Osgood Perkins
Osgood Perkins | |
|---|---|
 Perkins as Walter Burns inThe Front Page(1928) | |
| Born | James Ridley Osgood Perkins May 16, 1892 |
| Died | September 21, 1937(aged 45) Washington, D.C.,U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1922–1937 |
| Spouse |
Janet Esselstyn Rane
(m.1922) |
| Children | Anthony Perkins |
| Relatives | Oz Perkins(grandson) Elvis Perkins(grandson) |
James Ridley Osgood Perkins(May 16, 1892 – September 21, 1937) was an American actor.[1]
Life and career[edit]
Perkins was born inWest Newton, Massachusetts,son of Henry Phelps Perkins Jr., and his wife, Helen Virginia (née Anthony).[2]His maternal grandfather was wood engraverAndrew Varick Stout Anthony.[3]He was a graduate of Harvard College.[4]
Perkins made hisBroadwaydebut in 1924 in theGeorge S. Kaufman–Marc ConnellyplayBeggar on Horseback.In the next 12 years, he appeared in 24 Broadway productions, includingThe Front PageandUncle Vanya.
Despite his success as aleading manin the theatre,Hollywoodviewed him as acharacter actor.He appeared in 12silent films,includingPuritan Passions,before moving totalkiessuch asScarfaceandGold Diggers of 1937.
"The best actor I ever worked with was Osgood Perkins,"Louise BrookstoldKevin Brownlow."You know what makes an actor great to work with? Timing. You don't have to feel anything. It's like dancing with a perfect dancing partner. Osgood Perkins would give you a line so that you would react perfectly. It was timing -- because emotion means nothing."[citation needed]Brooks and Perkins appeared together inLove 'Em and Leave 'Em(1926).
DirectorElia Kazan,co-founder of the influentialmethod actingschool theGroup Theatre (New York City),later was impressed with Perkins's acting and sought to combine it with the Group's techniques. "There was no emotion," Mr. Kazan wrote of Perkins. "Only skill. In every aspect of technical facility, he was peerless....I believed I could take the kind of art Osgood Perkins exemplified — externally clear action, controlled every minute at every turn, with gestures spare yet eloquent — and blend that with the kind of acting the Group was built on: intense and truly emotional, rooted in the subconscious, therefore often surprising and shocking in its revelations. I could bring these two opposite and often conflicting traditions together."[5]
On September 21, 1937, Perkins died of aheart attackin his bathtub shortly after playing in a performance ofSusan and God.[6]
Perkins was inducted, posthumously, into theAmerican Theatre Hall of Famein 1981.[7]
Personal life[edit]
Perkins married Janet Esselstyn Rane in 1922. They had one child, actorAnthony Perkins.
Filmography[edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | The Cradle Buster | Crack 'Spoony' | Lostfilm |
| 1923 | Puritan Passions | Dr. Nicholas | Lostfilm |
| 1924 | Grit | Boris Giovanni Smith | Lostfilm |
| 1925 | Wild, Wild Susan | M. Crawford Dutton | Lostfilm |
| 1926 | Love 'Em and Leave 'Em | Lem Woodruff | |
| 1927 | High Hat | The Assistant Director | |
| Knockout Reilly | Spider Cross | Lostfilm | |
| 1929 | Syncopation | Hummel | |
| Mother's Boy | Jake Sturmberg | ||
| 1931 | Tarnished Lady | Ben Sterner | |
| 1932 | Scarface | John "Johnny" Lovo | |
| 1934 | Madame DuBarry | Duc de Richelieu | |
| Kansas City Princess | Marcel Duryea - French Private Eye | ||
| The President Vanishes | Harris Brownell | ||
| Secret of the Chateau | Martin | ||
| 1935 | I Dream Too Much | Paul Darcy | |
| 1936 | Gold Diggers of 1937 | Morty Wethered | |
| 1937 | A Star Is Born | Otto | Final Film (Uncredited) |
References[edit]
- ^Great Stars of the American Stage; in Historic Photographs,p.85 c.1983 edited by Stanley AppelbaumISBN0-486-24555-1
- ^Winecoff, Charles (2009).Split File: The Life of Anthony Perkins.Diane Pub Co. p. 10.ISBN978-0788198700.
- ^"Architecture of 196 Beacon Street, Back Bay, Boston".Archived fromthe originalon 2014-05-08.Retrieved2016-11-03.
- ^Monahan, Kaspar (October 9, 1932)."The Show Shops".The Pittsburgh Press.Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh. p. 31.RetrievedNovember 9,2018– viaNewspapers.com.
- ^Rothstein, Mervyn (28 September 2003)."Elia Kazan, Influential Director, Dies at 94".The New York Times.Retrieved10 April2023.
- ^"Osgood Perkins, 45, Actor, Dies in Bath".Canada Gazette.22 September 1937 – viaNewspapers.com.
- ^"26 Elected to the Theater Hall of Fame."The New York Times,March 3, 1981.
External links[edit]
- Osgood Perkinsat theInternet Broadway Database
- Osgood PerkinsatIMDb
- Osgood Perkinsportrait gallery NY Public Library
