Sidney Blackmer

Sidney Alderman Blackmer (July 13, 1895 – October 6, 1973) was an American actor.

Biography

Blackmer was born and raised in Salisbury, North Carolina, the son of Clara Deroulhac (née Alderman) and Walter Steele Blackmer. He started off in an insurance and financial business but gave up on it. While working as a builder's laborer on a new building, he saw a Pearl White serial being filmed and immediately decided to go into acting. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[1] Blackmer went to New York, hoping to act on the stage. While in the city, he took jobs and extra work at various film studios at the then motion picture capital, Fort Lee, New Jersey, including a bit part in the highly popular serial, The Perils of Pauline(1914).

He made his Broadway debut in 1917, but his career was interrupted by service in the U.S. military in World War I. After the war, he returned to the theatre and, in 1929, returned to motion pictures and went on to be a major character actor in more than 120 films.

He won the 1950 Tony Award for Best Actor (Drama) for his role in the Broadway play, Come Back, Little Sheba, co-starring with Shirley Booth.

In film, Blackmer is remembered for his more than a dozen portrayals of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and for his memorable role as "Roman Castevet" in the Academy Award-winning 1968 Roman Polanski film about urban New York witches, Rosemary's Baby, in which he played an overly solicitous neighbor.

In 1919, Blackmer played a major role in the strike that led to the formation of Actors' Equity Association.

A humanitarian, Blackmer served as the national vice president of the United States Muscular Dystrophy Association. He also helped start up the North Carolina School of the Arts. In 1972, he was honored with the North Carolina Award in the Fine Arts category. It is the State of North Carolina's highest civilian award. On his death in 1973, Blackmer was interred in the Chestnut Hill Cemetery in his hometown of Salisbury, North Carolina.

Personal life

Blackmer was married to actress Lenore Ulric from 1928–1939.

His second wife was Suzanne Kaaren to whom he was married from 1943 to his death in 1973. He and Kaaren had two sons. They lived in the family home in Salisbury, North Carolina.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Sidney Blackmer has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1625 Vine Street.

