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Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall (23 May 1890 – 22 January 1966) was an English stage, screen, and radio actor who starred in many popular and well-regarded Hollywood films in the 1930s and 1940s. After a successful theatrical career in the United Kingdom and North America, he became an in-demand Hollywood leading man, frequently appearing in romantic melodramas and occasional comedies. In his later years, he turned to character acting.
The son of actors, Marshall is best remembered for roles in Ernst Lubitsch's Trouble in Paradise (1932), Alfred Hitchcock's Murder! (1930) and Foreign Correspondent (1940), William Wyler's The Letter (1940) and The Little Foxes (1941), Albert Lewin's The Moon and Sixpence (1942), Edmund Goulding's The Razor's Edge (1946), and Kurt Neumann's The Fly (1958). He appeared onscreen with many of the most prominent leading ladies of Hollywood's Golden Age, including Barbara Stanwyck, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis.
From 1944 to 1952, Marshall starred in his own radio series The Man Called 'X'. Often praised for the quality of his voice, he made numerous radio guest appearances and hosted several shows. He performed on television as well. The actor, known for his charm, married five times and periodically appeared in gossip columns because of his sometimes turbulent private life. A leg amputee due to injuries sustained during the First World War, he worked for the rehabilitation of injured troops, especially aiding amputees like himself, during the Second World War. Marshall received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
As a boy, Herbert's mother gave him the nickname Bart because she feared he would be known as Bertie, "a name then in vogue that she disliked". His family, friends and personal acquaintances continued to call him Bart for the rest of his life. He was also periodically referred to by his nickname in the press. While introduced by his given name, he was usually addressed as Bart on the radio.E.g., G.I. Journal: Episode 100 (22/6/1945) , Herbert Marshall: "I'm Bart Marshall". Lux Radio Theatre: "The Dark Angel" (22 June 1936), Cecil B. DeMille: "...Bart, as we call him...". Screen Guild Theatre: "Accent on Youth" (12 March 1939) by Roger Pryor. The Jell-O Program: Episode 397 (2 February 1941) by cast. Command Performance Episode 181 (22 June 1945) by Marilyn Maxwell and Jack Haley. The Pepsodent Show: Guest Stars Herbert Marshall and Bing Crosby (29 May 1945) by Bob Hope. His parents gave him the middle name Brough (pronounced ) after his godfather, comedic Shakespearean actor Lionel Brough.
As a child, Marshall was brought up by his three maternal aunts while his parents toured in theatrical productions. During school vacations, however, they took him with them. These early experiences initially gave him a negative view of the theatre:
Marshall had a long and varied stage career, appearing with Nigel Playfair, Sir Gerald du Maurier, Noël Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Edna Best (his second wife), Cathleen Nesbitt, Mabel Terry-Lewis, Marie Lohr, Madge Titheradge, Edmund Gwenn (his future film and radio co-star) and others.Wearing (March 2014) The London Stage 1920–1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.Wearing, J.P. (May 2014). The London Stage 1930–1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield.
While his stage debut is usually listed as The Adventure of Lady Ursula (1911), some sources place it in 1909."Herbert Marshall" (9 April 1943). The Northern Miner, p. 6. "But at 19 Marshall played his first walk-on part in a stock company..."."Deanna's Explorer 'Daddy'" (25 August 1938). The Courier-Mail, p. 6S. Furthermore, Marshall remembered playing a footman alongside Eric Blore in Robert Courtneidge's The Arcadians;Ruddy, J.M., & O'Connor, Barbara (18 July 1936). "Not yet had Thespes tinged me with his fervor—not until I met Eric Blore...We were playing, when we met, with Robert Courtneidge's company of |The Arcadians. I was playing the imposing role of footman, I believe."Seymour, Robert (23 September 1938). "Why Women are Marshall Mad". The Times and Northern Advertiser, p. 4. his mention of Blore added an appearance in November 1910. Scottish Theatre Archive – Event Details. "Courtneidge assembled a touring company, which played the piece in the British provinces for ten years.". Parker, John (1922). Who's Who in the Theatre. Small, Maynard &. Co., p. 77.
