Roland Young

Roland Young (11 November 1887 – 5 June 1953) was an English actor.
Roland Young

Contents
Early life
Career
Success as a freelance performer
Later life and career
Recognition
Personal life
Complete filmography
Partial list of stage appearances
See also
in Topper Returns (1941)
Bibliography
Born 11 November 1887
References
London, England,
External links United Kingdom
Died 5 June 1953
(aged 65)
Early life New York City, New
Born in London, England, Young was the son of an architect, and early indications York, U.S.
were that the son would pursue the father's career.[1] He was educated at Sherborne Years active 1908–1953
School, Sherborne, Dorset and University College London before being accepted
Spouse(s) Marjorie Kummer
into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
(1921–1940)
(divorced)
Career Dorothy Patience
Young made his first stage appearance in London's West End in Find the Woman in May DuCroz (1948–
1908, and in 1912 he made his Broadway debut in Hindle Wakes.[1] He appeared in 1953) (his death)
two comedies written for him by Clare Kummer, Good Gracious Annabelle! (1916)
and A Successful Calamity (1917) before he served with the United States Army during World War I. He returned to New York when
the war ended, and married Kummer's daughter, Frances. For the next few years he alternated between New York and London. He
made his film debut in the 1922 silent filmSherlock Holmes, in which he played Watson opposite John Barrymore as Holmes.

He signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and made his talkie debut in The Unholy Night (1929), directed by Lionel
Barrymore. He was loaned to Warner Bros. to appear in Her Private Life, with Billie Dove and Fox Film Corporation, winning
critical approval for his comedic performance as Jeanette MacDonald's husband in Don't Bet on a Woman. He was again paired with
MacDonald in the film version of Good Gracious Annabelle!, titled Annabelle's Affairs. He appeared in Cecil B. de Mille's The
Squaw Man, and played opposite Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in The Guardsman (both 1931). He appeared with Evelyn Brent in
Columbia's The Pagan Lady (1932) and Pola Negri in RKO's A Woman Commands (1932). His final film under his MGM contract
was Lovers Courageous (1932), opposite Robert Montgomery. In 1933 he had a starring role in the risqué comedy for Fox Film
called Pleasure Cruise along side Genevieve Tobin.
Success as a freelance performer
Young began to work as a freelance performer and found himself in constant demand. He appeared with Jeanette MacDonald,
Genevieve Tobin and Maurice Chevalier in One Hour With You (1932) and with Kay Francis in Street of Women (1932). Alexander
Korda invited him to return to Britain to make his British film debut in Wedding Rehearsal (1932). He returned to Hollywood and
appeared in a diverse group of films that included comedies, murder mysteries, and dramas, and also worked on Broadway. Among
his films of this period wereRuggles of Red Gap (1935), David Copperfield (1935) (playing Uriah Heep), and the H.G. Wells fantasy
The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936).

In 1937, he achieved one of the most important successes of his career in Topper, as a bank president haunted by the ghosts of his
clients, played by Cary Grant and Constance Bennett. It was one of the most successful films of the year, and Young was nominated
for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Topper's wife was played by Billie Burke, who wrote in her memoir that Young
"was dry and always fun to work with". They also appeared together in The Young in Heart (1938), and both of the Topper sequels,
Topper Takes a Trip (1938) and Topper Returns (1941). He continued to play supporting roles in comedies such as Yes, My Darling
Daughter, with Fay Bainter and Priscilla Lane, but over the next few years the importance of his roles again decreased. He achieved
another success as Uncle Willie in The Philadelphia Story (1940) with Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and James Stewart. His last
starring role was in the final installment of the Topper series, Topper Returns in 1941, with Billie Burke, Joan Blondell and Carole
Landis.

Later life and career

He continued working steadily through the 1940s, playing small roles opposite some of Hollywood's leading actresses, such as Joan
Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Paulette Goddard and Greta Garbo in her final film, Two-Faced Woman (1941). In 1945, he began his
own radio show and appeared in the film adaption of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. By the end of the decade his film
career had declined, and his final films, including The Great Lover (1949), in which he played a murderer opposite Bob Hope, and
Fred Astaire's Let's Dance (1950), were not successful.

