Louis Calhern
Carl Henry Vogt, known by his stage name Louis Calhern, was an American actor. Described as a “star leading man of the theater and a star character actor of the screen,” he appeared in over 100 roles on the Broadway stage and in films and television, between 1923 and 1956. He was nominated for the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for [Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama|Golden Globe Award] for Best Actor for portraying U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in the 1950 film The Magnificent Yankee.
Often cast in films as distinguished and sophisticated characters, Calhern's other notable film roles included the scheming Ambassador Trentino in the classic Marx Brothers comedy Duck Soup, the antagonist to Robert Donat's Edmond Dantès in The Count of Monte Cristo, the head of the US Secret Service in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious, the pivotal villain Alonzo Emmerich in John Huston’s film noir The Asphalt Jungle, Buffalo Bill in the musical Annie Get Your Gun, and the title character in Joseph L. Mankiewicz all-star 1953 film adaptation of Julius Caesar. He won a Special Jury Prize at the 15th Venice International Film Festival for his performance in Executive Suite.
Early life
Calhern was born Carl Henry Vogt in Brooklyn, New York, in 1895, the son of German immigrants Eugene Adolf Vogt and Hubertina Friese Vogt. He had one known sibling, a sister. His father was a tobacco dealer. His family left New York while he was in elementary school and moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was raised. While playing high school football, a stage manager from a touring theatrical stock company noticed the tall, handsome youth and hired him as a bit player. Another source states "Grace George hired his entire high school football team as supers for a Shakespearean play."Career
Just before World War I, Calhern returned to New York to pursue an acting career. He began as a prop boy and bit player with various touring and burlesque companies. He became a matinee idol after being in a play titled Cobra. Calhern's burgeoning career was interrupted by World War I; he served in France in the 143rd Field Artillery of the U.S. Army.Due to the anti-German sentiment during World War I, he changed his German given name, Carl. His stage name is an amalgam of his adopted hometown of St. Louis and his first and middle names, Carl and Henry.
Calhern began working in silent films for director Lois Weber in the early 1920s, the most notable being The Blot. A 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, deciding to devote his career entirely to the stage. He returned to films early in the sound era where he was primarily cast as a character actor, while he continued to play leading roles on the stage. In 1945, Calhern won the Donaldson Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in The Magnificent Yankee.
Among Calhern's notable screen portrayals were as the partner in crime to Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis in 20,000 Years in Sing Sing, as Ambassador Trentino in the classic Marx Brothers comedy Duck Soup, as Major Dort in The Life of Emile Zola, and as the spy boss of Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious.
In 1948, Calhern joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a contract player, receiving wide acclaim for three diverse roles that he appeared in for the studio in 1950: a singing role as Buffalo Bill in the film version of the musical Annie Get Your Gun; as a double-crossing lawyer and sugar daddy to a young Marilyn Monroe in John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle; and his Oscar-nominated performance as Oliver Wendell Holmes in The Magnificent Yankee. He was subsequently cast in the title role of Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1953 all-star film version of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, earning more praise.
Calhern played the role of the devious George Caswell, the manipulative board member of Tredway Corporation, in the 1954 production of Executive Suite, followed by the role of a jaded, acerbic high school teacher in Blackboard Jungle. His performance as cheerfully lecherous Uncle Willie in High Society, a musical remake of The Philadelphia Story, was his final film appearance.
Personal life
Calhern battled alcoholism for much of his adult life; as a result, he lost several important screen and stage roles. According to former wife Natalie Schafer, Calhern's inability to overcome his addiction ended their marriage. While he was willing to consult doctors, she said Calhern refused to attend Alcoholics Anonymous because he was an atheist and considered AA to be a religious organization. Calhern ultimately overcame his alcohol addiction by the late 1940s.Death
On May 12, 1956, Calhern, aged 61, died unexpectedly of a heart attack while in Nara, Japan to begin filming The Teahouse of the August Moon. His body was cremated and was interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.Selected filmography
What's Worth While? as "Squire" EltonToo Wise Wives as Mr. David GrahamThe Blot as The Professor's Pupil as Phil WestWoman, Wake Up as Monte CollinsThe Last Moment as Harry GainesStolen Heaven as Steve PerryThe Road to Singapore as Dr. George MarchBlonde Crazy as Dapper Dan BarkerOkay, America! as Mileaway RussellNight After Night as Dick BoltonThey Call It Sin as Ford HumphriesAfraid to Talk as Asst. District Attorney John Wade20,000 Years in Sing Sing as Joe FinnFrisco Jenny as Steve DuttonThe Woman Accused as Leo YoungStrictly Personal as MagruderThe World Gone Mad as Christopher BrunoDiplomaniacs as WinkelreidDuck Soup as Ambassador Trentino of SylvaniaThe Count of Monte Cristo as De Villefort Jr.The Man with Two Faces as Stanley VanceThe Affairs of Cellini as OttavianoSweet Adeline as Major DayThe Arizonian as Sheriff Jake MannenWoman Wanted as SmileyThe Last Days of Pompei as PrefectThe Gorgeous Hussy as SunderlandHer Husband Lies as Joe SorrellThe Life of Emile Zola as Major DortFast Company as Elias Z. "Eli" BannermanJuarez as Le Marc5th Ave Girl as Dr. KesslerCharlie McCarthy, Detective as Arthur AldrichI Take This Woman as Dr. DuveenDr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet as Dr. BrockdorfHeaven Can Wait as Randolph Van CleveNobody's Darling as Curtis FarnsworthThe Bridge of San Luis Rey as Don Andre, The ViceroyUp in Arms as Colonel AshleyNotorious as Captain Paul PrescottArch of Triumph as "Col." Boris MorosovThe Red Pony as GrandfatherThe Red Danube as Colonel PinievNancy Goes to Rio as Gregory ElliottAnnie Get Your Gun as Colonel William "Buffalo Bill" CodyThe Asphalt Jungle as Alonzo D. EmmerichA Life of Her Own as Jim LeversoeDevil's Doorway as Verne CoolanTwo Weeks with Love as Horatio RobinsonThe Magnificent Yankee as Oliver Wendell HolmesIt's a Big Country as narratorThe Man with a Cloak as Charles Francois ThevenetA Letter from a Soldier as narratorInvitation as Simon BowkerWashington Story as Charles W. BirchWe're Not Married! as Frederick C. "Freddie" MelroseThe Prisoner of Zenda as Col. ZaptThe Bad and the Beautiful as voice of Georgia Lorrison's FatherConfidentially Connie as Opie BedloeJulius Caesar as Julius CaesarRemains to Be Seen as Benjamin GoodmanLatin Lovers as Grandfather Eduardo SantosMain Street to Broadway as himselfExecutive Suite as George Nyle CaswellRhapsody as Nicholas DurantMen of the Fighting Lady as James A. MichenerThe Student Prince as King Ferdinand of KarlsbergBetrayed as General Ten EyckAthena as Grandpa Ulysses MulvainThe Prodigal as NahreebBlackboard Jungle as Jim MurdockForever, Darling as Charles Y. BewellHigh Society as Uncle WillieStage credits
Calhern's Broadway credits include:Roger Bloomer The Song and Dance Man Cobra In a Garden Hedda Gabler The Woman Disputed Up the Line The Dark Savages Under the Skin A Distant Drum Gypsy The Love Duel The Rhapsody The Tyrant Give Me Yesterday Brief Moment The Inside Story Birthday Hell Freezes Over Robin Landing Summer Night The Great Big Doorstep Jacobowsky and the Colonel The Magnificent Yankee The Survivors The Play's the Thing King Lear- ''The Wooden Dish''