Raymond Massey

Raymond Hart Massey (August 30, 1896 – July 29, 1983) was a Canadian/American actor.

Early life

Massey was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Anna (née Vincent), who was American-born, and Chester Daniel Massey, the wealthy owner of the Massey-Ferguson Tractor Company. His branch of the Massey family immigrated to Canada from England. He attendedsecondary school briefly at Upper Canada College, before transferring to Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario, and taking several courses at University of Toronto, where he was an active member of the Kappa Alpha Society. He later graduated from Balliol College, Oxford.

At the outbreak of World War I, Massey joined the Canadian Army, serving with the artillery on the Western Front. He returned to Canada suffering shell-shock and was engaged as an Army instructor for American officers at Yale University. In 1918, he was sent to serve inSiberia, where he made his first stage appearance, entertaining American troops on occupation duty. Severely wounded in action in France, he was sent home, where he eventually worked in the family business, selling farm implements.

Acting career

Drawn to the theatre, he first appeared on the London stage in 1922. His first movie role was in High Treason in 1927. In 1929, he directed the London premiere of The Silver Tassie. He played Sherlock Holmes in The Speckled Band, the first sound film version of the story, in 1931. In 1934, he starred in The Scarlet Pimpernel and, in 1936, he starred in H. G. Wells's Things to Come. In 1944, Massey played the District Attorney in "The Woman in the Window" with Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett

Despite being Canadian, Massey became famous for his quintessential American roles such as the abolitionist John Brown in Santa Fe Trail(1941) and again in the low-budget film Seven Angry Men (1955 ). His second portrayal of Brown was much more sympathetic, presenting him as a well-intentioned but misguided figure, while in Santa Fe Trail he was presented as a wild-eyed lunatic.

Massey scored a great triumph on Broadway in Robert E. Sherwood's play Abe Lincoln in Illinois, and he repeated his role in the 1940 film version (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor). Massey again portrayed Lincoln in The Day Lincoln Was Shoton Ford Star Jubilee (1956), and, in a wordless appearance this time, in How the West Was Won (1962). A fellow actor is said to have remarked that Massey wouldn't be satisfied with his Lincoln impersonation until someone assassinated him.

On stage in a dramatic reading of Stephen Vincent Benét's John Brown's Body (1953 ), Massey, in addition to narrating along with Tyrone Power and Judith Anderson, took on both the roles of John Brown and Abe Lincoln in the same work.

Raymond Massey played a Canadian on screen only once, in 49th Parallel (1941).

Also in 1941, Massey starred in George Bernard Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma, opposite Katharine Cornell, opening just one week beforePearl Harbor. During the war, he teamed up with Cornell and other leading actors in a revival of Shaw's Candida to benefit the Army Emergency Fund and the Navy Relief Society.

Massey portrayed the character of Jonathan Brewster in the film version of Arsenic and Old Lace. The character had been created by Boris Karloff for the stage version and the character was written to resemble Karloff (a running gag in the play and the film). Even though the film was released in 1944, it was shot in 1941, at which time Karloff was still contracted to the Broadway play, and could not be released for the filming, unlike his costars Josephine Hull, Jean Adair and John Alexander. Massey and Karloff had appeared together in James Whale's suspense film The Old Dark House (1932).

Massey rejoined the Canadian Army for World War II, though he was eventually released from service and returned to acting work.

Following the war, Massey became an American citizen. His memorable film roles after that included the husband of Joan Crawford during her Oscar-nominated role in Possessed (1947) and the doomed publishing tycoon Gail Wynand in The Fountainhead (1949), opposite Gary Cooper. In 1955 he starred in East of Eden as Adam Trask, father of Cal, played by James Dean, and Aron, played by Richard Davalos.

Massey became well-known on television in the 1950s and 1960s. He was cast in 1960 as Sir Oliver Garnett in the episode "Trunk Full of Dreams" of the NBC western series, Riverboat. In the story line, Garnett is part of a floating theater on the river vessel, the Enterprise. Bethel Leslie is cast as Juliet, Willard Waterman as de Lesseps, and Mary Tyler Moore as Lily Belle de Lesseps.

