism because of her opposition to the House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
. Nixon went so far as to call her "pink right down to her underwear". It was Gahagan who popularized Nixon's epithet "Tricky Dick." Douglas and Gahagan had two children: Peter Gahagan Douglas (1933) and Mary Helen Douglas (1938). The couple remained married until Helen Gahagan Douglas' death in 1980 from cancer. Melvyn Douglas died a year later, in 1981, aged 80, from pneumonia and cardiac complications in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Academy Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Film | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... |
Hud Hud (film) Hud is a 1963 western film whose title character is an embittered and selfish modern-day cowboy. With screenplay by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr., based on Larry McMurtry's 1961 novel Horseman, Pass By, it was directed by Martin Ritt and stars Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal and... |
|
| 1970 | Best Actor Academy Award for Best Actor Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... |
I Never Sang for My Father I Never Sang for My Father I Never Sang for My Father is a 1970 American film, based on a play by the same name, which tells the story of a college professor who wants to get out from under the thumb of his aging father yet still has regrets about his plan to leave him behind when he marries a younger woman and moves to... |
|
| 1979 | Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... |
Being There Being There Being There is a 1979 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby. Adapted from the 1971 novella written by Jerzy Kosinski, the screenplay was coauthored by Kosinski and Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard A... |
|
Partial filmography
- Tonight or NeverTonight or NeverTonight or Never is a comedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Gloria Swanson and featuring Boris Karloff.-Plot:Nella Vargo is a Hungarian prima donna whose latest performances include singing Tosca in Venice...
(1931) - The Wiser SexThe Wiser SexThe Wiser Sex is a 1932 crime drama film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by Berthold Viertel and Victor Viertel, and starring Claudette Colbert, Melvyn Douglas, Lilyan Tashman, William Boyd and Ross Alexander....
(1932) - As You Desire MeAs You Desire Me (film)As You Desire Me is a 1932 film adaptation of the play by Luigi Pirandello made by MGM. It was produced and directed by George Fitzmaurice with Irving Thalberg as co-producer. The adaptation was by Gene Markey, the cinematography byWilliam H...
(1932) - The Old Dark HouseThe Old Dark HouseThe Old Dark House is an American comedy horror film directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff, produced just one year after their success with Frankenstein, also released by Universal Studios.-Background:...
(1932) - The Vampire BatThe Vampire BatThe Vampire Bat is an American horror movie starring Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas, and Dwight Frye.-Plot outline:When the villagers of Kleinschloss start dying of blood loss, the town fathers suspect a resurgence of vampirism. While police inspector Karl remains skeptical, scientist Dr...
(1933) - Counsellor at LawCounsellor at LawCounsellor at Law is a 1933 American drama film directed by William Wyler. The screenplay by Elmer Rice is based on his 1931 play of the same title.-Plot:...
(1933) - She Married Her BossShe Married Her BossShe Married Her Boss is a 1935 film directed by Gregory La Cava, and starring Claudette Colbert and Melvyn Douglas.-Plot:It tells the story of a secretary who married with her boss, however she has a hard time living up to him.-Cast:...
(1935) - Mary Burns, FugitiveMary Burns, FugitiveMary Burns, Fugitive is a 1935 American drama film directed by William K. Howard. Sylvia Sidney is once again the poor victim, but Alan Baxter overshadows everybody, even Ms. Sidney, as the gangster who marries her, and, eventually, sends her to jail.-Cast:...
(1935) - Annie OakleyAnnie Oakley (film)Annie Oakley is a 1935 biographical film about the life of Annie Oakley. It stars Barbara Stanwyck and Preston Foster.-Plot:In late 1800s Ohio, a backwoods gal, Annie Oakley delivers six dozen quail she has shot to the owner of the general store...
(1935) - The Gorgeous HussyThe Gorgeous HussyThe Gorgeous Hussy is a 1936 film directed by Clarence Brown, and starring Joan Crawford and Robert Taylor. The film's plot tells a fictionalized account of President of the United States Andrew Jackson and an innkeeper's daughter...
(1936) - Theodora Goes WildTheodora Goes WildTheodora Goes Wild is a 1936 American romantic comedy film that tells the story of a small town which is incensed by a risqué novel, little knowing that it was written under a pseudonym by a member of the town's leading family. It stars Irene Dunne and Melvyn Douglas and was directed by Richard...
(1936) - Captains Courageous (1937)
- I Met Him in ParisI Met Him in ParisI Met Him in Paris is a 1937 film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by Wesley Ruggles, and starring Claudette Colbert, Melvyn Douglas, and Robert Young.-Cast:* Claudette Colbert as Kay Denham* Melvyn Douglas as George Potter...
