Stanley Ridges

Born: 1890-07-17

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.


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They Died with Their Boots On

as Maj. Romulus Taipe
Released: 1941-11-20

The story follows General George Armstrong Custer's adventures from his West Point days to his...

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Union Pacific

as Gen. Casement
Released: 1939-05-05

One of the last bills signed by President Lincoln authorizes pushing the Union Pacific Railroad...

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Sergeant York

as Major Buxton
Released: 1941-09-27

Alvin York a hillbilly sharpshooter transforms himself from ruffian to religious pacifist. He is...

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To Be or Not to Be

as Professor Alexander Siletsky
Released: 1942-03-06

During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's...

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No Way Out

as Dr. Sam Moreland
Released: 1950-08-16

Two hoodlum brothers are brought into a hospital for gunshot wounds, and when one of them dies...

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The File on Thelma Jordon

as Kingsley Willis
Released: 1949-11-04

Cleve Marshall, an assistant district attorney, falls for Thelma Jordon, a mysterious woman with...

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Canyon Passage

as Jonas Overmire
Released: 1946-07-17

In 1850s Oregon, a businessman is torn between his love of two very different women and his...

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Air Force

as Maj. Mallory - Clark Field
Released: 1943-03-20

The crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack...

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Possessed

as Dr. Willard
Released: 1947-05-29

After being found wandering the streets of Los Angeles, a severely catatonic woman tells a...

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The Sea Wolf

as Johnson
Released: 1941-03-21

Shipwrecked fugitives try to escape a brutal sea captain who's losing his mind.

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Each Dawn I Die

as Mueller
Released: 1939-08-19

A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism...

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Black Friday

as Prof. George Kingsley / Red Cannon
Released: 1940-02-29

University professor George Kingsley is struck by gangsters while crossing the street, leaving...

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The Suspect

as Inspector Huxley
Released: 1945-01-31

Genial shopkeeper Philip has to endure the constant nagging of a shrewish wife while he secretly...

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The Mad Miss Manton

as Edward Norris
Released: 1938-10-21

When the murdered body discovered by beautiful, vivacious socialite Melsa Manton disappears,...

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Eyes in the Night

as Hansen
Released: 1942-10-16

Blind detective Duncan Maclain gets mixed up with enemy agents and murder when he tries to help...

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I Stole a Million

as Downs (uncredited)
Released: 1939-08-01

A cabbie and petty thief dreams of the big heist that will end his thieving ways.

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The Phantom Speaks

as Dr. Paul Renwick
Released: 1945-04-13

The spirit of an executed murderer enters the body of a physician, and forces him to do its...

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Winterset

as Shadow
Released: 1936-12-03

A man is determined to find the real culprit behind the crime for which his father was wrongly...

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Tarzan Triumphs

as Colonel Von Reichart
Released: 1943-01-20

Zandra, white princess of a lost civilization, comes to Tarzan for help when Nazis invade the...

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The Big Shot

as Martin T. Fleming, Attorney
Released: 1942-06-13

Duke Berne, former big shot but now a three-time loser, fears returning to crime because a...

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Streets of Laredo

as Major Bailey
Released: 1949-05-27

Texas, 1878: cheerful outlaw-buddies Jim, Lorn and Wahoo rescue spunky orphan Rannie Carter from...

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Task Force

as Sen. Bentley
Released: 1949-08-30

After learning the finer points of carrier aviation in the 1920s, career officer Jonathan Scott...

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The Lady Is Willing

as Kenneth Hanline
Released: 1942-02-12

Bold, eccentric Broadway performer Elizabeth Madden befuddles her handlers by coming home with a...

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The Scoundrel

as Paul Decker
Released: 1935-04-30

A ruthless, cynical, hated publisher is killed in a plane crash, doomed to be a "restless"...

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Let Us Live

as District Attorney
Released: 1939-03-29

When a confused eyewitness identifies New York City cabbie Brick Tennant as a killer, he is...

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Wilson

as Dr. Cary Grayson
Released: 1944-08-01

The political career of Woodrow Wilson is chronicled, beginning with his decision to leave his...

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Espionage Agent

as Hamilton Peyton
Released: 1939-09-30

When Barry Corvall discovers that his new bride is a possible enemy agent, he resigns from the...

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The Story of Dr. Wassell

as Cmdr. William B. 'Bill' Goggins
Released: 1944-07-04

As the Japanese sweep through the East Indies during World War II, Dr. Wassell is determined to...