In the 1950s, Young appeared on several episodic television series, including Lux Video Theatre, Studio One, Pulitzer Prize
Playhouse and The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre.

Recognition
Young has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for film at 6523 Hollywood Blvd. and another for television at 6315
[2]
Hollywood Blvd. Both were dedicated 8 February 1960.

Personal life
Young was married twice, to Marjorie Krummer from 1921 until 1940, and to Patience DuCroz from 1948 until his death in New
York City.

Complete filmography
Sherlock Holmes (1922; as Watson to John New Moon (1930)
Barrymore's Holmes) Don't Bet on Women (1931)
Grit (1924) The Prodigal (1931)
Camille (1926 short) Annabelle's Affairs (1931)
Walls Tell Tales (1928 short) The Squaw Man (1931)
Wise Girls (1929) The Pagan Lady (1931)
Her Private Life (1929) The Guardsman (1931)
The Unholy Night (1929) Lovers Courageous (1932)
The Bishop Murder Case(1930) A Woman Commands (1932)
Madam Satan (1930) One Hour with You (1932)
 This Is the Night (1932) Here I Am a Stranger (1939)
Street of Women (1932) The Night of Nights (1939)
Wedding Rehearsal (1932) He Married His Wife (1940)
They Just Had to Get Married(1932) Star Dust (1940)
A Lady's Profession (1933) Irene (1940)
Pleasure Cruise (1933) Private Affairs (1940)
Blind Adventure (1933) Dulcy (1940)
His Double Life (1933) The Philadelphia Story(1940)
Here is My Heart (1934) No, No, Nanette (1940)
Personal History, Adventures, Experience, and Topper Returns (1941)
Observation of David Copperfield the Younger (1935) The Flame of New Orleans(1941)
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935) Two-Faced Woman (1941)
The Unguarded Hour (1936) The Lady Has Plans (1942)
One Rainy Afternoon (1936) They All Kissed the Bride(1942)
The Man Who Could Work Miracles(1936) Tales of Manhattan (1942)
Give Me Your Heart (1936) Forever and a Day (1943)
Gypsy (1937) Standing Room Only (1944)
Call It a Day (1937) And Then There Were None (1945) as Blore
King Solomon's Mines (1937) Bond Street (1948)
Topper (1937) You Gotta Stay Happy (1948)
Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937) The Great Lover (1949)
Sailing Along (1938) Let's Dance (1950)
The Young in Heart (1938) St. Benny the Dip (1951)
Topper Takes a Trip (1939) That Man from Tangier (1953)
Yes, My Darling Daughter(1939)

Partial list of stage appearances

Hindle Wakes (1912)
Good Gracious, Annabelle(1916)
A Successful Calamity (1917)
The Gipsy Trail (1917)
Buddies (1919)
Rollo's Wild Oat (1920)
Beggar on Horseback (1924)
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney(1925)
The Queen's Husband (1928)
Her Master's Voice (1933)
Another Love Story (1943)

See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations

Bibliography
Actors and Others (Pascal Covici, 1925)
Not For Children: Pictures and Verse (Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1930)
Thorne Smith: His Life and Times (Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1934)

References
 1. Halasz, George (27 May 1928)."Quit Architecture for the Stage"(https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3212677/the_bro
oklyn_daily_eagle/). The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 93. Retrieved 12 September 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Roland Young" (http://www.walkoffame.com/roland-young). Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved 13 September
2015.

Shipman, David, The Great Movie Stars, The Golden Years, Bonanza Books, New York, 1970. Library of Congress
Catalogue Card Number 78-133803

External links
Roland Young at the Internet Broadway Database
Roland Young on IMDb
Roland Young scrapbook and originals, 1905-1973, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,New York Public Library
for the Performing Arts
Clip of Roland Young on YouTube
Roland Young at Find a Grave

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