(1937) - AngelAngel (1937 film)Angel is a 1937 American comedy-drama film made by Paramount Pictures. It was produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch from a screenplay by Samson Raphaelson and Frederick Lonsdale, adapted by Guy Bolton and Russell Medcraft from the play Angyal by Melchior Lengyel. The music score was by Frederick...
(1937) - Arsène Lupin Returns (1938)
- There's Always a WomanThere's Always a WomanThere's Always a Woman is a 1938 comedy mystery film starring Joan Blondell and Melvyn Douglas as married detectives investigating a murder...
(1938) - The Toy WifeThe Toy WifeThe Toy Wife is a 1938 drama film directed by Richard Thorpe. The period film was produced by Merian C. Cooper, written by Zoe Akins and had Luise Rainer and Melvyn Douglas in the leading roles.-Plot:...
(1938) - Fast CompanyFast Company (1938 film)Fast Company is a 1938 mystery film starring Melvyn Douglas and Florence Rice as married rare-book dealers who try to solve a murder case. It was based on the novel of the same name by "Marco Page"...
(1938) - The Shining HourThe Shining HourThe Shining Hour is a 1938 MGM film, based on a 1934 play by Keith Winter. The film starred Joan Crawford, Margaret Sullavan, Robert Young, Melvyn Douglas, and Fay Bainter.-Plot summary:...
(1938) - NinotchkaNinotchkaNinotchka is a 1939 American film made for Metro Goldwyn Mayer by producer and director Ernst Lubitsch which stars Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas. It was written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch, based on a screen story by Melchior Lengyel. Ninotchka is Greta Garbo's first full...
(1939) - Too Many HusbandsToo Many HusbandsToo Many Husbands is a 1940 romantic comedy film about a woman who loses her husband in a boating accident and remarries, only to have her first spouse reappear. The film stars Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray and Melvyn Douglas, and is based on the 1919 play "Home and Beauty" by W. Somerset Maugham...
(1940) - Third Finger, Left HandThird Finger, Left HandThird Finger, Left Hand is a 1940 romantic comedy film. A woman pretends to be married to fend off would-be suitors and jealous wives, then regrets her deception when she meets an artist.-Plot:...
(1940) - That Uncertain FeelingThat Uncertain Feeling (film)That Uncertain Feeling is a 1941 comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Merle Oberon, Melvyn Douglas and Burgess Meredith. The film is about the bored wife of an insurance salesman who meets an eccentric pianist and seeks a divorce. The screenplay by Walter Reisch and Donald Ogden...
(1941) - A Woman's FaceA Woman's FaceA Woman's Face is a 1941 drama film directed by George Cukor, starring Joan Crawford, Melvyn Douglas and Conrad Veidt. It tells the story of Anna Holm, a facially disfigured blackmailer, who because of her appearance despises everyone she encounters...
(1941) - Two-Faced WomanTwo-Faced WomanTwo-Faced Woman is a romantic comedy made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film stars Greta Garbo, in her final film role, and Melvyn Douglas, with Constance Bennett, Roland Young and Ruth Gordon...
(1941)
- They All Kissed the BrideThey All Kissed the BrideThey All Kissed the Bride is a Columbia Pictures feature film starring Joan Crawford, Melvyn Douglas, Roland Young, and Billie Burke in a story about a trucking firm executive who falls in love. The screenplay by P. J. Wolfson was based on a story by Gina Kaus and Andrew P. Solt. The film was...
(1942) - We were dancingWe Were DancingWe Were Dancing is a short play by Noël Coward, one of ten that make up Tonight at 8:30, a cycle written to be performed in alternating groups of three plays, across three evenings...
(1942) - The Sea of GrassThe Sea of Grass (film)The Sea of Grass is a 1947 western-drama film. It was directed by Elia Kazan and based on the novel of the same name by Conrad Richter. The movie stars Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Melvyn Douglas....
(1947) - The Guilt of Janet AmesThe Guilt of Janet AmesThe Guilt of Janet Ames is a 1947 drama film. A widow sets out to find the five men whose lives were saved by the sacrifice of her husband in World War II and judge whether they are worthy.-Plot:...
(1947) - Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream HouseMr. Blandings Builds His Dream HouseMr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is a 1948 American comedy film directed by H.C. Potter and starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. The film was written and produced by the team of Melvin Frank and Norman Panama...
(1948) - A Woman's SecretA Woman's SecretA Woman's Secret is a 1949 film noir. It was based on the novel Mortgage on Life by Vicki Baum. It was directed by Nicholas Ray and starred Maureen O'Hara, Gloria Grahame and Melvyn Douglas.-Plot summary:...
