Raymond Massey | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Massey in a publicity photo forAdventures in Paradise, May 1961 | |
| Born | Raymond Hart Massey (1896-08-30)August 30, 1896 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | July 29, 1983(1983-07-29) (aged 86) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Beaverdale Memorial Park inNew Haven, Connecticut |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto Balliol College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1918–1973 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3, includingAnna Massey andDaniel Massey |
| Relatives | Vincent Massey (brother) Lionel Massey (nephew) |
| Awards | Hollywood Walk of Fame |
Raymond Hart Massey (August 30, 1896 – July 29, 1983) was a Canadian actor known for his commanding stage-trained voice. Forhis lead role inAbe Lincoln in Illinois (1940), Massey was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Actor. He reprised his role as Lincoln on television and inHow the West Was Won (1962). Among his other well-known roles were Dr. Gillespie in theNBC television seriesDr. Kildare (1961–1966),John Brown inSanta Fe Trail (1940) andSeven Angry Men (1955), Abraham Farlan inA Matter of Life and Death (1946), and Jonathan Brewster inArsenic and Old Lace (1944).[1]
Massey was born inToronto, Ontario, the son of Anna Vincent, who was American-born, and her husband Chester Daniel Massey, the wealthy co-owner of theMassey-Harris tractor company. He was the grandson of businessmanHart Massey and great-grandson of company founderDaniel Massey.[2] His branch of theMassey family immigrated to Canada fromNew England a few years before theWar of 1812, their ancestors having migrated from England to theMassachusetts colony in the 1630s.
Massey attended secondary school atUpper Canada College in Toronto for two years before transferring toAppleby College inOakville, Ontario.[3] He also took several courses at theUniversity of Toronto, where he was an active member of theKappa Alpha Society.[4]
Massey joined theCanadian Army at the outbreak ofWorld War I, and served on theWestern Front in theRoyal Regiment of Canadian Artillery. Lieutenant Massey returned to Canada after being wounded atZillebeke inBelgium during theBattle of Mont Sorrel in 1916 and was engaged as an army instructor for American officers atYale University.[5][6][7] In 1918, he was recalled to active service and joined theCanadian Siberian Expeditionary Force that went toSiberia during theAllied intervention in the Russian Civil War. On the orders of his commanding general, he organized aminstrel show troupe with himself as end man inblackface to bolster morale of allied troops on occupation duty inVladivostok.[8]
After returning home in 1919, he attendedBalliol College, Oxford. He later went to work in the family business, selling farm implements, but he was drawn to the theater. He persuaded his reluctant family to allow him to pursue this career.[5]
In 1942, duringWorld War II, Massey rejoined the Canadian Army and served as amajor in theadjutant general's branch.[6] After being wounded, he was invalided from the Canadian Army in 1943. He became an American citizen in 1944.[9]
He first appeared on the London stage in 1922 inEugene O'Neill'sIn the Zone.[5][6] According to his obituary inThe New York Times, he appeared in "several dozen plays and directed numerous others" in England over the next decade.[5]The Washington Post credited him with performances in over 80 plays, includingPygmalion withGertrude Lawrence;Ethan Frome withRuth Gordon; and theGeorge Bernard Shaw worksThe Doctor's Dilemma andCandida withKatharine Cornell.[6] In 1929, he directed the London premiere ofThe Silver Tassie. He received poor reviews in his debut onBroadway in an unorthodox 1931 production ofHamlet.[5]
The first movie he was in wasHigh Treason (1928). In 1931, he playedSherlock Holmes inThe Speckled Band, the firstsound film version of the story. In 1934, he played the villain inThe Scarlet Pimpernel, and in 1936, he starred inThings to Come, a film adaptation by H.G. Wells of his own speculative novelThe Shape of Things to Come (1933). In 1944, Massey played the district attorney inFritz Lang's classic film noirThe Woman in the Window, which starredEdward G. Robinson andJoan Bennett. He portrayed theAmerican Revolutionary War character Abraham Farlan, who hated the British for making him a casualty of that war, in the 1946 filmA Matter of Life and Death (titledStairway to Heaven in the U.S.).
