Louis Calhern

Born: 1895-02-18

Carl Henry Vogt (February 19, 1895 – May 12, 1956), known professionally as Louis Calhern, was an American stage and screen actor. For portraying Oliver Wendell Holmes in the film The Magnificent Yankee (1950), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Calhern began working in silent films for director Lois Weber in the early 1920s; the most notable being The Blot in 1921. A 1921 newspaper article commented, "The new arrival in stardom is Louis Calhern, who, until Miss Weber engaged him to enact the leading male role in What's Worth While?, had been playing leads in the Morosco Stock company of Los Angeles." In 1923 Calhern left the movies, but would return to the screen eight years later after the advent of sound pictures. He was primarily cast as a character actor in films while he continued to play leading roles on the stage. He reached his peak in the 1950s as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player. Among his many memorable screen roles were Ambassador Trentino in the Marx Brothers classic Duck Soup (1933) and three that he appeared in at MGM in 1950: a singing role as Buffalo Bill in the film version of the musical Annie Get Your Gun, the double-crossing lawyer and sugar-daddy to Marilyn Monroe in John Huston's film noir The Asphalt Jungle, and his Oscar-nominated performance as Oliver Wendell Holmes in The Magnificent Yankee (re-creating his role from the Broadway stage). He was also praised for his portrayal of the title role in the John Houseman production of Julius Caesar (adapted from the Shakespeare play) in 1953, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Calhern also played the role of the devious George Caswell, the manipulative board member of Tredway Corporation in the 1954 production of Executive Suite. Calhern's other film roles included the grandfather in The Red Pony (1949), adapted from the novel by John Steinbeck and starring Robert Mitchum, and the spy boss of Cary Grant in the Alfred Hitchcock suspense classic Notorious (1946). A performance as Uncle Willie in High Society (1956), a musical remake of The Philadelphia Story, turned out to be his final film. Description above from the Wikipedia article Louis Calhern, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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Notorious

as Captain Paul Prescott
Released: 1946-08-21

In order to help bring Nazis to justice, U.S. government agent T.R. Devlin recruits Alicia...

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The Asphalt Jungle

as Alonzo D. Emmerich
Released: 1950-05-12

Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo...

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Julius Caesar

as Jules César
Released: 1953-06-04

The assassination of the would be ruler of Rome at the hands of Brutus and company has tragic...

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Blackboard Jungle

as Jim Murdock
Released: 1955-03-25

Richard Dadier is a teacher at North Manual High School, an inner-city school where many of the...

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Athena

as Grandpa Ulysses Mulvain
Released: 1954-11-04

A stuffy young lawyer's outlook on life drastically changes when he meets a perky health food...

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Heaven Can Wait

as Randolph Van Cleve
Released: 1943-08-05

Spoiled playboy Henry van Cleve dies and arrives at the entrance to Hell, a final destination he...

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High Society

as Uncle Willie
Released: 1956-07-17

Childhood friends Tracy Lord and C.K. Dexter Haven got married and quickly divorced. Now Tracy...

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The Bad and the Beautiful

as Georgia Lorrison's Father (voice) (uncredited)
Released: 1952-12-25

Told in flashback form, the film traces the rise and fall of a tough, ambitious Hollywood...

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The Life of Emile Zola

as Major Dort
Released: 1937-09-09

Biopic of the famous French writer Emile Zola and his involvement in the Dreyfus Affair.

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Duck Soup

as Ambassador Trentino
Released: 1933-11-12

Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on...

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That's Entertainment, Part II

as (archive footage)
Released: 1976-05-16

Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time...

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Invitation

as Simon Bowker
Released: 1952-01-29

A rich man buys a husband for his dying daughter and she finds out.

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The Count of Monte Cristo

as De Villefort Jr.
Released: 1934-09-06

After greedy men have Edmound Dantes unjustly imprisoned for 20 years for innocently delivering...

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Juarez

as LeMarc
Released: 1939-06-10

The newly-named emperor Maximilian and his wife Carlota arrive in Mexico to face popular...

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The Prisoner of Zenda

as Col. Zapt
Released: 1952-11-04

An Englishman vacationing in Ruritania is recruited to impersonate his cousin, the...

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Woman Wanted

as Smiley
Released: 1935-08-02

Just after a jury finds Ann Grey guilty of murder, the car carrying her to prison crashes into...

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Annie Get Your Gun

as Col. Buffalo Bill Cody
Released: 1950-05-17

Gunslinger Annie Oakley romances fellow sharpshooter Frank Butler as they travel with Buffalo...

