Ronald Colman
Born
February 8, 1891
Died
May 19, 1958 (67 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Richmond, Surrey, England, UK
British leading man of primarily American films, one of the great stars of the Golden Age. Raised in Ealing, the son of a successful silk merchant, he attended boarding school in Sussex, where he first discovered amateur theatre. He intended to attend Cambridge and become an engineer, but his father's death cost him the financial support necessary. He joined the London Scottish Regionals and at the outbreak of World War I was sent to France. Seriously wounded at the battle of Messines--he was gassed--he was invalided out of service scarcely two months after shipping out for France. Upon his recovery he tried to enter the consular service, but a chance encounter got him a small role in a London play. He dropped other plans and concentrated on the theatre, and was rewarded with a succession of increasingly prominent parts. He made extra money appearing in a few minor films, and in 1920 set out for New York in hopes of finding greater fortune there than in war-depressed England. After two years of impoverishment he was cast in a Broadway hit, "La Tendresse". Director Henry King spotted him in the show and cast him as Lillian Gish's leading man in The White Sister (1923). His success in the film led to a contract with Samuel Goldwyn, and his career as a Hollywood leading man was underway. He became a vastly popular star of silent films, in romances as well as adventure films. The coming of sound made his extraordinarily beautiful speaking voice even more important to the film industry. He played sophisticated, thoughtful characters of integrity with enormous aplomb, and swashbuckled expertly when called to do so in films like The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). A decade later he received an Academy Award for his splendid portrayal of a tormented actor in A Double Life (1947). Much of his later career was devoted to "The Halls of Ivy", a radio show that later was transferred to television "The Halls of Ivy" (1954). He continued to work until nearly the end of his life, which came in 1958 after a brief lung illness. He was survived by his second wife, actress Benita Hume, and their daughter Juliet Benita Colman.
Known For
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
Self (archive footage)
2001
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Self (archive footage)
1988
That's Entertainment, Part II
(archive footage)
1976
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
'A Tale of Two Cities' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1961
The Story of Mankind
The Spirit of Man
1957
Around the World in Eighty Days
Railway Official
1956
The Halls of Ivy
(38 episodes)
1954
General Electric Theater
Graham · (1 episode)
1953
Four Star Playhouse
Caller · (1 episode)
1952
Four Star Playhouse
Cameron · (1 episode)
1952
Four Star Playhouse
Dr. Bosanquent · (1 episode)
1952
Four Star Playhouse
Narrator · (1 episode)
1952
The Jack Benny Program
Ronald Colman · (1 episode)
1950
Champagne for Caesar
Beauregard Bottomley
1950
The Art Director
Self - from 'Late George Apley' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1949
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self · (1 episode)
1948
A Double Life
Anthony John
1947
The Late George Apley
George Apley
1947
Kismet
Hafiz
1944
Random Harvest
Charles Rainier
1942
The Talk of the Town
Michael Lightcap
1942
My Life with Caroline
Anthony Mason
1941
Lucky Partners
David Grant
1940
The Light That Failed
Dick Heldar
1939
If I Were King
François Villon
1938
The Prisoner of Zenda
Major Rudolf Rassendyll / The Prisoner of Zenda
1937
Lost Horizon
Robert " Bob " Conway
1937
Under Two Flags
Sgt. Victor
1936
A Tale of Two Cities
Sydney Carton
1935
The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo
Paul Gaillard
1935
Clive of India
Robert Clive
1935
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
Captain Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond
1934
The Masquerader
Sir John Chilcote / John Loder
1933
Cynara
James Warlock
1932
Arrowsmith
Dr. Martin Arrowsmith
1931
The Unholy Garden
Barrington Hunt
1931
Governor C.C. Young Hails Greater Talkie Season
1930
The Devil to Pay!
Willie Hale
1930
Terra Melophon Magazin Nr. 1
1930
Raffles
A.J. Raffles
1930
Condemned!
Michel
1929
Bulldog Drummond
Captain Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond
1929
The Rescue
Tom Lingard
1929
Two Lovers
Mark van Rycke
1928
The Magic Flame
Tito the Clown / The Count
1927
The Night of Love
Montero
1927
The Winning of Barbara Worth
Willard Holmes
1926
Beau Geste
Michael 'Beau' Geste
1926
Kiki
Victor Renal
1926
Lady Windermere's Fan
Lord Darlington
1925
Stella Dallas
Stephen Dallas
1925
The Dark Angel
Captain Alan Trent
1925
Her Sister from Paris
Joseph
1925
A Thief in Paradise
Maurice Blake
1925
The Sporting Venus
Donald MacAllan
1925
His Supreme Moment
John Douglas
1925
Romola
Carlo Bucellini
1924
Her Night of Romance
Paul Menford
1924
Tarnish
Emmet Carr
1924
Twenty Dollars a Week
Chester Reeves
1924
The White Sister
Capt. Giovanni Severi
1923
Anna the Adventuress
Brendan
1920
The Toilers
Bob
1919