Name: Monty Woolley
Date of Birth: 17 August 1888 Large and hearty Monty Woolley was born to privilege on August 17, 1888, the son of a hotel proprietor who owned the Marie Antoinette Hotel on Broadway. A part of Manhattan's elite social circle at a young age, he studied at both Yale (Master's degree) and Harvard and returned to Yale as an English instructor and coach of graduate dramatics. Among his students were 'Thornton Wilder' (qv) and 'Stephen Vincent Benet' (qv). Directly involved in the theater arts via his close association with intim... ate Yale friend and confidante 'Cole Porter' (qv), Monty directed several Broadway musicals and reviews, many in collaboration with Porter, including "Fifty Million Frenchmen" (1929) (an early success for Porter), "The New Yorkers" and "Jubilee" (1935). In 1936, at age 47, the witty, erudite gent had a career renaissance and gave up his Ivy League professorship once and for all in order to pursue the stage professionally. He took his first Broadway bow in the hit musical "On Your Toes" alongside 'Ray Bolger' (qv). That very same year he made his unbilled film debut with _Ladies in Love (1936)_ (qv). Hollywood soon took notice and he began receiving supporting credit as assorted judges and doctors for such MGM fare as _Live, Love and Learn (1937)_ (qv), _Everybody Sing (1938)_ (qv), the 'Margaret Sullavan' (qv) tearjerker _Three Comrades (1938)_ (qv), _Lord Jeff (1938)_ (qv), the 'Jeanette MacDonald' (qv)/'Nelson Eddy' (qv) musical _The Girl of the Golden West (1938)_ (qv) and _Young Dr. Kildare (1938)_ (qv). Typically playing cunning character leads and support roles, he was affectionately nicknamed "The Beard" by friend 'Cole Porter' (qv) for his distinguished, impeccably-trimmed white whiskers. It was Monty that introduced Porter into the famed New York theater circle. Known for his sartorial elegance, ribald sense of humor and snob appeal, he and Porter were highly prominent carousers in the New York gay social underground. Monty came into his own in 40s films, earning a best actor Oscar nomination for his role in the WWII drama _The Pied Piper (1942)_ (qv), a supporting actor nod in another war classic, _Since You Went Away (1944)_ (qv), and portrayed himself in the absurdly fictionalized (and sanitized) "biography" of 'Cole Porter' (qv) entitled _Night and Day (1946)_ (qv) starring a woefully miscast but admittedly flattering 'Cary Grant' (qv) in the lead. A flashy delight in other movie roles, Monty received top billing in _Irish Eyes Are Smiling (1944)_ (qv) with 'June Haver' (qv) and 'Dick Haymes' (qv), playing a twinkle-eyed con man; appeared opposite Brit comedienne 'Grace Field' (qv) in the English-humored _Molly and Me (1945)_ (qv) and _Holy Matrimony (1943)_ (qv); again with 'Cary Grant' (qv) along with 'Loretta Young' (qv) and 'David Niven (I)' (qv) as a professor in the perennial Christmas classic _The Bishop's Wife (1947)_ (qv); plots against his own retirement in the mild comedy _As Young as You Feel (1951)_ (qv) opposite another scene-stealing favorite, 'Thelma Ritter' (qv); and ended his film career with the role of Omar Khayyam in the glossy MGM operetta _Kismet (1955)_ (qv). Above all, however, Monty will be forever and indelibly cherished as the irascible (and definitive) radio personality Sheridan Whiteside in the stage and film versions of Kaufman and Hart's screwball classic _The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)_ (qv). Playing the razor-tongued, wheelchair-bound celebrity who wreaks havoc for everyone within knife-throwing distance, this would be the hallmark of his never-too-late-to-try career. He played another uppity and bombastic celebrity, this time a washed-up classical actor, in the more sentimental _Life Begins at Eight-Thirty (1942)_ (qv), another role dripping with crusty sarcasm. Monty appeared sporadically on radio and TV before and after his last filming in 1955. He died of kidney/heart problems in 1963 at the age of 74.Read more Monty Woolley movies (actor)User Comments |
