Stanley Ridges
Acting • Born 1890-07-17 – Died 1951-04-22
Biography
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.
Filmography
58 credits
To Be or Not to Be
Movie • 1942
Professor Alexander Siletsky
For Two Cents
Movie • 1930
Possessed
Movie • 1947
Dr. Harvey Willard
Dust Be My Destiny
Movie • 1939
Charles 'Charlie' Garreth
The Sea Wolf
Movie • 1941
Johnson
Crime Without Passion
Movie • 1934
Eddie White
The File on Thelma Jordon
Movie • 1949
Kingsley Willis
No Way Out
Movie • 1950
Sam Moreland
Black Friday
Movie • 1940
Prof. George Kingsley / Red Cannon
Each Dawn I Die
Movie • 1939
Mueller
The Scoundrel
Movie • 1935
Paul Decker
Canyon Passage
Movie • 1946
Jonas Overmire
An Act of Murder
Movie • 1948
Doctor Walter Morrison
This Is the Army
Movie • 1943
John Davidson
Air Force
Movie • 1943
Maj. Mallory - Clark Field
Sergeant York
Movie • 1941
Major Buxton
Paid in Full
Movie • 1950
Dr. P.J. 'Phil' Winston
They Died with Their Boots On
Movie • 1941
Maj. Romulus Taipe
Nick Carter, Master Detective
Movie • 1939
Doctor Frankton (as Stanley C. Ridges)
Let Us Live
Movie • 1939
District Attorney
The Big Shot
Movie • 1942
Martin T. Fleming, Attorney
Silver on the Sage
Movie • 1939
Earl Brennan / Dave Talbot
The Lady Is Willing
Movie • 1942
Kenneth Hanline
You're My Everything
Movie • 1949
Mr. Henry Mercer
Tarzan Triumphs
Movie • 1943
Colonel Von Reichart
Eyes in the Night
Movie • 1942
Hansen
The Groom Wore Spurs
Movie • 1951
Harry Kallen
If I Were King
Movie • 1938
Rene de Montigny
Sinner Take All
Movie • 1936
MacKelvey
Streets of Laredo
Movie • 1949
Major Bailey
They're Always Caught
Movie • 1938
Dr. John Pritchard
Mr. District Attorney
Movie • 1941
District Attorney Tom F. Winton
The Master Race
Movie • 1944
Phil Carson
Union Pacific
Movie • 1939
Gen. Casement
The Mad Miss Manton
Movie • 1938
Edward Norris
The Suspect
Movie • 1945
Inspector Huxley
The Phantom Speaks
Movie • 1945
Dr. Paul Renwick
Wilson
Movie • 1944
Dr. Cary Grayson
There's That Woman Again
Movie • 1938
Tony Croy
Mr. Ace
Movie • 1946
Toomey
Espionage Agent
Movie • 1939
Hamilton Peyton
Winterset
Movie • 1936
Shadow
Task Force
Movie • 1949
Sen. Bentley
Because of Him
Movie • 1946
Charles Gilbert
Internes Can't Take Money
Movie • 1937
Dan Innes
Captain Eddie
Movie • 1945
Col. Hans Adamson
Eagle Squadron
Movie • 1942
Air Minister
The Story of Dr. Wassell
Movie • 1944
Cmdr. William B. 'Bill' Goggins
The Poor Fish
Movie • 1930
George
I Stole a Million
Movie • 1939
Downs (uncredited)
False Faces
Movie • 1943
District Attorney Stanley S. Harding
Yellow Jack
Movie • 1938
Dr. James Carroll
Success
Movie • 1923
Gilbert Gordon
The Voice That Thrilled the World
Movie • 1943
Self (segment 'Sergeant York') (archive footage)
The Man Who Had Influence
Movie • 1950
J. C. Grant
God Is My Co-Pilot
Movie • 1945
Col. Merian 'Steve' Cooper
Studio One
TV • 1948
Police Chief Scott Anderson
Studio One
TV • 1948
J.C. Grant