CINEFILER

Louis Calhern

Born
February 18, 1895
Died
May 12, 1956
Carl Henry Vogt (February 19, 1895 – May 12, 1956), known professionally as Louis Calhern, was an American stage and screen actor. For portraying Oliver Wendell Holmes in the film The Magnificent Yankee (1950), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Calhern began working in silent films for director Lois Weber in the early 1920s; the most notable being The Blot in 1921. A 1921 newspaper article commented, "The new arrival in stardom is Louis Calhern, who, until Miss Weber engaged him to enact the leading male role in What's Worth While?, had been playing leads in the Morosco Stock company of Los Angeles." In 1923 Calhern left the movies, but would return to the screen eight years later after the advent of sound pictures. He was primarily cast as a character actor in films while he continued to play leading roles on the stage. He reached his peak in the 1950s as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player. Among his many memorable screen roles were Ambassador Trentino in the Marx Brothers classic Duck Soup (1933) and three that he appeared in at MGM in 1950: a singing role as Buffalo Bill in the film version of the musical Annie Get Your Gun, the double-crossing lawyer and sugar-daddy to Marilyn Monroe in John Huston's film noir The Asphalt Jungle, and his Oscar-nominated performance as Oliver Wendell Holmes in The Magnificent Yankee (re-creating his role from the Broadway stage). He was also praised for his portrayal of the title role in the John Houseman production of Julius Caesar (adapted from the Shakespeare play) in 1953, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Calhern also played the role of the devious George Caswell, the manipulative board member of Tredway Corporation in the 1954 production of Executive Suite. Calhern's other film roles included the grandfather in The Red Pony (1949), adapted from the novel by John Steinbeck and starring Robert Mitchum, and the spy boss of Cary Grant in the Alfred Hitchcock suspense classic Notorious (1946). A performance as Uncle Willie in High Society (1956), a musical remake of The Philadelphia Story, turned out to be his final film. Description above from the Wikipedia article Louis Calhern, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Notorious
(1946)
Captain Paul Prescott
High Society
(1956)
Uncle Willie
Heaven Can Wait
(1943)
Randolph Van Cleve
Julius Caesar
(1953)
Jules César
The Life of Emile Zola
(1937)
Major Dort
The Asphalt Jungle
(1950)
Alonzo D. Emmerich
Blackboard Jungle
(1955)
Jim Murdock
Executive Suite
(1954)
George Nyle Caswell
The Bad and the Beautiful
(1952)
Georgia Lorrison's Father (voice) (uncredited)
Duck Soup
(1933)
Ambassador Trentino
The Count of Monte Cristo
(1934)
De Villefort Jr.
The Prisoner of Zenda
(1952)
Col. Zapt
Arch of Triumph
(1948)
Boris Morosov
That's Entertainment, Part II
(1976)
(archive footage)
Full Filmography
Acting
Too Wise Wives
(1921)
David Graham
What's Worth While?
(1921)
'Squire' Elton
The Blot
(1921)
Phil West
The Last Moment
(1923)
Harry Gaines
Blonde Crazy
(1931)
'Dapper Dan' Barker
Stolen Heaven
(1931)
Steve Perry
The Road to Singapore
(1931)
Dr. George March
Afraid to Talk
(1932)
Asst. District Attorney John Wade
They Call It Sin
(1932)
Ford Humphries
Night After Night
(1932)
Dick Bolton
Okay, America!
(1932)
Mileaway Russell
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
(1932)
Joe Finn
The Woman Accused
(1933)
Leo Young
The World Gone Mad
(1933)
Christopher Bruno
Frisco Jenny
(1933)
Steve Dutton
Duck Soup
(1933)
Ambassador Trentino
Strictly Personal
(1933)
Jack Magruder
Diplomaniacs
(1933)
Winkelreid
The Man with Two Faces
(1934)
Stanley Vance
The Affairs of Cellini
(1934)
Ottaviano
Sweet Adeline
(1934)
Major Jim Day
The Count of Monte Cristo
(1934)
De Villefort Jr.
Woman Wanted
(1935)
Smiley
The Last Days of Pompeii
(1935)
Prefect Allus Martius
The Arizonian
(1935)
Sheriff Jake Mannen
The Gorgeous Hussy
(1936)
Leroy Sunderland
The Life of Emile Zola
(1937)
Major Dort
Her Husband Lies
(1937)
Joe Sorrell
Fast Company
(1938)
Elias Z. 'Eli' Bannerman
5th Ave Girl
(1939)
Dr. Kessler
Charlie McCarthy, Detective
(1939)
Arthur Aldrich
Juarez
(1939)
LeMarc
Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet
(1940)
Dr. Brockdorf
I Take This Woman
(1940)
Dr. Martin Sumner Duveen
Heaven Can Wait
(1943)
Randolph Van Cleve
Nobody's Darling
(1943)
Curtis Farnsworth
Up in Arms
(1944)
Colonel Ashley
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
(1944)
Don Andre - The Viceroy
Notorious
(1946)
Captain Paul Prescott
Arch of Triumph
(1948)
Boris Morosov
The Red Danube
(1949)
Colonel Piniev
The Red Pony
(1949)
Grandfather
The Magnificent Yankee
(1950)
Oliver Wendell Holmes
The Asphalt Jungle
(1950)
Alonzo D. Emmerich
Two Weeks with Love
(1950)
Horatio Robinson
A Life of Her Own
(1950)
Jim Leversoe
Devil's Doorway
(1950)
Verne Coolan
Annie Get Your Gun
(1950)
Col. Buffalo Bill Cody
Nancy Goes to Rio
(1950)
Gregory Elliott
The Man with a Cloak
(1951)
Charles Theverner
It's a Big Country
(1951)
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Invitation
(1952)
Simon Bowker
The Bad and the Beautiful
(1952)
Georgia Lorrison's Father (voice) (uncredited)
The Prisoner of Zenda
(1952)
Col. Zapt
We're Not Married!
(1952)
Freddie Melrose
Washington Story
(1952)
Charles W. Birch
Latin Lovers
(1953)
Grandfather Eduardo Santos
Confidentially Connie
(1953)
Opie Bedloe
Main Street to Broadway
(1953)
Self
Julius Caesar
(1953)
Jules César
Remains to Be Seen
(1953)
Benjamin Goodman
Athena
(1954)
Grandpa Ulysses Mulvain
Betrayed
(1954)
Gen. Ten Eyck
Rhapsody
(1954)
Nicholas Durant
The Student Prince
(1954)
King of Karlsberg
Men of the Fighting Lady
(1954)
James A. Michener
Executive Suite
(1954)
George Nyle Caswell
The Prodigal
(1955)
Nahreeb
Blackboard Jungle
(1955)
Jim Murdock
High Society
(1956)
Uncle Willie
Forever, Darling
(1956)
Charles Y. Bewell
That's Entertainment, Part II
(1976)
(archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
(1986)
Self (from The Asphalt Jungle [1950]) (archive footage)
Data provided by TMDB