Stanley Ridges

Stanley Charles Ridges (17 July 1890 – 22 April 1951) was a British-born American actor whose career spanned almost five decades.[1]

Stanley Ridges
Ridges in 1950
Born
Stanley Charles Ridges

(1890-07-17)17 July 1890
Southampton, Hampshire, England
Died22 April 1951(1951-04-22) (aged 60)
Westbrook, Connecticut, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1917–1951
Spouse(s)Anna McGauren
(m. 1918; div. 19??)
Dorothea C. Crawford
​
​
(m. 1930)​
Children1

After his American film debut in Success (1923), he appeared in character roles in films as Crime Without Passion (1934), The Scoundrel (1935), If I Were King and The Mad Miss Manton (both 1938), Black Friday (1940), Sergeant York (1941), Wilson (1944) and No Way Out (1950).[2] He also had the starring role in the B-picture False Faces (1943).[3]

Early life

Stanley Charles Ridges was born 17 July 1890 in Southampton, Hampshire, he later became a protégé of Beatrice Lillie, a star of musical stage comedies, and spent many years learning and honing his craft on the stage.[1]

Career

Eventually making his way to America, Ridges began as a song-and-dance man on Broadway, but later turned to dramatic roles onstage, appearing in such plays as Maxwell Anderson's Mary of Scotland (as Lord Morton) and Valley Forge (as Lieutenant Colonel Lucifer Tench), becoming a romantic leading man.[4]

Ridges' silent film debut was in Success (1923). With his excellent diction and rich speaking voice, he easily made the transition into sound films, with his career taking off at age 43, in Crime Without Passion (1934), with Claude Rains. Ridges found himself cast in character roles, as his greying hair put his romantic leading man days at an end.[5]

His best known roles were probably two different characters in one film, one of them the kindly Professor Kingsley and the other the murderous Red Cannon in the thriller Black Friday (1940).[1] The Jekyll and Hyde transformations gave Ridges a chance to display his acting ability.[6][7]

Trailer for No Way Out (1950)

Ridges was often cast in supporting roles in many classic films, and played the lead only once, in the B-picture False Faces (1943).[3]

Among Ridges's other film roles were as the Scotland Yard inspector who is shadowing Charles Laughton in the film The Suspect (1944), as Major Buxton (Gary Cooper's commanding officer) in Sergeant York (1942), as Professor Siletsky in To Be or Not to Be (also 1942), and as Cary Travers Grayson, the official White House physician in Wilson (1944).[2]

By 1950, he had just begun an appearing in television anthologies such as Studio One and Philco Television Playhouse. His last feature film, the Ginger Rogers comedy The Groom Wore Spurs, in which he played a mobster, was released a month before he died.[8]

Death

Ridges died 22 April 1951, in Westbrook, Connecticut, aged 60.[5]

Acting credits

Broadway roles

Film

References
  1. Hal Erickson. "Stanley Ridges – Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos – AllMovie". AllMovie.
  2. "Stanley Ridges". aveleyman.com.
  3. "False Faces (1943) –Overview". Turner Classic Movies.
  4. The Broadway League. "Stanley Ridges – IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information". ibdb.com.
  5. "Ridges, Stanley". BFI. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012.
  6. Vineyard, Jennifer (27 October 2004). "Britney DVD Has Alternate Takes Of Her Videos, Plus More Skin". MTV. MTV Networks. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  7. "Showtimes, reviews, trailers, news and more – MSN Movies". msn.com. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
  8. "The Groom Wore Spurs (1951) – Overview". Turner Classic Movies.
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