Stanley Ridges
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Jul 17, 1890
- Died
- Apr 22, 1951 (aged 60)
- Place of birth
- Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK
- Credits
- 57
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.
Known for
To Be or Not to Be
1942Movie
Professor Alexander Siletsky
Sergeant York
1941Movie
Major Buxton
They Died with Their Boots On
1941Movie
Maj. Romulus Taipe
No Way Out
1950Movie
Sam Moreland
Possessed
1947Movie
Dr. Harvey Willard
Union Pacific
1939Movie
Gen. Casement
Filmography
The Groom Wore Spurs
1951Movie
Harry Kallen
No Way Out
1950Movie
Sam Moreland
The Man Who Had Influence
1950Movie
J. C. Grant
Paid in Full
1950Movie
Dr. P.J. 'Phil' Winston
The File on Thelma Jordon
1949Movie
Kingsley Willis
Task Force
1949Movie
Sen. Bentley
You're My Everything
1949Movie
Mr. Henry Mercer
Streets of Laredo
1949Movie
Major Bailey
An Act of Murder
1948Movie
Doctor Walter Morrison
Studio One
1948TV
Police Chief Scott Anderson, J.C. Grant
Possessed
1947Movie
Dr. Harvey Willard
Mr. Ace
1946Movie
Toomey
Canyon Passage
1946Movie
Jonas Overmire
Because of Him
1946Movie
Charles Gilbert
Captain Eddie
1945Movie
Col. Hans Adamson
The Phantom Speaks
1945Movie
Dr. Paul Renwick
God Is My Co-Pilot
1945Movie
Col. Merian 'Steve' Cooper
The Suspect
1945Movie
Inspector Huxley
The Master Race
1944Movie
Phil Carson
Wilson
1944Movie
Dr. Cary Grayson
The Story of Dr. Wassell
1944Movie
Cmdr. William B. 'Bill' Goggins
The Voice That Thrilled the World
1943Movie
Self (segment 'Sergeant York') (archive footage)
This Is the Army
1943Movie
John Davidson
False Faces
1943Movie
District Attorney Stanley S. Harding
Air Force
1943Movie
Maj. Mallory - Clark Field
Tarzan Triumphs
1943Movie
Colonel Von Reichart
Eyes in the Night
1942Movie
Hansen
Eagle Squadron
1942Movie
Air Minister
The Big Shot
1942Movie
Martin T. Fleming, Attorney
To Be or Not to Be
1942Movie
Professor Alexander Siletsky
The Lady Is Willing
1942Movie
Kenneth Hanline
They Died with Their Boots On
1941Movie
Maj. Romulus Taipe
Sergeant York
1941Movie
Major Buxton
Mr. District Attorney
1941Movie
District Attorney Tom F. Winton
The Sea Wolf
1941Movie
Johnson
Black Friday
1940Movie
Prof. George Kingsley / Red Cannon
Nick Carter, Master Detective
1939Movie
Doctor Frankton (as Stanley C. Ridges)
Espionage Agent
1939Movie
Hamilton Peyton
Dust Be My Destiny
1939Movie
Charles 'Charlie' Garreth
Each Dawn I Die
1939Movie
Mueller
I Stole a Million
1939Movie
Downs (uncredited)
Union Pacific
1939Movie
Gen. Casement
Silver on the Sage
1939Movie
Earl Brennan / Dave Talbot
Let Us Live
1939Movie
District Attorney
There's That Woman Again
1938Movie
Tony Croy
The Mad Miss Manton
1938Movie
Edward Norris
If I Were King
1938Movie
Rene de Montigny
They're Always Caught
1938Movie
Dr. John Pritchard
Yellow Jack
1938Movie
Dr. James Carroll
Internes Can't Take Money
1937Movie
Dan Innes
Sinner Take All
1936Movie
MacKelvey
Winterset
1936Movie
Shadow
The Scoundrel
1935Movie
Paul Decker
Crime Without Passion
1934Movie
Eddie White
For Two Cents
1930Movie
The Poor Fish
1930Movie
George
Success
1923Movie
Gilbert Gordon