In 1913, Marshall made his London debut in the role of Tommy in Brewster's Millions. Actor-manager Cyril Maude was so impressed with his performance that he recruited Marshall for his U.S. and Canadian tour of Grumpy. When war was declared, the company returned to London, and the 24-year-old enlisted in the London Regiment."Private Lives of Screen Stars: Herbert Marshall and His Wife, Edna Best" (6 December 1934). The Daily News, p. 10.
Marshall suffered from his war injury for the rest of his life, both from phantom pain
After The Letter, in Britain once again, he notably starred in Alfred Hitchcock's Murder! (1930). The following year, he returned to Paramount to make Secrets of a Secretary.
In Britain he made three films with Edna Best: Michael and Mary (1931), for Victor Saville, The Calendar (1931) and The Faithful Heart (1931) again for Saville.
Marshall returned to Broadway to star in Tomorrow and Tomorrow then There's Always Juliet. He primarily made films in the United States for the remainder of his life.
The 1932 film Blonde Venus brought Marshall to fame among the general American public. Later the same year, he played Gaston Monescu, a sophisticated thief involved in a love triangle in Ernst Lubitsch's suggestive, light comedy Trouble in Paradise (1932). In interviews, Marshall expressed a preference for playing this sort of witty comedy role. He discussed his two early films in a 1935 interview:
Back in Hollywood MGM cast him in The Solitaire Man (1933) then for Cecil B. De Mille he appeared opposite Claudette Colbert in Four Frightened People (1934).
MGM used him for Riptide (1934) with Norma Shearer, Outcast Lady (1934) with Constance Bennett and The Painted Veil (1934) with Greta Garbo. Marshall, who often played kind and proper husbands betrayed by their wives, told several reporters that he was tired of such "gentleman" roles. Although another cuckolded husband, he appreciated his part in The Painted Veil (1934) with Garbo because his character was able to show "intestinal fortitude".
The Good Fairy (1935) had him as Margaret Sullavan's leading man; he made The Flame Within (1935) with Ann Harding, Accent on Youth (1935) with Sylvia Sidney, The Dark Angel (1935) with Fredric March and Merle Oberon, If You Could Only Cook (1935) with Jean Arthur, and The Lady Consents (1936) with Harding.
He did three films with Gertrude Michael, Till We Meet Again (1936), Forgotten Faces (1936) and Make Way for a Lady (1936), then made Girls' Dormitory (1936) with Ruth Chatterton and A Woman Rebels (1936) with Katharine Hepburn.
Marshall was reunited with Dietrich and Lubtisch in Angel (1937). He made Breakfast for Two (1937), Always Goodbye (1938) with Barbara Stanwyck, and supported Deanna Durbin in Mad About Music (1938).
By mid-decade, the press noted how popular he was as a romantic actor. Syndicated columnist Edwin Schallert wrote: "The demand for Herbert Marshall's talents continues to spread far and wide. Even the newer and younger leading women, it is felt, need to have his proficient romanticism displayed in their pictures." Another reporter referred to him as the current "vogue in leading men" and noted that the top actresses often asked for him to appear with them.
After Woman Against Woman (1938), Marshall was reunited with Colbert in Zaza (1938).
After making Adventure in Washington (1941) Marshall starred as maltreated, principled husband Horace Giddens in The Little Foxes, again with Davis and Wyler, which received nine Academy Award nominations including one for Best Picture. The film's review in Variety noted "Marshall turns in one of his top performances in the exacting portrayal of a suffering, dying man." "Review: The Little Foxes." Variety, 22 August 1941.
During the Second World War, Marshall made numerous appearances on the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS), hosting The Globe TheatreMackenzie, Harry (1999). The Directory of the Armed Forces Radio Service Series (Discographies), p. 15. and guest-starring on Command Performance and Mail Call, among other programmes. He was also one of the leaders of a Hollywood British committee that helped organise the community's contributions to British war relief.Glancy, Mark (1999). When Hollywood Loved Britain: The Hollywood 'British' Film 1939–1945. Manchester University Press, 169. In 1940, Marshall co-starred with Rosalind Russell in Noël Coward's Still Life (from Tonight at 8.30) at the El Capitan. The proceeds went to the British Red Cross.Dick, Bernard F. (2006.) Forever Mame: The Life of Rosalind Russell. University Press of Mississippi, p. 144.Coward, Noël (2009). The Letters of Noël Coward. Vintage, p. 410. In 1943, he appeared briefly in the RKO film, Forever and a Day. The profits from the film funded a variety of war charities.Richards, p. 52. The same year, Marshall wrote a public letter of encouragement to his Hollywood colleagues serving overseas.Norden, Martin F. (1994). Cinema Of Isolation: A History of Physical Disability in the Movies. Rutgers University Press, p. 342. He also performed in the short film, The Shining Future (1944), later condensed and renamed Road to Victory, which was intended to sell Canadian war bonds. Marshall and twenty-five other actors each received a plaque from a representative of the Canadian government for their participation in the film.
