Matinee Classics - Louis Calhern Biography & Filmography

Louis Calhern ACTOR

PHOTOS

LOUIS CALHERN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Louis Calhern was born on February 19th, 1895 in Brooklyn, New York with the birth name Carl Henry Vogt. His family relocated to St. Louis when he was a child and during high school he excelled at football.

While playing football, a representative from a touring acting troupe took notice of him and he was hired as an actor. He began working as a stage actor in New York and gained some experience before taking a break from acting to join the military during World War I.

After completing his military service, Calhern returned to pursuing a career as an actor and worked on a couple more stage productions before he broke into film work. Some of his more well known roles included, "The Blot" (1921), "Duck Soup" (1933) starring the Marx Brothers, Edgar Kennedy and Charles Middleton, "The Red Pony" (1949) starring Robert Mitchum and Myrna Loy and featuring Beau Bridges, "Notorious" (1946) a thriller directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains, "Annie Get Your Gun" (1950) starring Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Edward Arnold, Keenan Wynn and J. Carrol Naish, "The Magnificent Yankee" (1953), also starring Ann Harding, Eduard Franz and Philip Ober, a role for which he received his first Oscar nomination followed by "Julius Caesar" (1953) starring Louis Calhern as Julius Caesar, Marlon Brando as Mark Antony, James Mason as Brutus, John Gielgud as Cassius, Edmond O'Brien as Casca, Greer Garson as Calpurnia and Deborah Kerr as Portia, "Executive Suite" (1954) starring William Holden, Barbara Stanwyck, Fredric March, and Walter Pidgeon and "Blackboard Jungle" (1955) starring With Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, Vic Morrow, Richard Kiley and Sidney Poitier.

Louis Calhern married a total of four times throughout his lifetime, first to Ilka Chase from 1926 through 1927. He then wed Julia Hoyt in 1927 however by 1932 this marriage came to an end. His third wife was Natalie Schafer whom he wed in 1933 and remained with her until 1942. His fourth and final wife was Marianne Stewart and they married in 1946 and stayed together through 1955. He did not re-marry nor did he have any biological children. While working on the film, "The Teahouse of the August Moon" (1956) starring Marlon Brando and Glenn Ford, in Tokyo, Japan Louis Calhern died from a sudden heart attack on May 12th, 1956. His remains are interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in California.