(1949) - The Great SinnerThe Great SinnerThe Great Sinner is a 1949 American drama film directed by Robert Siodmak. Based on the 1866 short novel The Gambler written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the film stars Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Frank Morgan, Ethel Barrymore, Walter Huston, Agnes Moorehead and Melvyn Douglas.-Plot:During the 1860s in...
(1949) - Billy BuddBilly Budd (film)Billy Budd is a 1962 film produced, directed, and co-written by Peter Ustinov. Adapted from the stage play version of Herman Melville's short novel Billy Budd, it starred Terence Stamp as Billy Budd, Robert Ryan as John Claggart, and Ustinov as Captain Vere...
(1962) - HudHud (film)Hud is a 1963 western film whose title character is an embittered and selfish modern-day cowboy. With screenplay by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr., based on Larry McMurtry's 1961 novel Horseman, Pass By, it was directed by Martin Ritt and stars Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal and...
(1963) - Advance to the RearAdvance to the RearAdvance to the Rear is a light-hearted 1964 western comedy film set in the American Civil War. It stars Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens and Melvyn Douglas and is directed by George Marshall. The film is based on the 1957 novel Company of Cowards by Jack Schaefer, with the film having that title in...
(1964) - The Americanization of EmilyThe Americanization of EmilyThe Americanization of Emily is a 1964 American comedy-drama war film written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Arthur Hiller, loosely adapted from the novel of the same name by William Bradford Huie who had been a SeaBee officer on D-Day....
(1964) - RaptureRapture (1965 film)Rapture is a 1965 French/American film directed by John Guillermin, and starring Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Gozzi, and Dean Stockwell.-Plot:...
(1965) - Inherit the WindInherit the Wind (1965 film)Inherit the Wind is a 1965 television film adaptation of the play of the same name. The original 1955 play was written as a parable which fictionalized the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial as a means of discussing the 1950s McCarthy trials...
(TV, 1965) - Hotel (1967)
- Companions in NightmareCompanions in NightmareCompanions in Nightmare is a 1968 crime-drama film. it had early roles for Louis Gossett Jr. and Bettye Ackerman it also starred Gig Young, Melvyn Douglas, Patrick O'Neal and Leslie Nielsen-Plot:...
(1968) - I Never Sang for My FatherI Never Sang for My FatherI Never Sang for My Father is a 1970 American film, based on a play by the same name, which tells the story of a college professor who wants to get out from under the thumb of his aging father yet still has regrets about his plan to leave him behind when he marries a younger woman and moves to...
(1970) - The CandidateThe Candidate (1972 film)The Candidate is a 1972 American film starring Robert Redford. Its themes include how the political machine corrupts. There are many parallels between the then-recent 1970 California Senate election between John V. Tunney and George Murphy; however, Redford's character Bill McKay is a political...
(1972) - The TenantThe TenantThe Tenant is a 1976 psychological thriller/horror film directed by and starring Roman Polanski based upon the 1964 novel Le locataire chimérique by Roland Topor. It is also known under the French title Le Locataire. It co-stars actress Isabelle Adjani. It is the last film in Polanski's "Apartment...
(1976) - Twilight's Last GleamingTwilight's Last GleamingTwilight's Last Gleaming is a 1977 film directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Burt Lancaster and Richard Widmark.Loosely based on a 1971 novel, Viper Three by Walter Wager, it tells the story of Lawrence Dell, a renegade USAF general, who escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo...
(1977) - The Seduction of Joe TynanThe Seduction of Joe TynanThe Seduction of Joe Tynan is a 1979 American political film drama directed by Jerry Schatzberg and produced by Martin Bregman. The screenplay was written by Alan Alda, who also played the title role....
(1979) - Being ThereBeing ThereBeing There is a 1979 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby. Adapted from the 1971 novella written by Jerzy Kosinski, the screenplay was coauthored by Kosinski and Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard A...
(1979) - The Changeling (1980)
- Tell Me a RiddleTell Me a RiddleTell Me a Riddle is a 1980 American drama film directed by Lee Grant. The screenplay by Joyce Eliason and Alev Lytle is based on Tillie Olsen's collection of four short stories of the same name which won the 1961 O. Henry Award. This is Grant's first film as director...
(1980) - Ghost StoryGhost Story (film)Ghost Story is a 1981 American horror film directed by John Irvin and based on the book of the same name by Peter Straub. It stars Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman and Craig Wasson . It was the last film to feature Astaire, Fairbanks, and Douglas, and the first...
(1981)
External links
- Melvyn Douglas (1901-1981) at the New Georgia Encyclopedia
- www.geoghegan.org: HELEN GAHAGAN DOUGLAS
- Photographs and literature on Melvyn Douglas