Stanley Ridges
Born
July 17, 1890
Died
April 22, 1951 (60 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stanley Ridges (17 July 1890 – 22 April 1951) was a British-born actor who made his mark in films by playing a wide assortment of character parts.
Born 17 July 1890 in Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK, Stanley Ridges became a protégé of Beatrice Lillie, a star of musical stage comedies, and spent many years learning and honing his craft on the stage. Eventually making his way to America, Ridges began as a song-and-dance man on Broadway, but later turned to dramatic roles onstage, appearing in such plays as Maxwell Anderson's Mary of Scotland (as Lord Morton) and Valley Forge (as Lieutenant Colonel Lucifer Tench), becoming a romantic leading man.
Ridges' silent film debut was in Success (1923). With his excellent diction and rich speaking voice, he easily made the transition into sound films, with his career taking off at age 43, in Crime Without Passion (1934), with Claude Rains. Ridges found himself cast in character roles, as his greying hair put his romantic leading man days at an end. His most best known roles were probably two different characters in one film, one of them the kindly Professor Kingsley and the other the murderous Red Cannon in the thriller Black Friday (1940). The Jekyll and Hyde transformations gave Ridges a chance to display his acting ability.
Ridges was often cast in supporting roles in many classic films, and played the lead only once, in the B-picture False Faces (1943).
Among Ridges's other film roles were as the Scotland Yard inspector who is shadowing Charles Laughton in the film The Suspect (1944), as Major Buxton (Gary Cooper's commanding officer) in Sergeant York (1942), as Professor Siletsky in To Be or Not to Be (also 1942), and as Cary Travers Grayson, the official White House physician in Wilson (1944).
By 1950, he had just begun appearing in television anthologies such as Studio One and Philco Television Playhouse. His last feature film, the Ginger Rogers comedy The Groom Wore Spurs, in which he played a mobster, was released a month before he died.
Stanley Ridges died 22 April 1951, in Westbrook, Connecticut, aged 60.
Known For

The Groom Wore Spurs
Harry Kallen
1951

No Way Out
Sam Moreland
1950

The Man Who Had Influence
J. C. Grant
1950

Paid in Full
Dr. P.J. 'Phil' Winston
1950

The File on Thelma Jordon
Kingsley Willis
1949

Task Force
Sen. Bentley
1949

You're My Everything
Mr. Henry Mercer
1949

Streets of Laredo
Major Bailey
1949

An Act of Murder
Doctor Walter Morrison
1948

Studio One
Police Chief Scott Anderson · (1 episode)
1948

Possessed
Dr. Willard
1947

Mr. Ace
Toomey
1946

Canyon Passage
Jonas Overmire
1946

Because of Him
Charles Gilbert
1946

Captain Eddie
Col. Hans Adamson
1945

The Phantom Speaks
Dr. Paul Renwick
1945

God Is My Co-Pilot
Col. Merian 'Steve' Cooper
1945

The Suspect
Inspector Huxley
1945

The Master Race
Phil Carson
1944

Wilson
Dr. Cary Grayson
1944

The Story of Dr. Wassell
Cmdr. William B. 'Bill' Goggins
1944

The Voice That Thrilled the World
Self (segment 'Sergeant York') (archive footage)
1943

This Is the Army
John Davidson
1943

False Faces
District Attorney Stanley S. Harding
1943

Air Force
Maj. Mallory - Clark Field
1943

Tarzan Triumphs
Colonel Von Reichart
1943

Eyes in the Night
Hansen
1942

Eagle Squadron
Air Minister
1942

The Big Shot
Martin T. Fleming, Attorney
1942

To Be or Not to Be
Professor Alexander Siletsky
1942

The Lady Is Willing
Kenneth Hanline
1942

They Died with Their Boots On
Maj. Romulus Taipe
1941

Sergeant York
Major Buxton
1941

Mr. District Attorney
District Attorney Tom F. Winton
1941

The Sea Wolf
Johnson
1941

Black Friday
Prof. George Kingsley / Red Cannon
1940

Nick Carter, Master Detective
Doctor Frankton (as Stanley C. Ridges)
1939

Espionage Agent
Hamilton Peyton
1939

Dust Be My Destiny
Charles 'Charlie' Garreth
1939

Each Dawn I Die
Mueller
1939

I Stole a Million
Downs (uncredited)
1939

Union Pacific
Gen. Casement
1939

Silver on the Sage
Earl Brennan / Dave Talbot
1939

Let Us Live
District Attorney
1939

There's That Woman Again
Tony Croy
1938

The Mad Miss Manton
Edward Norris
1938

If I Were King
Rene de Montigny
1938

They're Always Caught
Dr. John Pritchard
1938

Yellow Jack
Dr. James Carroll
1938

Internes Can't Take Money
Dan Innes
1937

Sinner Take All
MacKelvey
1936

Winterset
Shadow
1936

The Scoundrel
Paul Decker
1935

Crime Without Passion
Eddie White
1934
For Two Cents
1930

The Poor Fish
George
1930

Success
Gilbert Gordon
1923