Roland Young

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Roland Young 11 November 1887 5 June 1953 was an English actor Young made his first stage appearance in Londons West End in Find the Woman in 1908 and in 1912 he made his Broadway debut in Hindle Wakes He appeared in two comedies written for him by Clare Kummer Good Gracious Annabelle 1916 and A Successful Calamity 1917 before he served with the United States Army during World War I He returned to New York when the war ended and married Kummers daughter Frances For the next few years he alternated between New York and London He made his film debut in the 1922 silent film Sherlock Holmes in which he played Watson opposite John Barrymore as Holmes He signed a contract with MetroGoldwynMayer and made his talkie debut in The Unholy Night 1929 directed by Lionel Barrymore He was loaned to Warner Bros to appear in Her Private Life with Billie Dove and Fox Film Corporation winning critical approval for his comedic performance as Jeanette MacDonalds husband in Dont Bet on a Woman He was again paired with MacDonald in the film version of Good Gracious Annabelle titled Annabelles Affairs He appeared in Cecil B de Milles The Squaw Man and played opposite Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in The Guardsman both 1931 He appeared with Evelyn Brent in Columbias The Pagan Lady 1932 and Pola Negri in RKOs A Woman Commands 1932 His final film under his MGM contract was Lovers Courageous 1932 opposite Robert Montgomery In 1933 he had a starring role in the risqué comedy for Fox Film called Pleasure Cruise along side Genevieve Tobin Young began to work as a freelance performer and found himself in constant demand He appeared with Jeanette MacDonald Genevieve Tobin and Maurice Chevalier in One Hour With You 1932 and with Kay Francis in Street of Women 1932 Alexander Korda invited him to return to Britain to make his British film debut in Wedding Rehearsal 1932 He returned to Hollywood and appeared in a diverse group of films that included comedies murder mysteries and dramas and also worked on Broadway Among his films of this period were Ruggles of Red Gap 1935 David Copperfield 1935 playing Uriah Heep and the HG Wells fantasy The Man Who Could Work Miracles 1936 In 1937 he achieved one of the most important successes of his career in Topper as a bank president haunted by the ghosts of his clients played by Cary Grant and Constance Bennett It was one of the most successful films of the year and Young was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Toppers wife was played by Billie Burke who wrote in her memoir that Young was dry and always fun to work with They also appeared together in The Young in Heart 1938 and both of the Topper sequels Topper Takes a Trip 1938 and Topper Returns 1941 He continued working steadily through the 1940s playing small roles opposite some of Hollywoods leading actresses such as Joan Crawford Marlene Dietrich Paulette Goddard and Greta Garbo in her final film TwoFaced Woman 1941 In the 1950s Young appeared on several episodic television series including Lux Video Theatre Studio One Pulitzer Prize Playhouse and The Chevrolet TeleTheatre