Edmund Gwenn facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Edmund Gwenn
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![]() Gwenn in 1953
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Born |
Edmund John Kellaway
26 September 1877 Wandsworth, London, England
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Died | 6 September 1959 |
(aged 81)
Resting place | Chapel of the Pines Crematory |
Education | St. Olave's School |
Alma mater | King's College London |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1895–1959 |
Spouse(s) | Minnie Terry (m. 1901–c. 1916) |
Family |
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Awards | Academy Award, 2 Golden Globes |
Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. He is best known for playing Kris Kringle in the Christmas movie Miracle on 34th Street (1947). For this role, he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe Award. He also received another Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination for the comedy movie Mister 880 (1950). Many people also remember him for appearing in four movies directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Edmund Gwenn was also a successful stage actor in London's West End and on Broadway in New York. He performed in many plays by famous writers like Bernard Shaw and J. B. Priestley. After the Second World War, he moved to the United States. There, he had a very successful career in Hollywood movies and on Broadway.
Contents
Edmund Gwenn's Acting Journey
Early Life and First Roles
Edmund Gwenn was born in Wandsworth, London. His parents were John and Catherine Kellaway. His brother, Arthur Chesney, and his cousin, Cecil Kellaway, were also actors. Gwenn went to St. Olave's School and later to King's College London.
He started acting in the theatre in 1895. He learned a lot by joining Willie Edouin's acting group. In 1901, he married Minnie Terry, who was the niece of a famous actress named Dame Ellen Terry. That same year, he traveled to Australia and acted there for three years. His wife went with him. When one of his plays, Ben Hur, did not do well, his wife helped them by getting an acting job. Later, they acted together in London in a play called What the Butler Saw in 1905.
When Gwenn came back to London, he started acting in more serious plays at the Court Theatre. He played important roles, including Straker in Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman. He also appeared in plays by other writers like John Galsworthy. In 1912, Gwenn started his own acting company with Hilda Trevelyan. His acting career was paused when he served as an officer in the British Army during the First World War.
Becoming a Star on Stage and Screen
After the war, Gwenn took on many main roles in London's West End. Some of his memorable roles included Old Bill in Old Bill, M.P. (1922) and the main character in A. A. Milne's The Great Broxoff (1923). He was also well-known for playing Hornblower in Galsworthy's The Skin Game and Samuel Pepys in And So to Bed in 1926.
Gwenn started his film career in 1916. One of his early film roles was playing Hornblower again in the 1921 silent movie The Skin Game. He played this role again ten years later in Alfred Hitchcock's early sound version of The Skin Game. His first movie with sound was How He Lied to Her Husband in 1931. In Britain, he was famous for movies like The Good Companions (1933) and Laburnum Grove (1936). His last British movie was Cheer Boys Cheer (1939).
Gwenn appeared in over eighty films! His first Hollywood movie was Sylvia Scarlett (1935), where he played Katharine Hepburn's father. He moved to Hollywood in 1940. He had a small part in Hitchcock's movie Foreign Correspondent in 1940.
His most famous role was as Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street (1947). For this, he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was nominated for another Oscar for his role in Mister 880 (1950). Towards the end of his career, he played important roles in the sci-fi movie Them! (1954) and in Hitchcock's The Trouble with Harry (1955).
On Broadway, Gwenn starred in a famous 1942 play called Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov. He acted alongside other great stars like Katharine Cornell and Judith Anderson.
Later Years and Legacy
Edmund Gwenn remained a British citizen his whole life. When he first moved to Hollywood, he lived in a hotel. His home in London was destroyed during the bombings in the Second World War. He was very sad about losing his collection of items from the actor Henry Irving. Later, Gwenn bought a house in Beverly Hills, which he shared with a former Olympic athlete named Rodney Soher.
When he was 78, he traveled from California to London to see his ex-wife. He told a reporter that he never married again because he was very happy with his first wife. He said he stayed true to the memory of that happiness.
Edmund Gwenn passed away from pneumonia after having a stroke. He died in Woodland Hills, California, just twenty days before his 82nd birthday. His ashes were placed at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles. Edmund Gwenn has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1751 Vine Street. This star honors his amazing work in movies.
