Adolphe Jean Menjou (February 18, 1890 – October 29, 1963) was an American actor.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania of French and Irish descent, he was raised Roman Catholic, and attended the Culver Military Academy and graduated from Cornell University with a degree in engineering. Attracted to the vaudeville stage, he made his movie debut in 1916 in The Blue Envelope Mystery. During World War I, he served as a captain in the ambulance service.
Returning from the war, he became a star in such films as The Sheik and The Three Musketeers. When he starred in 1923's A Woman of Paris, he solidified the image of a well-dressed man-about-town. His career stalled with the coming of talkies, but in 1930, he starred in Morocco, with Marlene Dietrich. He was nominated for an Academy Award for The Front Page (1931).
In 1947, Menjou cooperated with the House Committee on Un-American Activities in its hunt for Communists in Hollywood. Menjou was a leading member of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a self-styled patriotic group formed to oppose Communist influence in Hollywood. Other members included Barbara Stanwyck (with whom he co-starred in Golden Boy in 1939) and her husband, actor Robert Taylor.
Because of his political sympathies Menjou came into conflict with actress Katharine Hepburn, who was considered a radical left-winger by American standards. He appeared with her in the films Stage Door and State of the Union, the latter also starring Spencer Tracy. Suspected of Communist sympathies, Ms. Hepburn was strongly opposed to any Hollywood actors outing their fellow film stars. It is reported that during the filming of State of the Union, she and Menjou only spoke to each other when required to in the film script.
He ended his career with such roles as French General George Broulard in 1957's Paths of Glory, and as the town curmudgeon in Pollyanna in 1960.
In 1948, he published his autobiography, It Took Nine Tailors.
He died on October 29,1963 of hepatitis.
Menjou has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6822 Hollywood Blvd.
Selected filmography
The Blue Envelope Mystery (1916)
The Sheik (1921), starring Rudolph Valentino
The Three Musketeers (1921)
Head Over Heels (1922)
A Woman of Paris (1923)
The Marriage Circle (1924)
Forbidden Paradise (1924)
A Social Celebrity (1926)
The Sorrows of Satan (1926)
A Gentleman of Paris (1927)
Mysterious Mr. Parkes (1930)
Morocco (1930)
The Easiest Way (1931)
The Front Page (1931)
Forbidden (1932)
A Farewell to Arms (1932)
Morning Glory (1933)
Convention City (1933)
The Trumpet Blows (1934)
Little Miss Marker (1934), featuring Shirley Temple
The Mighty Barnum (1934)
Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
The Milky Way (1936)
A Star Is Born (1937)
One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937)
Stage Door (1937)
The Goldwyn Follies (1938)
Golden Boy (1939)
That’s Right You’re Wrong (1939)
Roxie Hart (1942)
You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
Hi Diddle Diddle (1943)
The Hucksters (1947)
State of the Union (1948), with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn
My Dream Is Yours (1949)
Across the Wide Missouri (1951)
The Sniper (1952)
The Ambassador's Daughter (1956)
The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown (1957)
Paths of Glory (1957), starring Kirk Douglas
I Married a Woman (1958)
Pollyanna (1960)
References
^ "His Irish mother was a distant cousin of novelist/poet James Joyce ("Ulysses") (1882-1941). His French father, an émigré, eventually moved the family to Cleveland, where he operated a chain of restaurants."
External links
Adolphe Menjou at the Internet Movie Database
Photographs of Adolphe Menjou
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Menjou"
Categories: 1890 births | 1963 deaths | Deaths from hepatitis | American film actors | American silent film actors | Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery | Cornell University alumni | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Actors from Pittsburgh | Americans of French descent | Americans of Irish descent | Vaudeville performers | California Republicans
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