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Up in Arms

as Colonel Ashley
Released: 1944-02-17

Hypochondriac Danny Weems gets drafted and accidentally smuggles his girlfriend aboard his...

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We're Not Married!

as Freddie Melrose
Released: 1952-07-11

A Justice of the Peace performed weddings a few days before his license was valid. A few years...

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The Red Danube

as Colonel Piniev
Released: 1949-10-14

A Russian ballerina in Vienna tries to flee KGB agents and defect.

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Men of the Fighting Lady

as James A. Michener
Released: 1954-05-07

A writer visits an aircraft carrier during the Korean war to learn more about it and the way...

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Executive Suite

as George Nyle Caswell
Released: 1954-04-30

When the head of a large manufacturing firm dies suddenly from a stroke, his vice-presidents vie...

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Devil's Doorway

as Verne Coolan
Released: 1950-09-15

A Native American Civil War hero returns home to fight for his people.

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Betrayed

as Gen. Ten Eyck
Released: 1954-09-07

Screen superstars Clark Gable ("Gone With The Wind," "It Happened One Night") and sultry...

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Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend

as Self (from The Asphalt Jungle [1950]) (archive footage)
Released: 1986-04-19

Her story is well-known — the lonely child who yearned for affection and approval which she...

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The Blot

as Phil West
Released: 1921-09-04

Professor Griggs, teaching at the college, doesn't get paid a living wage; his next door...

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The Red Pony

as Grandfather
Released: 1949-03-08

Peter Miles stars as Tom Tiflin, the little boy at the heart of this John Steinbeck story set in...

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Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet

as Dr. Brockdorf
Released: 1940-02-23

True story of the doctor who considered it was not immoral to search for a drug that would cure...

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20,000 Years in Sing Sing

as Joe Finn
Released: 1932-12-24

Brash hoodlum Tom Connors enters Sing Sing cocksure of himself and disrespectful toward...

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The Road to Singapore

as Dr. George March
Released: 1931-09-02

A woman's life falls to pieces when she's caught cheating on her husband.

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The Affairs of Cellini

as Ottaviano
Released: 1934-08-24

The 16th-century sculptor woos the Duchess of Florence despite the duke.

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Arch of Triumph

as Boris Morosov
Released: 1948-02-17

In the winter of 1938, Paris is crowded with refugees from the Nazis, who live in the black...

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Fast Company

as Elias Z. 'Eli' Bannerman
Released: 1938-07-05

Married book-dealers Joel & Garda Sloane try to clear a friend in the murder of a rival book-seller.

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Blonde Crazy

as 'Dapper Dan' Barker
Released: 1931-09-16

Adventures of a cocky con man and his beautiful accomplice.

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Two Weeks with Love

as Horatio Robinson
Released: 1950-11-10

The Robinson family are spending two weeks of summer vacation at a resort in the Catskills....

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Washington Story

as Charles W. Birch
Released: 1952-07-01

A reporter (Patricia Neal) suspects the "nice guy" image of a respected Congressman (Van...

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It's a Big Country

as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Released: 1951-11-20

Comprised of eight unrelated episodes of inconsistent quality, this anthology piece of American...

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Forever, Darling

as Charles Y. Bewell
Released: 1956-02-09

Susan and Lorenzo have been married for over five years and they are starting to drift apart. So...

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Night After Night

as Dick Bolton
Released: 1932-10-29

A former boxer purchases a classy speakeasy and falls in love with a wealthy society girl.

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5th Ave Girl

as Dr. Kessler
Released: 1939-09-22

A wealthy man hires a poor girl to play his mistress in order to get more attention from his...

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The Man with a Cloak

as Charles Theverner
Released: 1951-11-27

Set in 19th-century New York, this mystery begins when a Frenchwoman shows up at the home of one...

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The Man with Two Faces

as Stanley Vance
Released: 1934-08-04

Actress Jessica Wells, sister of actor Damon Wells, is on top of her form except when her...

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Remains to Be Seen

as Benjamin Goodman
Released: 1953-05-15

A singer and her apartment manager get mixed up in a creepy Park Avenue murder and find...

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The Prodigal

as Nahreeb
Released: 1955-05-06

A wealthy young Hebrew traveling in Damascus renounces his faith after he is seduced by an...

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Rhapsody

as Nicholas Durant
Released: 1954-04-16

A rich, young beauty, Louise Durant, follows the man she loves and hopes to marry to Zurich...

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Afraid to Talk

as Asst. District Attorney John Wade
Released: 1932-11-17

Corrupt politicians resort to murder and blackmail when a young boy accidentally witnesses them...