Massey is particularly remember as Dr. Gillespie in the popular 1961 NBC series Dr. Kildare, with Richard Chamberlain in the title role. Massey and his son, Daniel, were cast as father and son in The Queen's Guards (1961).

Personal life

Massey was married three times.

Margery Fremantle from 1921 to 1929 (divorce); they had one child, architect Geoffrey Massey. Adrianne Allen from 1929 to 1939 (divorce); Allen was a London and Broadway stage actress. They had two children who followed him into acting: Anna Massey and Daniel Massey. Dorothy Whitney from 1939 until her death.

His high-profile estrangement and then divorce from Adrianne Allen was the inspiration for Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin's script for the film Adam's Rib (1949), starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, and indeed Massey married the lawyer who represented him in court, Dorothy Whitney, while his then ex-wife, Allen, married the opposing lawyer, William Dwight Whitney.

Raymond Massey's older brother was Vincent Massey, the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada. Raymond too dabbled in politics, appearing in a television advertisement in 1964 support of the conservative Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater of Arizona. Massey denounced the Vietnam War, which expanded greatly in scope in 1965 after Goldwater's defeat by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Massey died of pneumonia in Los Angeles, California on July 29, 1983, a month before he would have turned 87.[8] That was the same day as the death of David Niven, who had co-starred with him in The Prisoner of Zenda and A Matter of Life and Death. Massey is buried in New Haven, Connecticut's Beaverdale Memorial Park.

Honors

Massey has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for movies at 1719 Vine Street and one for television at 6708 Hollywood Blvd. His achievements have also been recognized in a signature cocktail, the Raymond Massey.

Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes

1928 High Treason Cabinet Maker  

1929 The Crooked Billet Undetermined role uncredited

1931 The Speckled Band Sherlock Holmes  

1932 The Old Dark House Philip Waverton   The Face at the Window Paul le Gros  

1934 The Scarlet Pimpernel Citizen Chauvelin  

1936 Things to Come John Cabal/Oswald Cabal  

1937 Dreaming Lips Miguel del Vayo   Under the Red Robe Cardinal Richelieu   Fire Over England King Philip II of Spain   The Prisoner of Zenda Black Michael   The Hurricane Governor Eugene De Laage  

1938 Black Limelight Peter Charrington   The Drum Prince Ghul  

1940 Abe Lincoln in Illinois Abraham Lincoln Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Santa Fe Trail John Brown  

1941 49th Parallel Andy Brock   Dangerously They Live Dr. Ingersoll  

1942 Desperate Journey Major Otto Baumeister   Reap the Wild Wind King Cutler   1

943 Action in the North Atlantic Capt. Steve Jarvis  

1944 Arsenic and Old Lace Jonathan Brewster   The Woman in the Window Dist. Atty. Frank Lalor  

1945 Hotel Berlin Arnim von Dahnwitz   God Is My Co-Pilot Maj. Gen. Claire L. Chennault  

1946 A Matter of Life and Death Abraham Farlan  

1947 Mourning Becomes Electra Brig. Gen. Ezra Mannon   Possessed Dean Graham  

1949 Roseanna McCoy Old Randall McCoy   The Fountainhead Gail Wynand  

1950 Barricade Boss Kruger   Chain Lightning Leland Willis   Dallas Will Marlow  

1951 Sugarfoot Jacob Stint   Come Fill the Cup John Ives   David and Bathsheba Nathan

1952 Carson City A.J. 'Big' Jack Davis  

1953 The Desert Song Sheik Yousseff  

1955 Battle Cry Maj. Gen. Snipes   Prince of Players Junius Brutus Booth   East of Eden Adam Trask   Seven Angry Men John Brown  

1957 Omar Khayyam The Shah   The Naked and the Dead Gen. Cummings  

1958 Now That April's Here Narrator  

1961 The Fiercest Heart Willem Prinsloo   The Great Impostor Abbott Donner   The Queen's Guards Capt. Fellowes  

1962 How the West Was Won Abraham Lincoln  

1969 Mackenna's Gold The Preacher  

1971 Night Gallery Colonel Archie Dittman Season 1, episode 4, second segment: "Clean Kills and Other Trophies"