| Hume Cronyn | |
| Birth Name: | Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. |
| Birth Date: | 18 July 1911 |
| Birth Place: | London, Ontario, Canada |
| Death Place: | Fairfield, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Years Active: | 1934–2003 |
| Spouse: | |
| Children: | 2 |
| Parents: | Hume Cronyn Sr. (father) |
| Relatives: |
|
Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor, screenwriter and playwright. He appeared in many stage productions, television and film roles throughout his career, and garnered numerous accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards, as well as a nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Cronyn was the husband of actress Jessica Tandy, with whom he was presented with the Kennedy Center Honor in 1986 and National Medal of Arts in 1990. In 1999, he was awarded with a star on the Canada's Walk of Fame.
Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn Sr., was a businessman and a Member of Parliament for London (after whom the Hume Cronyn Memorial Observatory at Western University, then known as The University of Western Ontario and asteroid (12050) Humecronyn are named). His mother, Frances Amelia (née Labatt), was an heiress of the brewing company of the same name; as the daughter of John Labatt and the granddaughter of John Kinder Labatt.[1] Cronyn's paternal great-grandfather, Right Reverend Benjamin Cronyn, an Anglican cleric of the Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy, served as the first bishop of the Anglican diocese of Huron and founded Huron College, from which grew the University of Western Ontario.
His great-uncle, Benjamin Jr., was both a prominent citizen and early mayor of London, Ontario, but was later indicted for fraud and fled to Vermont. During his tenure in London, he built a mansion called Oakwood, which currently serves as the head office of the Info-Tech Research Group. Cronyn was also a cousin of Canadian-born theater producer, Robert Whitehead, and a first cousin of the Canadian-British artist Hugh Verschoyle Cronyn GM (1905–1996).
Cronyn was the first Elmwood School boarder in Ottawa (at the time Elmwood was called Rockliffe Preparatory School) and boarded at Elmwood between 1917 and 1921. After leaving Elmwood, Cronyn went to Ridley College in St. Catharines, and McGill University in Montreal, where he became a member of The Kappa Alpha Society. Early in life, Cronyn was an amateur featherweight boxer, having the skills to be nominated for Canada's 1932 Olympic Boxing team.
After graduating from Ridley College Cronyn attended McGill University, where he switched majors from pre-law to drama. He continued his acting studies thereafter under Max Reinhardt and at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. In 1934, the same year he joined The Lambs, he made his Broadway debut as a janitor in Hipper's Holiday and became known for his versatility, playing a number of different roles on stage. He won a Drama Desk Special Award in 1986. In 1990, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.[2]
His first Hollywood film was Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943). He later appeared in Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944) and worked on the screenplays of Rope (1948) and Under Capricorn (1949). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Seventh Cross (1944) and won a Tony Award for his performance as Polonius opposite Richard Burton's Hamlet (1964). Cronyn bought the screenplay What Nancy Wanted from Norma Barzman, who was later blacklisted with her husband Ben Barzman, with the idea of producing the film and starring Tandy. However, he sold the screenplay to RKO which later filmed it as The Locket (1946). Cronyn also made appearances in television, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes "Kill With Kindness" (1956) and "The Impromptu Murder" (1958) and Hawaii Five-O episodes "Over Fifty? Steal" (1970) and "Odd Man In" (1971).[3]
Cronyn starred with his second wife Jessica Tandy in a short-lived (1953–1954) radio series, The Marriage (based on their earlier Broadway play, The Fourposter), playing New York attorney Ben Marriott and his wife, former fashion buyer Liz, struggling with her switch to domestic life and their raising an awkward teenage daughter (future soap opera star Denise Alexander). The show was scheduled to move from radio to television, with Cronyn producing as well as acting in the show. However, Tandy suffered a miscarriage and the show's debut was delayed a week. The series, which was the first situation comedy broadcast in color, premiered in July 1954 to "warm and enthusiastic reviews"; eight episodes were aired.[4]
The couple also appeared in many memorable dramatic stage, film and television outings, including The Seventh Cross (1944), The Green Years (1946), The Gin Game (1977), Honky Tonk Freeway (1981), The World According to Garp (1982), Cocoon (1985), the television film Foxfire (1987),
(1987), (1988), To Dance with the White Dog (1993) and Camilla (1994).