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A Life of Her Own

as Jim Leversoe
Released: 1950-09-01

A young woman from Kansas moves to New York City, becomes highly successful at a prestigious...

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Strictly Personal

as Jack Magruder
Released: 1933-03-17

Soapy Gibson (Edward Ellis) and his wife Annie (Marjorie Rambeau) run a lonely hearts club in a...

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The Student Prince

as King of Karlsberg
Released: 1954-06-15

A prince has a romance with a barmaid before he must give up personal happiness for duty.

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I Take This Woman

as Dr. Martin Sumner Duveen
Released: 1940-02-02

On return from Europe Dr. Decker foils glamour girl Georgi from jumping overboard. At Decker's...

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The World Gone Mad

as Christopher Bruno
Released: 1933-04-15

A district attorney and a reporter try to find the killer of a D.A. who uncovered a massive...

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Nancy Goes to Rio

as Gregory Elliott
Released: 1950-03-10

Mother and daughter compete over same singing role and, unbeknownst to each other, the same man.

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The Last Days of Pompeii

as Prefect Allus Martius
Released: 1935-10-18

In this action-filled spectacle set in ancient Pompeii, a blacksmith becomes a Roman gladiator,...

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Stolen Heaven

as Steve Perry
Released: 1931-02-20

A hooker gets followed home by a man she thinks is drunk, but it turns out he's been wounded in...

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The Gorgeous Hussy

as Leroy Sunderland
Released: 1936-08-28

It's the early nineteenth century Washington. Young adult Margaret O'Neal, Peggy to most that...

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Latin Lovers

as Grandfather Eduardo Santos
Released: 1953-08-12

An heiress searches for true love while vacationing in Brazil.

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Main Street to Broadway

as Self
Released: 1953-10-12

In New York, a surly, down-on-his-heels playwright meets a country girl who's giving up trying...

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Charlie McCarthy, Detective

as Arthur Aldrich
Released: 1939-12-22

Scotty Hamilton is a reporter who works for a crooked editor. Bill Banning is another reporter...

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Okay, America!

as Mileaway Russell
Released: 1932-09-08

A gossip columnist's rise to fame. Based closely on the real life of Walter Winchell.

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Confidentially Connie

as Opie Bedloe
Released: 1953-03-12

Texas cattleman Opie Bedloe comes to Maine to visit his son Joe, a college instructor, and his...

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Sweet Adeline

as Major Jim Day
Released: 1934-12-29

In 1898, composer Sid Barnett manages to get his sweetheart, Adeline the beer-garden singer, to...

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The Woman Accused

as Leo Young
Released: 1933-02-17

Jeffrey and Glenda are two lovers about to embark on a three-day cruise to nowhere. Their plan...

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The Arizonian

as Sheriff Jake Mannen
Released: 1935-06-27

Clay Tallant comes to Silver City, Arizona in the 1880s and encounters wide-spread lawlessness...

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The Bridge of San Luis Rey

as Don Andre - The Viceroy
Released: 1944-02-11

A rope bridge over a gorge in the Peruvian Andes snaps, sending five people plunging to their...

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Too Wise Wives

as David Graham
Released: 1921-05-22

An insecure wife fears her husband may be straying back to an old flame.

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The Magnificent Yankee

as Oliver Wendell Holmes
Released: 1950-12-20

Biography of celebrated American jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes.

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Frisco Jenny

as Steve Dutton
Released: 1933-01-14

Jenny is carrying the child of a young man who dies in the San Francisco earthquake (1906)....

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Diplomaniacs

as Winkelreid
Released: 1933-04-28

Barbers Willy Nilly and Hercules Glub have opened a barbershop in an Indian reservation, where...

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They Call It Sin

as Ford Humphries
Released: 1932-11-05

An innocent, young, small-town church organist is thrown out of her home, told she was adopted,...

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Nobody's Darling

as Curtis Farnsworth
Released: 1943-08-27

Ugly duckling Janie Farnsworth is a student at Pennington High School, and has a crush on...

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Her Husband Lies

as Joe Sorrell
Released: 1937-03-13

J. Ward Thomas of Park Avenue leads a double life as an investment broker and as notorious...

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The Last Moment

as Harry Gaines
Released: 1923-06-07

The Last Moment is a silent film now considered lost.

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What's Worth While?

as 'Squire' Elton
Released: 1921-02-27

A rich woman and a poor man fall in love, but they face the opposition of her family.

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The Ed Sullivan Show

as Self
First aired: 1948-06-20

The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June...

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