Walter Davis Pidgeon (1897–1984) was a Canadian-American actor and prominent leading man during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Renowned for portraying men who are both sturdy and wise, he earned two Academy Award nominations for Best Actor with roles in Mrs. Miniver (1942) and Madame Curie (1943). His filmography also includes How Green Was My Valley, Forbidden Planet, and Funny Girl. Beyond acting, Pidgeon served as the 10th President of the Screen Actors Guild, received their Life Achievement Award, and earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Sep 26 1984Early life and education
Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, Pidgeon was the son of Hannah (née Sanborn), a housewife, and Caleb Burpee Pidgeon, a haberdasher.3
Pidgeon received his formal education in local schools and the University of New Brunswick, where he studied law and drama. His university education was interrupted by World War I when he volunteered with the 65th Battery, as a lieutenant in the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery. He never saw action, however, as he was severely injured in an accident when he was crushed between two gun carriages and spent seventeen months in a military hospital.4 His Officer Attestation states he was born in 1895 but further medical records state 1896.
Following the war, he moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where he worked as a bank runner, at the same time studying voice at the Boston Conservatory.5
Career
While he was performing in amateur theatricals in Boston, Pidgeon was hired by Elsie Janis, a producer, actor and singer looking for a male singer for her revue. Pidgeon moved to New York City in 1923, where he was interviewed by E.E. Clive, a British producer working on Broadway. Pidgeon made his first featured Broadway debut in Janis' 1925 revue Puzzles of 1925.6 Clive was producing You Never Can Tell, and he cast Pidgeon in a supporting role despite Pidgeon's lack of theatrical experience.
Pidgeon's success created a rift between Janis and him, leading to Pidgeon's dismissal and his move to Hollywood.7 His first role was in silent film Mannequin (1925). Discouraged with the quality of the roles he was getting, Pidgeon returned to New York in 1928 to resume his theater career.8 With the advent of sound films, Pidgeon starred in musicals Bride of the Regiment (1930), Sweet Kitty Bellairs (1930), Viennese Nights (1930) and Kiss Me Again (1931). In 1935, he appeared onstage on Broadway in Something Gay, Night of January 16th, and There's Wisdom in Women.
Pidgeon returned to film in 1937 as a dramatic actor in Saratoga (1937), then acted in The Girl of the Golden West (1938) and Dark Command (1940).9
In 1941, Pidgeon starred in the Academy Award-winning Best Picture How Green Was My Valley (1941). He starred with Greer Garson in Blossoms in the Dust (1941), Mrs. Miniver (1942) (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor) and its sequel, The Miniver Story (1950). He was also nominated for Madame Curie (1943), again with Garson. His partnership with her continued throughout the 1940s and into the 1950s with Mrs. Parkington (1944), Julia Misbehaves (1948), That Forsyte Woman (1949), and finally Scandal at Scourie (1953). He also starred as Chip Collyer in the comedy Week-End at the Waldorf (1945) and later as Colonel Michael S. 'Hooky' Nicobar, who was given the difficult task of repatriating Russians in post-World War II Vienna in The Red Danube (1949).
Although he continued to make films, including The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), Executive Suite (1954) and Forbidden Planet (1956), Pidgeon returned to work on Broadway in the mid-1950s after a 20-year absence. He was featured in Take Me Along with Jackie Gleason and received a Tony Award nomination for the musical play. He continued making films, playing Admiral Harriman Nelson in 1961's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, James Haggin in Walt Disney's Big Red (1962), and the Senate Majority Leader in Otto Preminger's Advise & Consent. His role as Florenz Ziegfeld in Funny Girl (1968) was well received. Later, he played Casey, James Coburn's sidekick, in Harry in Your Pocket (1973).
Pidgeon guest-starred in the episode "King of the Valley" (November 26, 1959) on Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre. Pidgeon played Dave King, a prosperous rancher who quarrels with his banker over a $10,000 loan.
His other television credits included Rawhide ("The Reunion", 1962). Breaking Point, The F.B.I., Marcus Welby, M.D., and Gibbsville. In 1963 he guest-starred as corporate attorney Sherman Hatfield in the fourth of four special episodes of Perry Mason while Raymond Burr was recovering from surgery. In 1965, he played the king in Rodgers and Hammerstein's CBS television production of Cinderella, starring Lesley Ann Warren. Pidgeon retired from acting in 1977.
Politics
A Republican, Pidgeon joined celebrity Republicans in 1944 at a rally in the Los Angeles Coliseum arranged by David O. Selznick to support the Dewey−Bricker ticket and Governor Earl Warren of California, who was Dewey's running mate in 1948. The gathering drew 93,000, with Cecil B. DeMille as the master of ceremonies and short speeches by Hedda Hopper and Walt Disney.10
Personal life
In 1919, Pidgeon wed Edna Muriel Pickles, who died during the birth of their daughter, Edna (1921–1978).11 In 1931, Pidgeon married his secretary, Ruth Walker, to whom he remained married until his death.12
Pidgeon became a United States citizen on December 24, 1943.13
Death
Pidgeon died on September 25, 1984, age 87, in Santa Monica, California, following a series of strokes.14
Walter Pidgeon has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6414 Hollywood Boulevard in California.