Cronyn had an association with the Stratford Festival as a member of both the acting company and its board of governors. He played Shylock in The Merchant of Venice in 1976, and debuted his play Foxfire in 1980.[5] [6] [7] The play would later move to Broadway (and won Tandy a Best Actress Tony award), and a film version was made in 1987.[8]
In 1990 he won an Emmy award for his role in the TV Movie Age-Old Friends.[9] His later appearances included the films The Pelican Brief (1993), Marvin's Room (1996) and the Showtime TV film 12 Angry Men (1997).
Cronyn's first marriage was to the philanthropist Emily Woodruff in late 1934 or early 1935. They shared a "lavender marriage" and never lived together. Woodruff insisted that the marriage remain a secret because of her lesbian relationships. They quietly divorced in 1936.[10] [11]
Cronyn married the actress Jessica Tandy in 1942. The couple had a daughter, Tandy, and a son, Christopher. Cronyn and Tandy lived in the Bahamas, then at a lakeside estate in Pound Ridge, New York, and, finally, in Easton, Connecticut.[12] Jessica Tandy died in 1994, aged 85, from ovarian cancer.
After he was widowed, Cronyn married author/playwright Susan Cooper (with whom he had co-written Foxfire) in July 1996. His 1991 autobiography, which covered his life and career up to the mid-1960s, was titled A Terrible Liar . His intention to write a second volume never materialized.
Cronyn died on June 15, 2003, from prostate cancer aged 91.[13] [14]
In 1979, Cronyn was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.[15] [16] On July 11, 1988, he was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada, giving him the post nominal letters "OC" for life.[17]
Cronyn was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 1999.[18] [19] He also received the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal in 1992 and the Canadian version of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.[20]
He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LLD) by the University of Western Ontario on October 26, 1974. His wife, Jessica Tandy, was given the same degree on the same day.[21]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | Shadow of a Doubt | Herbie Hawkins | ||
| Phantom of the Opera | Gerard | |||
| data-sort-value="Cross of Lorraine, The" | The Cross of Lorraine | Duval | ||
| 1944 | Lifeboat | Stanley 'Sparks' Garrett | ||
| data-sort-value="Seventh Cross, The" | The Seventh Cross | Paul Roeder | ||
| Blonde Fever | Diner at Inn | Uncredited | ||
| 1945 | Main Street After Dark | Keller | ||
| Ziegfeld Follies | Monty | ('A Sweepstakes Ticket') | ||
| data-sort-value="Sailor Takes a Wife, The" | The Sailor Takes a Wife | Freddie Potts | ||
| 1946 | data-sort-value="Letter for Evie, A" | A Letter for Evie | John Phineas McPherson | |
| data-sort-value="Green Years, The" | The Green Years | Papa Leckie | ||
| data-sort-value="Postman Always Rings Twice, The" | The Postman Always Rings Twice | Arthur Keats | ||
| data-sort-value="Secret Heart, The" | The Secret Heart | Dinner Party Guest | Voice, Uncredited | |
| 1947 | data-sort-value="Beginning or the End, The" | The Beginning or the End | Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer | |
| Brute Force | Captain Munsey | |||
| 1948 | data-sort-value="Bride Goes Wild, The" | The Bride Goes Wild | John McGrath | |
| 1949 | Top o' the Morning | Hughie Devine | ||
| 1951 | People Will Talk | Professor Rodney Elwell | ||
| 1956 | Crowded Paradise | George Heath | ||
| 1960 | Sunrise at Campobello | |||
| 1963 | Cleopatra | Sosigenes | ||
| 1964 | Richard Burton's Hamlet | Polonius | ||
| 1969 | data-sort-value="Arrangement, The" | The Arrangement | Arthur Houghton | |
| Gaily, Gaily | Tom Grogan | |||
| 1970 | There Was a Crooked Man... | Dudley Whinner | ||
| 1974 | Conrack | Mr. Skeffington | ||