Despite being Canadian, Massey became famous for playing archetypal American historical figures. He played abolitionist/insurrectionistJohn Brown in two films:Santa Fe Trail (1940) and again in the low-budgetSeven Angry Men (1955). The character of Brown is a wild-eyed lunatic inSanta Fe Trail, whereas he is a well-intentioned but misguided character in the more sympatheticSeven Angry Men. Massey scored a great triumph on Broadway inRobert E. Sherwood'sPulitzer Prize-winning playAbe Lincoln in Illinois despite reservations about Lincoln's being portrayed by a Canadian. He repeated his role in the1940 film version, for which he was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Actor. Massey again portrayed Lincoln inThe Day Lincoln Was Shot onFord Star Jubilee (1956), a silent appearance inHow the West Was Won (1962), and two TV adaptations ofAbe Lincoln in Illinois broadcast in 1950 and 1951. He once complained jokingly that he was "the only actor ever typecast as a president."[10] His preparation for the role was so detailed and obsessive that one person commented that Massey would not be satisfied with his Lincoln impersonation until someone assassinated him.[11] On stage in a dramatic reading ofStephen Vincent Benét'sJohn Brown's Body (1953), Massey, in addition to narrating along withTyrone Power andJudith Anderson, took on the roles of both John Brown and Lincoln.
Massey played a Canadian on-screen only once, in49th Parallel (1941).
During World War II, he teamed up with Katharine Cornell and other leading actors in a revival of Shaw'sCandida to benefit the Army Emergency Fund and the Navy Relief Society.[12]
Massey portrayed Jonathan Brewster in the film version ofArsenic and Old Lace. The character had been created byBoris Karloff for the stage version, and a running gag in the play and the film was the character's resemblance to Karloff. Even though the film was released in 1944, it was shot in 1941, at which time Karloff still was contracted to the Broadway play and could not be released for the filming (unlike his costarsJosephine Hull,Jean Adair andJohn Alexander). Massey and Karloff had appeared together earlier inJames Whale's suspense filmThe Old Dark House (1932).
After Massey became an American citizen, he continued to work in Hollywood. Memorable film roles included the husband ofJoan Crawford during her Oscar-nominated role inPossessed (1947) and the doomed publishing tycoon Gail Wynand inThe Fountainhead (1949) withPatricia Neal andGary Cooper. In 1952 his stage playHanging Judge appeared in theWest End, directed byMichael Powell.[13] In 1955 he starred inEast of Eden as Adam Trask, father of Cal, played byJames Dean, and Aron, played byRichard Davalos.
Massey became well known on television in the 1950s and 1960s. He was cast in 1960 as Sir Oliver Garnett in the episode "Trunk Full of Dreams" of the NBC seriesRiverboat.
Massey is remembered as Dr. Gillespie in the popular 1961–1966 NBC seriesDr. Kildare, withRichard Chamberlain in the title role. Massey and his sonDaniel were cast as father and son inThe Queen's Guards (1961).
Massey was married three times.
His high-profile estrangement and divorce from Adrianne Allen was the inspiration for Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin's script for the filmAdam's Rib (1949), starringKatharine Hepburn andSpencer Tracy, and indeed Massey married the lawyer who represented him in court, Dorothy Whitney, while his then former wife, Allen, married the opposing lawyer, William Dwight Whitney.[14][15]
Massey's older brother,Vincent Massey, was the first Canadian-borngovernor general of Canada. Massey also dabbled in politics, appearing in a 1964 television advertisement in support of theconservativeRepublican presidential nomineeBarry Goldwater. Massey denounced U.S. PresidentLyndon B. Johnson for a "no-win" strategy in theVietnam War, suggesting that Goldwater would pursue an aggressive strategy and win the war quickly.[16]