Complete filmography
Radio appearances
| Year | Program | Episode/source |
|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Lux Radio Theatre | Mrs. Parkington15 |
| 1946 | Lux Radio Theatre | Together Again16 |
| 1952 | Screen Guild Theatre | "Heaven Can Wait"17 |
| 1953 | Lux Radio Theatre | The People Against O'Hara18 |
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Walter Pidgeon.- Walter Pidgeon at IMDb
- Walter Pidgeon at the Internet Broadway Database
- Walter Pidgeon at the TCM Movie Database
References
Berger, Joseph (1984-09-26). "WALTER PIDGEON, ACTOR, DIES AT 87". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-01-19. https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/26/obituaries/walter-pidgeon-actor-dies-at-87.html ↩
"Walter Pidgeon | SAG-AFTRA". www.sagaftra.org. Retrieved 2024-01-19. https://www.sagaftra.org/walter-pidgeon ↩
Parish, James Robert; Mank, Gregory W. (April 1981). The Hollywood Reliables. Arlington House. p. 147. ISBN 978-0870004308. 978-0870004308 ↩
Foster, Charles (2003). Once upon a time in paradise : Canadians in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Toronto: Dundurn Group. pp. 233–250. ISBN 1-55002-464-7. 1-55002-464-7 ↩
Foster, Charles. "The Gentleman from Saint John". new-brunswick.net. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2021. ...using the money he earned, he entered the Boston Conservatory of Music. https://web.archive.org/web/20180804075802/http://www.new-brunswick.net/Saint_John/fame/pidgeon.html ↩
Foster, Charles (2003). Once upon a time in paradise : Canadians in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Toronto: Dundurn Group. pp. 233–250. ISBN 1-55002-464-7. 1-55002-464-7 ↩
Foster, Charles (2003). Once upon a time in paradise : Canadians in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Toronto: Dundurn Group. pp. 233–250. ISBN 1-55002-464-7. 1-55002-464-7 ↩
Foster, Charles (2003). Once upon a time in paradise : Canadians in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Toronto: Dundurn Group. pp. 233–250. ISBN 1-55002-464-7. 1-55002-464-7 ↩
Foster, Charles (2003). Once upon a time in paradise : Canadians in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Toronto: Dundurn Group. pp. 233–250. ISBN 1-55002-464-7. 1-55002-464-7 ↩
Jordan, David M. (2011). FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. pp. 231–32. ISBN 978-0253356833. pidgeon. 978-0253356833 ↩
"Walter Pidgeon—Biography". NorthernStars.ca (The Canadian Movie Database). Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved 2009-10-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20201203100824/https://www.northernstars.ca/pidgeon_walter_biography ↩
Berger, Joseph (1984-09-26). "WALTER PIDGEON, ACTOR, DIES AT 87". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-24. https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/26/obituaries/walter-pidgeon-actor-dies-at-87.html ↩
Walter Davis Pidgeon's Petition for Naturalization as a United States Citizen, ancestry.com; accessed November 17, 2015. http://interactive.ancestrylibrary.com/1629/30849_120556-00799/8089522?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestrylibrary.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgss%3dangs-c%26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26msT%3d1%26gsfn%3dWalter%2b%26gsfn_x%3d0%26gsln%3dPidgeon%26gsln_x%3d0%26MSAV%3d0%26uidh%3d57k%26pcat%3d40%26h%3d8089522%26recoff%3d5%2b7%26db%3dUSnatindex_awap%26indiv%3d1%26ml_rpos%3d1&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord ↩
Berger, Joseph (September 26, 1984). "Walter Pidgeon, Actor, Dies at 87". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-10-25. Walter Pidgeon, the courtly actor who distinguished his 47-year career with portrayals of men who prove both sturdy and wise, died yesterday at a hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 87 years old and had suffered a series of strokes. ... /wiki/Joseph_Berger_(author) ↩
"'Lux' Guest". Harrisburg Telegraph. November 23, 1946. p. 19. Retrieved September 13, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3217198/harrisburg_telegraph/ ↩
"'Together Again' With Irene Dunn [sic] Next 'Lux' Drama". Harrisburg Telegraph. December 7, 1946. p. 19. Retrieved September 12, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3211428/harrisburg_telegraph/ ↩
Kirby, Walter (April 6, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 52. Retrieved May 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2426009/the_decatur_daily_review/ ↩
Kirby, Walter (March 8, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 46. Retrieved June 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2675786/the_decatur_daily_review/ ↩