| data-sort-value="Parallax View, The" | The Parallax View | Bill Rintels | ||
| 1981 | Honky Tonk Freeway | Sherm | ||
| Rollover | Maxwell Emery | |||
| 1982 | data-sort-value="World According to Garp, The" | The World According to Garp | Mr. Fields | |
| 1984 | Impulse | Dr. Carr | ||
| 1985 | Brewster's Millions | Rupert Horn | ||
| Cocoon | Joe Finley | |||
| 1987 | data-sort-value="batteries not included" |
| Frank Riley | |
| 1988 | Joe Finley | |||
| 1993 | data-sort-value="Pelican Brief, The" | The Pelican Brief | Justice Rosenberg | |
| 1994 | Camilla | Ewald | ||
| 1996 | Marvin's Room | Marvin | ||
| 2001 | Off Season | Sam Clausner |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | data-sort-value="Ford Theatre Hour, The" | The Ford Theatre Hour | Hugo Barnstead | Episode: "Once Sunday Afternoon" |
| 1949 | Suspense | Dr. Violet | Episode: "Dr. Violet" | |
| 1950 | data-sort-value="Ford Theatre Hour, The" | The Ford Theatre Hour | Harry Binion | Episode: "Room Service" |
| 1950 | Suspense | Sig | 2 episodes | |
| 1950 | Pulitzer Prize Playhouse | Charles Ponzi | Episode: "The Ponzi Story" | |
| 1950 | data-sort-value="Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, The" | The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse | Episode: "The Reluctant Landlord" | |
| 1953 | Omnibus | Bartender | Episode: "Glory in the Flower" | |
| 1954 | data-sort-value="Motorola Television Hour, The" | The Motorola Television Hour | Anthony Updyke | Episode: "The Family Man" |
| 1954 | data-sort-value="Marriage, The" | The Marriage | Ben Marriott | 8 episodes |
| 1955 | Producers' Showcase | Michael | Episode: "The Fourposter" | |
| 1955 | Omnibus | Harold 'Mitch' Mitchell | Episode: "Advice to Bathers" | |
| 1955 | data-sort-value="Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, The" | The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse | Ben Marriott | Episode: "Christmas 'til Closing" |
| 1956 | data-sort-value="United States Steel Hour, The" | The United States Steel Hour | Priam Farll | Episode: "The Great Adventure" |
| 1956 | Climax! | Reverend Mr. Muldoon | Episode: "The Fifth Wheel" | |
| 1956 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Fitzhugh Oldham | Season 2 Episode 4: "Kill with Kindness" | |
| 1958 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Henry Daw | Season 3 Episode 38: "The Impromptu Murder" | |
| 1959 | data-sort-value="Moon and Sixpence, The" | The Moon and Sixpence | Dirk Stroeve | Television film |
| 1959 | data-sort-value="Doll's House, A" | A Doll's House | Nils Krogstad | Television film |
| 1960 | Juno and the Paycock | Television film | ||
| Naked City | Professor Henry J. Fallon | Episode: "C3H5(NO3)3" | ||
| 1970–1971 | Hawaii Five-O | Lewis Avery Filer | 2 episodes | |
| 1981 | data-sort-value="Gin Game, The" | The Gin Game | Weller Martin | Television film |
| 1987 | Foxfire | Hector Nations | Television film | |
| 1989 | Day One | James F. Byrnes | Television film | |
| 1989 | Age-Old Friends | John Cooper | Television film | |
| 1991 | Christmas on Division Street | Cleveland Meriwether | Television film | |
| 1992 | Broadway Bound | Ben | Television film | |
| 1993 | To Dance with the White Dog | Robert Samuel Peek | Television film | |
| 1995 | Grandpa (voice) | Television film | ||
| 1997 | 12 Angry Men | Juror #9 | Television film | |
| 1997 | Alone | John Webb | Television film | |
| 1998 | Seasons of Love | Lonzo | Television film | |
| 1999 | Sea People | Mr. John McRae | Television film | |
| 1999 | Santa and Pete | Saint Nick | Television film | |
| 2000 | Yesterday's Children | Old Sunny Sutton | Television film |
| Year | Program | Episode/source | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | Suspense | "Double Entry"[27] | |
| 1946 | Suspense | "Blue Eyes"[28] | |
| 1946 | Suspense | The One Who Got Away[29] | |
| 1952 | Philip Morris Playhouse | One Sunday Afternoon[30] |