Walter Davis Pidgeon was an actor who achieved a great deal in his career. He earned two Academy Award nominations for Best Actor for his performances in Mrs. Miniver and Madame Curie. In addition, he has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Critics’ Choice Award.
Early life
The early life of Walter Pidgeon is not what you would expect. He grew up in East Saint John, New Brunswick, but he went on to become a renowned actor. His popularity soared during the 1940s and early 1950s. However, he relegated himself to secondary roles in most of his films.
Pidgeon graduated from the University of New Brunswick. He then studied law. While studying, he also acted onstage. A friend of his, Fred Astaire, was impressed by his singing ability. Eventually, Astaire gave him an agent. This paved the way for an exciting career.
In 1926, Pidgeon signed with Hollywood. During the silent era, he appeared in several films. But his fame began to increase with the advent of the talkie.
Pidgeon was nominated for two Oscars. His performance in ‘Mrs. Miniver’ won him six Academy Awards. That film is considered to be the best picture of the decade.
Pidgeon made his screen debut in ‘Mannequin’ in 1926. He was cast in a variety of different roles in movies over the next few years.
He made his Broadway debut in 1925. He later starred in musicals. Pidgeon’s talent as a singer was so outstanding that Elsie Janis arranged to hire him as a singing partner.
The pair performed for six months in the mid-1920s. They eventually decided to leave Elsie’s company and begin working for themselves. It was in this same year that he was discovered by an agent.
Pidgeon was also an active member of the Screen Actors Guild. He served as the guild’s president from 1952 to 1963. At one point, he was considered the best actor in the United States.
During his career, he starred in more than 100 films. He was also known for his role in the film Forbidden Planet, which was based on a science fiction story.
Pidgeon was born on September 23, 1897. He died on September 25, 1984. He is the only Canadian nominated for an Oscar. There are over thirty-three languages that reference his biography. You can find more about his life and career on Wikipedia.
Acting career
The acting career of Walter Pidgeon began in the early years of the silent era. He became a star in early talkies. His career went on to include roles in several quality classics.
Pidgeon was born on September 23, 1897, in Saint John, New Brunswick. He was the son of a shopkeeper. During World War I, he enlisted in the 65th Battery of the Royal Canadian Artillery. Afterwards, he studied law at the University of New Brunswick. However, he was dissatisfied with his job as a bank clerk. When he learned that he could sing, he decided to go into the performing arts.
In the 1920s, he appeared in several silent films. He was also hired by Elsie Janis as her singing partner. He was able to take some acting lessons in Boston. Eventually, he was able to get an agent.
In 1935, he started to act more seriously. Several dramatic roles followed. Later, he appeared in a variety of musicals. As a result, he made an impression on audiences. By the late ’40s, he was a well-known actor.
One of his most successful film appearances was in the classic sci-fi flick ‘Forbidden Planet’ in 1956. Pidgeon was nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award. Among his other best performances was in ‘Mrs. Miniver’, which won six Oscars, including Best Picture.
He is the only Canadian-born actor to be nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. During the 1950s, he starred in numerous films, including ‘The Happiest Millionaire’, ‘Breaking Point’, ‘Rawhide’, and ‘The Miniver Story’.
He has acted with other big name actors. He co-starred with Kirk Douglas in ‘Million Dollar Mermaid’ in 1953, and appeared with Barbara Stanwyck in ‘Executive Suite’ in 1954. Other notable films of his include ‘The Red Danube’ (1949), ‘Saratoga’ (1959), and ‘Scandal at Scourie’ (1953).
Pidgeon was married to Ruth Walker and died on September 25, 1984. He donated his body to the U.C.L.A. Medical School in Los Angeles.
During his acting career, Pidgeon appeared in more than 100 films. He is also the only Canadian-born actor to be nominated twice for an Oscar.
Film roles
Walter Pidgeon is an actor known for his appearances in over 100 films. He is also a singer. His career began in the silent era. But he later became one of the most popular actors in the talkies. In fact, he appeared in many of the most memorable films of the 1930s and 1940s.
Pidgeon started his acting career with a role in Mannequin in 1926. Later, he was a member of Elsie Janis’ touring company. During that time, he learned about the business and was ready to prove himself as an actor. He even signed a contract with MGM in 1937.
The early days of his career were marked with important roles. One of these roles was a villain in the film “The Dark Command.” After the war, Pidgeon lived in Boston. However, he became dissatisfied with the job and left for New York City.
Pidgeon subsequently worked in stock broker’s runner. In the mid-1920s, he toured with Elsie Janis. During this time, he also studied singing and law. This helped him land roles in high-quality films.
Pidgeon and Greer Garson starred in eight films together. They received Best Actor nominations for ‘Mrs. Miniver’, ‘Mrs. Parkington’, ‘That Forsyte Woman’, ‘Madame Curie’, ‘Mrs. Saratoga’, ‘The Girl of the Golden West’, ‘The Kiss Before the Mirror’, and ‘Bruce Lee’s A Man of No Importance’.
By the time he left the movies in the 1950s, he had become a highly acclaimed performer. Pidgeon also took on prominent roles in science fiction and musicals. And he was a member of the Screen Actors Guild.
Pidgeon died on September 25, 1984 in Santa Monica, California. He was the husband of Edna Pidgeon Atkins, who worked in the Animation Department of MGM. She gave him two granddaughters.
Although Pidgeon was a talented performer, he suffered a series of strokes that forced him to spend seventeen months in hospital. When his wife died, he donated his body to the University of California, Los Angeles Medical School.
Walter Pidgeon was born on September 23, 1897, in Saint John, New Brunswick. He was the son of a shopkeeper. He later studied law at the University of New Brunswick.
Television roles
A well-known actor in both television and the film industry, Walter Pidgeon has a long and successful career. He was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, on September 23, 1897. Throughout his lifetime, Pidgeon acted in a variety of roles, from his early days as a singer to his later film appearances.
During his early days, Pidgeon appeared in silent films. However, he shifted his focus to dramatic roles in the 1930s and 1940s. The actor also performed in several talking musicals for Warner Brothers.
Despite his early success, Pidgeon suffered from several strokes. At one point, he donated his body to the U.C.L.A. Medical School in Los Angeles. This would later lead to his death on September 25, 1984.
During his later years, he returned to film, appearing in a number of TV shows and movies. These included his starring role in the 1959 Broadway musical ‘Take Me Along’. In addition, he played the king in Cinderella in 1965. His other notable performances include Breaking Point, Marcus Welby, M.D., and Rawhide.
Pidgeon worked with Greer Garson for eight movies, including the classic WWII drama ‘Mrs. Miniver’. They were also nominated for the Best Actor Award for their work in ‘That Forsyte Woman’.
Pidgeon and Garson worked together in other films, including ‘Scandal at Scourie’ and ‘Julie Misbehaves’. Their most successful films, however, were WWII melodramas.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Pidgeon was in high demand for singing roles. It was this type of acting that led to his successful appearances on Broadway. Other films he starred in included ‘Show Girl in Hollywood’, ‘Toast of the Legion’, and ‘A Most Immoral Lady’.
While Pidgeon is best known for his film roles, he was a prominent singer in his earlier years. He appeared in a number of stage plays, including ‘Something Gay’, ‘Night of January 16th’, and ‘There’s Wisdom in Women’. After his first wife died, he married Ruth Walker. She was his secretary.
As an actor, Pidgeon played the lead in several successful movies, such as ‘How Green Was My Valley’, ‘Showboat’, ‘Saratoga’, and ‘Show Girl in Hollywood. Sadly, his last film, ‘A Date with Judy’, did not get the cast he wanted.