Massey died of pneumonia in Los Angeles, California on July 29, 1983, a month before he would have turned 87.[5] His death came on the same day as that ofDavid Niven, with whom he had co-starred inThe Prisoner of Zenda andA Matter of Life and Death. Massey is buried inNew Haven, Connecticut's Beaverdale Memorial Park.[citation needed]
Massey has two stars on theHollywood Walk of Fame, one for films at 1719 Vine Street and one for television at 6708 Hollywood Boulevard.[17] His achievements have also been recognized in a signature cocktail, theRaymond Massey.[18]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 | High Treason | Member of Federated States Council | Uncredited |
| 1929 | The Crooked Billet | Undetermined role | Uncredited; 'lost' film; one copy known to exist in a private collection |
| 1931 | The Speckled Band | Sherlock Holmes | |
| 1932 | The Face at the Window | Paul le Gros | |
| The Old Dark House | Philip Waverton | ||
| 1934 | The Scarlet Pimpernel | Citizen Chauvelin | |
| 1936 | Things to Come | John Cabal / Oswald Cabal | |
| 1937 | Fire Over England | Philip II of Spain | |
| Dreaming Lips | Miguel del Vayo | ||
| Under the Red Robe | Cardinal Richelieu | ||
| The Prisoner of Zenda | Black Michael | ||
| The Hurricane | Governor Eugene De Laage | ||
| 1938 | The Drum | Prince Ghul | |
| Black Limelight | Peter Charrington | ||
| 1940 | Abe Lincoln in Illinois | Abraham Lincoln | Nominated —Academy Award for Best Actor |
| Santa Fe Trail | John Brown | ||
| 1941 | 49th Parallel | Andy Brock | |
| Dangerously They Live | Dr. Ingersoll | ||
| 1942 | Reap the Wild Wind | King Cutler | |
| Desperate Journey | Major Otto Baumeister | ||
| 1943 | Action in the North Atlantic | Captain Steve Jarvis | |
| 1944 | Arsenic and Old Lace | Jonathan Brewster | |
| The Woman in the Window | District Attorney Frank Lalor | ||
| 1945 | Hotel Berlin | Arnim von Dahnwitz | |
| God Is My Co-Pilot | Major General Claire L. Chennault | ||
| 1946 | A Matter of Life and Death | Abraham Farlan | |
| 1947 | Possessed | Dean Graham | |
| Mourning Becomes Electra | Brigadier General Ezra Mannon | ||
| 1949 | The Fountainhead | Gail Wynand | |
| Roseanna McCoy | Old Randall McCoy | ||
| 1950 | Chain Lightning | Leland Willis | |
| Barricade | Boss Kruger | ||
| Dallas | Will Marlow | ||
| 1951 | Sugarfoot | Jacob Stint | |
| David and Bathsheba | Nathan | ||
| Come Fill the Cup | John Ives | ||
| 1952 | Carson City | A. J. "Big" Jack Davis | |
| 1953 | The Desert Song | Sheik Yousseff | |
| 1955 | Prince of Players | Junius Brutus Booth | |
| Battle Cry | Major General Snipes | ||
| East of Eden | Adam Trask | ||
| Seven Angry Men | John Brown | ||
| 1957 | Omar Khayyam | The Shah | |
| 1958 | The Naked and the Dead | General Cummings | |
| 1959 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Sam Pine | Season 5 Episode 11: "Road Hog" |
| 1960 | Wagon Train | Montezuma IX | Season 4, episode 6, "Princess of a Lost Tribe" |
| 1961 | The Great Impostor | Abbott Donner | |
| The Fiercest Heart | Willem Prinsloo | ||
| The Queen's Guards | Captain Fellowes | ||
| 1961–1966 | Dr. Kildare | Dr. Leonard Gillespie | |
| 1962 | How the West Was Won | Abraham Lincoln | |
| 1969 | Mackenna's Gold | The Preacher | |
| 1971–1972 | Night Gallery | Colonel Archie Dittman Doctor Glendon | Season 1, episode 4, second segment: "Clean Kills and Other Trophies" Season 3, episode 4: "Rare Objects" |
| 1972 | All My Darling Daughters | Matthew Cunningham | TV movie |
| 1973 | The President's Plane Is Missing | Secretary of State Freeman Sharkey | TV movie |
| My Darling Daughters' Anniversary | Matthew Cunningham | TV movie |
| Year | Program | Episode/source |
|---|---|---|
| 1941 | Philip Morris Playhouse | Wuthering Heights[19] |
| 1942 | Philip Morris Playhouse | The Man Who Played God[20] |
| 1944 | The Doctor Fights | Narrator |
| 1945 | Inner Sanctum Mystery | Death Across the Board[21] |
| 1952 | Cavalcade of America | With Malice Towards None[22] |
| 1952 | The Endless Frontier | Only One to a Customer[23] |
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