Filmography
- The Real Thing at Last (1916) as Rupert K. Thunder / Macbeth
- Unmarried (1920) as Simm Vandeleur
- The Skin Game (1921) as Hornblower
- How He Lied to Her Husband (1931) as Teddy Bompas
- The Skin Game (1931) as Mr. Hornblower
- Hindle Wakes (1931) as Chris Hawthorne
- Frail Women (1932) as The Bookmaker - Jim Willis
- Money for Nothing (1932) as Sir Henry Blossom
- Condemned to Death (1932) as Banting
- Love on Wheels (1932) as Philpotts
- Tell Me Tonight (1932) as Mayor Pategg
- The Good Companions (1933) as Jess Oakroyd
- Cash (1933) as Edmund Gilbert
- I Was a Spy (1933) as Burgomaster
- Smithy (1933) as John Smith
- Channel Crossing (1933) as Trotter
- Marooned (1933) as Tom Roberts
- Friday the Thirteenth (1933) as Mr Wakefield
- Early to Bed (1933) as Kruger
- Waltzes from Vienna (1934) as Johann Strauss, the Elder
- Warn London (1934) as Dr. Herman Krauss
- Passing Shadows (1934) as David Lawrence
- Java Head (1934) as Jeremy Ammidon
- The Admiral's Secret (1934) as Adm. Fitzporter
- Father and Son (1934) as John Bolton
- Spring in the Air (1934) as Franz
- The Bishop Misbehaves (1935) as Bishop
- Sylvia Scarlett (1935) as Henry Scarlett
- The Walking Dead (1936) as Dr. Beaumont
- Laburnum Grove (1936) as Mr. Radfern
- Anthony Adverse (1936) as John Bonnyfeather
- All American Chump (1936) as Jeffrey Crane
- Mad Holiday (1936) as Williams
- Parnell (1937) as Campbell
- South Riding (1938) as Alfred Huggins
- A Yank at Oxford (1938) as Dean of Cardinal
- Penny Paradise (1938) as Joe Higgins
- Cheer Boys Cheer (1939) as Edward Ironside
- The Earl of Chicago (1940) as Munsey, the Butler
- An Englishman's Home (1940) as Tom Brown
- The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940) as Dr. Lionel Sterling
- Pride and Prejudice (1940) as Mr. Bennet
- Foreign Correspondent (1940) as Rowley
- Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941) as President Corcoran
- Scotland Yard (1941) as Insp. Cork
- The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) as Hooper
- One Night in Lisbon (1941) as Lord Fitzleigh
- Charley's Aunt (1941) as Stephen Spettigue
- A Yank at Eton (1942) as Headmaster Justin
- Forever and a Day (1943) as Stubbs
- The Meanest Man in the World (1943) as Frederick P. Leggitt
- Lassie Come Home (1943) as Rowlie
- Between Two Worlds (1944) as Scrubby
- The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) as Father Hamish MacNabb
- Dangerous Partners (1945) as Albert Richard Kingby
- Bewitched (1945) as Dr. Bergson
- She Went to the Races (1945) as Dr. Homer Pecke
- Of Human Bondage (1946) as Athelny
- Undercurrent (1946) as Prof. 'Dink' Hamilton
- Miracle on 34th Street (1947) as Kris Kringle
- Life with Father (1947) as Rev. Dr. Lloyd
- Thunder in the Valley (1947) as Adam MacAdam
- Green Dolphin Street (1947) as Octavius Patourel
- Apartment for Peggy (1948) as Prof. Henry Barnes
- Hills of Home (1948) as Dr. William MacLure
- Challenge to Lassie (1949) as John Traill
- A Woman of Distinction (1950) as Mark 'J.M.' Middlecott
- Louisa (1950) as Henry Hammond
- Pretty Baby (1950) as Cyrus Baxter
- Mister 880 (1950) as William 'Skipper' Miller
- For Heaven's Sake (1950) as Arthur
- Peking Express (1951) as Father Joseph Murray
- Sally and Saint Anne (1952) as Grandpa Pat Ryan
- Les Misérables (1952) as Bishop Courbet
- Bonzo Goes to College (1952) as Ted 'Pop' Drew
- Something for the Birds (1952) as 'Admiral' Johnnie Adams
- Mister Scoutmaster (1953) as Dr. Stone
- The Bigamist (1953) as Mr. Jordan
- The Student Prince (1954) as Prof. Juttner
- Them! (1954) as Dr. Harold Medford
- The Trouble with Harry (1955) as Capt. Albert Wiles
- It's a Dog's Life (1955) as Jeremiah Edward Emmett Augustus Nolan
- Calabuch (1956, U.S. title The Rocket from Calabuch) as Prof. Jorge Serra Hamilton
Radio Appearances
Year | Program | Episode/source |
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1940 | Forecast* | The Lodger |
1943 | Suspense | The Fountain Plays |
1944 | Creeps by Night | The Strange Burial of Alexander Jordan |
1949 | Suspense | Murder in Black and White |
1951 | Stars of Hollywood | A Christmas Carol |
1953 | Stars over Hollywood | A Christmas Carol |
- This was an audition program for the Suspense radio show.
See also
In Spanish: Edmund Gwenn para niños