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Dust Be My Destiny

as Charles 'Charlie' Garreth
Released: 1939-09-16

Embittered after serving time for a burglary he did not commit, Joe Bell is soon back in jail,...

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God Is My Co-Pilot

as Col. Merian 'Steve' Cooper
Released: 1945-04-07

Robert L. Scott has dreamed his whole life of being a fighter pilot, but when war comes he finds...

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This Is the Army

as John Davidson
Released: 1943-08-14

In WW I dancer Jerry Jones stages an all-soldier show on Broadway, called Yip Yip Yaphank....

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Internes Can't Take Money

as Dan Innes
Released: 1937-04-16

Dr. Kildare treats and falls for impoverished ex-con Janet Healy, widow of a bank robber, who...

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Nick Carter, Master Detective

as Doctor Frankton (as Stanley C. Ridges)
Released: 1939-12-13

Detective Nick Carter is brought in to foil spies at the Radex Airplane Factory, where a new...

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If I Were King

as Rene de Montigny
Released: 1938-09-28

King Louis XI masquerades as a commoner in Paris, seeking out the treachery he is sure lurks in...

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Mr. District Attorney

as District Attorney Tom F. Winton
Released: 1941-03-27

An assistant prosecutor and his spunky friend investigate a suddenly hot case.

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You're My Everything

as Mr. Henry Mercer
Released: 1949-07-22

In 1924, stage-struck Boston blueblood Hannah Adams picks up musical star Tim O'Connor and takes...

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Captain Eddie

as Col. Hans Adamson
Released: 1945-06-18

WWI flyer Eddie Rickenbaker remembers his life which brought him from a car salesman, race...

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Mr. Ace

as Toomey
Released: 1946-08-02

A rich society woman uses a gangster to win a congressional election.

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Crime Without Passion

as Eddie White
Released: 1934-08-30

Caddish lawyer Lee Gentry is going out with Katy Costello, but carrying on an affair with dancer...

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Eagle Squadron

as Air Minister
Released: 1942-06-16

An American joins the British Royal Air Force just before Pearl Harbor is attacked, and falls in...

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Yellow Jack

as Dr. James Carroll
Released: 1938-05-19

A fairly accurate historical account of Walter Reed's search for the cause of "Yellow Jack" or...

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Silver on the Sage

as Earl Brennan / Dave Talbot
Released: 1939-03-31

Hoppy goes undercover as a gambler from the East when Bar 20 cattle are stolen by unknown...

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Paid in Full

as Dr. P.J. 'Phil' Winston
Released: 1950-02-15

Two sisters fall in love with the same man. After the wedding, the new husband realizes he may...

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The Groom Wore Spurs

as Harry Kallen
Released: 1951-03-13

Pretty female attorney Abigail "AJ" Furnival is hired to keep high-flying cowboy movie star Ben...

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The Man Who Had Influence

as J. C. Grant
Released: 1950-05-29

Business mogul's son David Grant uses his father's power to extricate himself from problems -...

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An Act of Murder

as Doctor Walter Morrison
Released: 1948-12-05

A man kills his terminally ill wife to prevent her further suffering.

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Sinner Take All

as MacKelvey
Released: 1936-12-18

A young lawyer is determined to identify who is murdering members of a wealthy New York...

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There's That Woman Again

as Tony Croy
Released: 1938-12-24

Bill Reardon, a private detective, is working on a case involving stolen items from a local...

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Because of Him

as Charles Gilbert
Released: 1946-01-18

A young woman who wants to break into the theater schemes to become the protege of a famous...

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The Voice That Thrilled the World

as Self (segment 'Sergeant York') (archive footage)
Released: 1943-10-16

This short traces the history of sound in the movies, beginning with French scientist Leon...

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False Faces

as District Attorney Stanley S. Harding
Released: 1943-05-28

A district attorney sets out to vindicate his son who's been accused of murdering a nightclub...

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The Master Race

as Phil Carson
Released: 1944-09-22

When allied troops liberate a small battle-scarred Belgium town in 1944 the American and British...

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They're Always Caught

as Dr. John Pritchard
Released: 1938-07-03

This MGM Crime Does Not Pay series short shows the role the crime laboratory plays in the...

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Success

as Gilbert Gordon
Released: 1923-02-25

The often-told film story of a drunken actor hitting the skids, making a comeback, and helping...

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The Poor Fish

as George
Released: 1930-06-07

Harry comes home unexpectedly and overhears his wife calling another man 'sweetheart' on the...

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Studio One

as Police Chief Scott Anderson
First aired: 1948-11-07

An American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher...

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