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Stanley Ridges

Stanley Ridges

Birthday: 1890-07-17 | Place of Birth: Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Stanley Ridges (17 July 1890 – 22 April 1951) was a British-born actor who made his mark in films by playing a wide assortment of character parts. Born 17 July 1890 in Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK, Stanley Ridges became a protégé of Beatrice Lillie, a star of musical stage comedies, and spent many years learning and honing his craft on the stage. 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. 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. His most 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). The Jekyll and Hyde transformations gave Ridges a chance to display his acting ability. Ridges was often cast in supporting roles in many classic films, and played the lead only once, in the B-picture False Faces (1943). 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). By 1950, he had just begun 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. Stanley Ridges died 22 April 1951, in Westbrook, Connecticut, aged 60.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1951
The Groom Wore Spurs

as    Harry Kallen

1950
No Way Out

as    Dr. Sam Moreland

1950
The File on Thelma Jordon

as    Kingsley Willis

1949
Streets of Laredo

as    Major Bailey

1949
Task Force

as    Sen. Bentley

1948
An Act of Murder

as    Doctor Walter Morrison

1947
Possessed

as    Dr. Willard

1946
Because of Him

as    Charles Gilbert

1946
Canyon Passage

as    Jonas Overmire

1945
God Is My Co-Pilot

as    Col. Merian 'Steve' Cooper

1945
The Phantom Speaks

as    Dr. Paul Renwick

1945
The Suspect

as    Inspector Huxley

1944
The Story of Dr. Wassell

as    Cmdr. William B. 'Bill' Goggins

1944
The Master Race

as    Phil Carson

1943
Tarzan Triumphs

as    Colonel Von Reichart

1943
This Is the Army

as    John Davidson

1942
Eyes in the Night

as    Hansen

1942
The Lady Is Willing

as    Kenneth Hanline

1942
The Big Shot

as    Martin T. Fleming, Attorney

1942
To Be or Not to Be

as    Professor Alexander Siletsky

1941
Mr. District Attorney

as    District Attorney Tom F. Winton

1941
The Sea Wolf

as    Johnson

1941
They Died with Their Boots On

as    Maj. Romulus Taipe

1941
Sergeant York

as    Major Buxton

1939
Dust Be My Destiny

as    Charles 'Charlie' Garreth

1939
Let Us Live

as    District Attorney

1939
Nick Carter, Master Detective

as    Doctor Frankton (as Stanley C. Ridges)

1939
Silver on the Sage

as    Earl Brennan / Dave Talbot

1939
Union Pacific

as    Gen. Casement

1939
Each Dawn I Die

as    Mueller