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 an 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.
Movie | The Groom Wore Spurs | Harry Kallen | 1951-03-13 |
Movie | Paid in Full | Dr. P.J. 'Phil' Winston | 1950-02-15 |
Movie | The Man Who Had Influence | J. C. Grant | 1950-05-29 |
Movie | No Way Out | Dr. Sam Moreland | 1950-08-16 |
Movie | You're My Everything | Mr. Henry Mercer | 1949-07-22 |
Movie | Streets of Laredo | Major Bailey | 1949-05-27 |
Movie | The File on Thelma Jordon | Kingsley Willis | 1949-11-04 |
Movie | Task Force | Sen. Bentley | 1949-08-30 |
Movie | An Act of Murder | Doctor Walter Morrison | 1948-12-05 |
Movie | Possessed | Dr. Willard | 1947-05-29 |
Movie | Because of Him | Charles Gilbert | 1946-01-18 |
Movie | Mr. Ace | Toomey | 1946-08-02 |
Movie | Canyon Passage | Jonas Overmire | 1946-07-17 |
Movie | The Suspect | Inspector Huxley | 1945-01-31 |
Movie | God Is My Co-Pilot | Col. Merian 'Steve' Cooper | 1945-04-07 |
Movie | Captain Eddie | Col. Hans Adamson | 1945-06-18 |
Movie | The Phantom Speaks | Dr. Paul Renwick | 1945-04-13 |
Movie | The Story of Dr. Wassell | Cmdr. William B. 'Bill' Goggins | 1944-07-04 |
Movie | Wilson | Dr. Cary Grayson | 1944-08-01 |
Movie | The Master Race | Phil Carson | 1944-09-22 |
Movie | Tarzan Triumphs | Colonel Von Reichart | 1943-01-20 |
Movie | Air Force | Maj. Mallory - Clark Field | 1943-03-20 |
Movie | This Is the Army | John Davidson | 1943-08-14 |
Movie | False Faces | District Attorney Stanley S. Harding | 1943-05-28 |
Movie | The Voice That Thrilled the World | Self (segment 'Sergeant York') (archive footage) | 1943-10-16 |
Movie | To Be or Not to Be | Professor Alexander Siletsky | 1942-03-05 |
Movie | The Lady Is Willing | Kenneth Hanline | 1942-02-12 |
Movie | The Big Shot | Martin T. Fleming, Attorney | 1942-06-13 |
Movie | Eagle Squadron | Air Minister | 1942-06-16 |
Movie | Eyes in the Night | Hansen | 1942-10-16 |
Movie | The Sea Wolf | Johnson | 1941-03-21 |
Movie | Mr. District Attorney | District Attorney Tom F. Winton | 1941-03-27 |
Movie | Sergeant York | Major Buxton | 1941-09-27 |
Movie | They Died with Their Boots On | Maj. Romulus Taipe | 1941-11-20 |
Movie | Black Friday | Prof. George Kingsley / Red Cannon | 1940-02-29 |
Movie | Union Pacific | Gen. Casement | 1939-05-05 |
Movie | I Stole a Million | Downs (uncredited) | 1939-08-01 |
Movie | Let Us Live | District Attorney | 1939-03-29 |
Movie | Silver on the Sage | Earl Brennan / Dave Talbot | 1939-03-31 |
Movie | Each Dawn I Die | Mueller | 1939-08-19 |
Movie | Nick Carter, Master Detective | Doctor Frankton (as Stanley C. Ridges) | 1939-12-13 |
Movie | Espionage Agent | Hamilton Peyton | 1939-09-30 |
Movie | Dust Be My Destiny | Charles 'Charlie' Garreth | 1939-09-16 |
Movie | Yellow Jack | Dr. James Carroll | 1938-05-19 |
Movie | If I Were King | Rene de Montigny | 1938-09-28 |
Movie | They're Always Caught | Dr. John Pritchard | 1938-07-03 |
Movie | The Mad Miss Manton | Edward Norris | 1938-10-21 |
Movie | There's That Woman Again | Tony Croy | 1938-12-24 |
Movie | Internes Can't Take Money | Dan Innes | 1937-04-16 |
Movie | Winterset | Shadow | 1936-12-03 |
Movie | Sinner Take All | MacKelvey | 1936-12-18 |
Movie | The Scoundrel | Paul Decker | 1935-04-30 |
Movie | Crime Without Passion | Eddie White | 1934-08-30 |
Movie | The Poor Fish | George | 1930-06-07 |
Movie | Success | Gilbert Gordon | 1923-02-25 |