Filmography

• Beating Back (1914)
• A Most Immoral Lady(1929) as Humphrey Sergeant
• The Love Racket(1929) as Fred Masters
• Strictly Modern(1930) as Heath Desmond
• Sweethearts and Wives (1930) as Anthony Peel
• The Bad Man (1930) as Morgan Pell
• Kismet (1930) as Wazir Mansur
• Mothers Cry (1930) as Mr. Gerald Hart
• Little Caesar (1931) as Big Boy
• Woman Hungry(1931) as Geoffrey Brand
• It's a Wise Child(1931) as Steve
• The Lady Who Dared(1931) as Charles Townsend
• From Hell to Heaven(1933) as Cliff Billings
• Cocktail Hour (1933) as William Lawton
• The Wrecker (1933) as Tom Cummings
• Deluge (1933) as Martin Webster
• Goodbye Love (1933) as Chester Hamilton
• This Man Is Mine(1934) as Mort Holmes
• The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) as Mondego
• Down to Their Last Yacht (1934) as Barry Forbes
• Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934) as Lee Lother
• The President Vanishes (1934) as D.L. Voorman
• A Notorious Gentleman (1935) as Clayton Bradford
• The Little Colonel(1935) as Swazey
• Behind the Green Lights (1935) as Raymond Cortell
• Great God Gold(1935) as John Hart
• The Girl Who Came Back (1935) as Bill Rhodes
• Shadows of the Orient (1935) as King Moss
• Smart Girl (1935) as Harry Courtland
• Streamline Express(1935) as Gilbert Landon
• False Pretenses(1935) as Kenneth Alden
• The Fire-Trap (1935) as Cedric McIntyre
• Forced Landing(1935) as Tony Bernardi
• Heart of the West(1936) as John Trumbull
• Woman Trap (1936) as Riley Ferguson
• Florida Special(1936) as Jack Macklyn
• Early to Bed (1936) as Rex Daniels
• Missing Girls (1936) as Dan Collins
• The President's Mystery (1936) as George Sartos
• House of Secrets(1936) as Tom Starr
• Girl Overboard(1937) as Alex LeMaire
• A Doctor's Diary(1937) as Dr. Anson Ludlow
• John Meade's Woman (1937) as Rodney
• Michael O'Halloran(1937) as Jim Mintum
• This Is My Affair(1937) as President Theodore Roosevelt
• The Women Men Marry (1937) as Walter Wiley
• Wife, Doctor and Nurse (1937) as Dr. Therberg
• Heidi (1937) as Sesemann
• The Last Gangster(1937) as Editor
• Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo (1937) as Victor Karnoff
• Thank You, Mr. Moto(1937) as Herr Eric Koerger
• In Old Chicago(1937) as General Phil Sheridan
• Speed to Burn (1938) as Hastings
• Straight, Place and Show (1938) as 'Lucky' Braddock
• Down on the Farm(1938) as Political Boss (uncredited)
• Suez (1938) as Marquis Du Brey
• Sharpshooters (1938) as Baron Orloff
• Orphans of the Street(1938) as Parker
• While New York Sleeps (1938) as Ralph Simmons
• Trade Winds (1938) as Thomas Bruhme II
• Convict's Code(1939) as Gregory Warren
• Fast and Loose(1939) as 'Lucky' Nolan
• Within the Law(1939) as George Demarest
• It's a Wonderful World (1939) as Al Mallon
• Unmarried (1939) as Cash Enright
• Trapped in the Sky(1939) as Mann
• Hotel for Women(1939) as McNeil
• The Monroe Doctrine(1939) as Theodore Roosevelt
• Law of the Pampas(1939) as Ralph Merritt
• Framed (1940) as Tony Bowman
• Teddy, the Rough Rider (1940) as Theodore Roosevelt
• Maryland (1940) as Spencer Danfield
• Dance, Girl, Dance(1940) as Puss in Boots
• I Want a Divorce(1940) as Erskine Brandon
• Third Finger, Left Hand (1940) as Hughie Wheeler
• Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941) as John Stevens
• Murder Among Friends (1941) as Mr. Wheeler
• The Great Swindle(1941) as Dave Lennox
• Rookies on Parade(1941) as Augustus Moody
• Love Crazy (1941) as George Renny
• Angels with Broken Wings (1941) as Guy Barton
• Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime (1941) as Anthony Rhodes
• The Feminine Touch(1941) as Freddie Bond
• The Officer and the Lady (1941) as Blake Standish
• Down Mexico Way(1941) as Ellery Gibson
• Nazi Agent (1942) as Arnold Milbar
• Obliging Young Lady(1942) as Henry - George's Attorney
• Always in My Heart(1942) as Philip Ames
• The Panther's Claw(1942) as Police Commissioner Thatcher Colt
• Gallant Lady (1942) as Steve Carey
• Sabotage Squad(1942) as Carlyle Harrison
• Quiet Please, Murder(1942) as Martin Cleaver
• Murder in Times Square (1943) as George Nevins
• I Escaped from the Gestapo (1943) as Bergen
• In Old Oklahoma(1943) as Teddy Roosevelt
• Broadway Rhythm(1944) as Press Agent (uncredited)
• Buffalo Bill (1944) as Theodore Roosevelt (uncredited)
• The Lady and the Monster (1944) as Eugene Fulton
• Wilson (1944) as Josephus Daniels
• Duel in the Sun(1946) as The Lover
• My Girl Tisa (1948) as Theodore Roosevelt
• A Song Is Born(1948) as Adams
• People Will Talk(1951) as Arthur Higgins
• Saturday's Hero(1951) as T. C. McCabe
• The San Francisco Story (1952) as Andrew Cain
• Washington Story(1952) as Philip Emery
• The High and the Mighty (1954) as Humphrey Agnew
• Johnny Dark (1954) as James Fielding
• The View from Pompey's Head(1955) as Garvin Wales
• High Society (1956) as Seth Lord
• Beyond a Reasonable Doubt(1956) as Austin Spencer
• Accused of Murder(1956) as Frank Hobart
• Tammy and the Bachelor (1957) as Professor Brent
• How to Murder Your Wife (1965) as Judge Blackstone
• Joy in the Morning(1965) as Dean James Darwent
• A Covenant with Death (1967) as Col. Oates
• Rosemary's Baby(1968) as Roman Castevet
• Revenge Is My Destiny (1971) as Gregory Mann (final film role)

Blackmer also appeared in television roles, such as "The Premature Burial" episode of TV series Thriller, 1961. Among his most notable roles was the character of Presidential candidate William Lyons Selby in the Outer Limits episode "The Hundred Days of the Dragon".