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Monte Blue

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Birth Date:
11.01.1887
Death date:
18.02.1963
Person's maiden name:
Gerard Montgomery Bluefeather
Categories:
Actor
Nationality:
 american
Cemetery:
Set cemetery

Monte Blue (born Gerard Montgomery Bluefeather, January 11, 1887 – February 18, 1963) was a movie actor who began his career as a romantic leading man in the silent film era, and later progressed to character roles.

Spouses:

Erma Gladys (?-1923, divorced)
Tova Jansen (1924-1956, her death)
Betty Jean Munson Mess (1959-1963, his death)

Early life

Blue was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father was half French and half Cherokee or Osage Indian. One of five children, his father died. and his mother could not rear five children alone. Along with another brother, Blue was admitted to the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home. This did not stop him from working his way through Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

When growing up, Blue built up his physique to become a football player (he grew to six feet three inches tall). He not only played football but was also a fireman, railroad worker, coal miner, cowpuncher, ranch hand, circus rider, lumberjack, and a day laborer at the studios of D. W. Griffith.

Career

Blue had no theatrical experience when he came to the screen. His first movie was The Birth of a Nation (1915), in which he was a stuntman and an extra. Next, he played another small part in Intolerance (1916). He also was a stuntman or stand-in for Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree during the making of Macbeth (1916). Gradually moving to supporting roles for both D. W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille, Blue earned his breakthrough role as Danton in Orphans of the Storm, starring sisters Lillian and Dorothy Gish. Then he rose to stardom as a rugged romantic lead along with top leading actresses such as Clara Bow, Gloria Swanson, and Norma Shearer. He was most often partnered with Marie Prevost, with whom he made several films in the mid-1920s at Warner Brothers. Blue's finest silent screen performance was as the alcoholic doctor who finds paradise in MGM's White Shadows in the South Seas (1928). Blue became one of the few silent stars to survive the talkie revolution; however, he lost his investments in the stock market crash of 1929.

He rebuilt his career as a character actor, working until his retirement from films in 1954, though he continued playing character roles in various television series until 1960, mostly westerns, such as Annie Oakley, starring Gail Davis and Brad Johnson.

One of his more memorable roles was the sheriff in Key Largo opposite Lionel Barrymore.

Monte Blue has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6286 Hollywood Blvd.

Personal life

Blue divorced his first wife in 1923 and married Tova Jansen in 1924. He had two children, Barbara Ann and Richard Monte. During the later part of his life, Blue was an active Mason and the advance man for the Hamid-Morton Shrine Circus; while on business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he had a heart attack because of complications from influenza and died at the age of seventy-six.

Source: wikipedia.org

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        Relation nameRelation typeBirth DateDeath dateDescription
        1Katherine PerryKatherine PerryCoworker05.01.189714.10.1983
        2Lillian GishLillian GishCoworker14.10.189327.02.1993
        3Justine JohnstonJustine JohnstonCoworker31.01.189504.09.1982
        4Nora EddingtonNora EddingtonCoworker25.02.192410.04.2001
        5Charles BronsonCharles BronsonCoworker03.11.192130.08.2003
        6Martin MilnerMartin MilnerCoworker28.12.193106.09.2015
        7Raoul WalshRaoul WalshCoworker11.03.188731.12.1980
        8Burt LancasterBurt LancasterCoworker02.11.191320.10.1994
        9Robert HarronRobert HarronCoworker12.04.189305.09.1920
        10John FordJohn FordCoworker01.02.189431.08.1973
        11Mary AldenMary AldenCoworker18.06.188302.07.1946
        12Miriam CooperMiriam CooperCoworker07.11.189112.04.1976
        13Mae MarshMae MarshCoworker09.11.189413.02.1968
        14Lauren BacallLauren BacallCoworker16.09.192412.08.2014
        15Cecil B. DeMilleCecil B. DeMilleCoworker12.08.188121.01.1959
        16Lionel BarrymoreLionel BarrymoreCoworker28.04.187815.11.1954
        17W. S. Van DykeW. S. Van DykeCoworker21.03.188905.02.1943
        18Jean  PetersJean PetersCoworker15.10.192613.10.2000
        19Gail DavisGail DavisCoworker05.10.192515.03.1997
        20Madame Sul-Te-WanMadame Sul-Te-WanCoworker07.03.187301.02.1959
        21John HustonJohn HustonCoworker05.08.190628.08.1987
        22Theodore RobertsTheodore RobertsCoworker08.10.186114.12.1928
        23Richard BrooksRichard BrooksCoworker18.05.191211.03.1992
        24Joseph SchildkrautJoseph SchildkrautCoworker22.03.189621.01.1964
        25Humphrey BogartHumphrey BogartCoworker25.12.189914.01.1957
        26Paul BernPaul BernCoworker03.12.188905.09.1932
        27Edward G. RobinsonEdward G. RobinsonCoworker12.12.189326.01.1973
        28Louise FazendaLouise FazendaCoworker17.06.189517.04.1962
        29Dorothy  GishDorothy GishCoworker11.03.189804.06.1968
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