Marshall continued to act in films through the war, increasingly as a supporting actor: When Ladies Meet (1941), Kathleen (1941) with Shirley Temple, and The Moon and Sixpence (1942) where he played a character based on W. Somerset Maugham.
He could be seen in Flight for Freedom (1943), Young Ideas (1944), Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble (1944), The Enchanted Cottage (1945) and The Unseen (1945).
It turned out to be anything but that. Mr. Marshall talked real sense into us. He followed it up with demonstrations, actually showing us what he could do. Before he left, we were convinced that if he had been able to lead a normal life, we could do the same.
The article also quoted a veteran with a double amputation (left leg and right foot), who praised Marshall for showing him how to dance with a prosthetic leg. He considered the actor's advice and example to be his Ten Commandments. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Head of the Allied Forces in Europe, noted in private that, of all the film stars he met in Europe during the war, he was most impressed with Marshall and Madeleine Carroll (who worked as a nurse at field hospitals).
Marshall continued to appear in films such as Angel Face (1953), a film noir; Riders to the Stars (1954), his first sci fi; Gog (1954), another sci-fi in 3-D; The Black Shield of Falworth (1954) with Tony Curtis; The Virgin Queen (1955) with Davis; Wicked as They Come (1956) with Arlene Dahl; and The Weapon (1956). He received acclaim for his performances in Stage Struck (1958) and The Fly (1958).
However he was more likely to be found on television in The Best of Broadway (a version of The Philadelphia Story), The Elgin Hour, Celebrity Playhouse, Lux Video Theatre (including an adaptation of The Browning Version and Now, Voyager), The Loretta Young Show, Playhouse 90, Studio One in Hollywood, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Adventures in Paradise.
His last performance was in the film The Third Day (1965).
During a return trip to London in late November 1932, Marshall and a pregnant Best gave an interview in which they stated their intention to briefly return to Hollywood the following summer."The Stage: Herbert Marshall and Edna Best" (1 December 1932). Western Mail, p. 6. Marshall: "'We both have contracts which will require our being there for three or four months in the year.'" Best: "'I don't care to be parted from my husband...And when he goes back next year I am going with him.'" They would bring a nanny to help look after their daughter.Morley (1983), p. 2. "Then there was Nanny Marshall, whose name wasn't really Marshall at all; it just so happened that she'd been taken out to California by Edna Best and Herbert Marshall early in the 1930s to look after their baby." At some point, Best and young Sarah returned to London while Marshall received more film offers. They continued making trips to see each other. In late 1933, actress Phyllis Barry had tea with Marshall and Claudette Colbert after they returned from Hawaii, where they had been filming Four Frightened People. She remembered that Marshall "insisted on my talking all the time because he said I sounded just like his wife"."Phyllis Barry, Hollywood Donalda Warne, London" (27 January 1934). The Australian Women's Weekly, p. 20. By the time Marshall was filming Riptide in early 1934, he reportedly was drinking heavily due to his problems with Best and increased phantom pain. (Director Goulding and co-star Norma Shearer successfully convinced him to curb his consumption of alcohol.) Not long after, Goulding introduced him to Gloria Swanson.Kennedy, Matthew (2004). Edmund Goulding's Dark Victory: Hollywood's Genius Bad Boy. University of Wisconsin Press, pp. 146, 148–149.
In 1940, after a long separation from her husband and wanting to marry someone else, Best divorced Marshall on grounds of desertion (he lived in Hollywood, and she lived in Britain). She remarried almost immediately. Twenty days later, he married actress and model Elizabeth Roberta "Lee" Russell, a sister of film star Rosalind Russell. Two years prior to their marriage, Russell's recently divorced ex-husband, songwriter Eddy Brandt, initiated an alienation of affection suit for $250,000 against Marshall, whom he accused of stealing his wife. Brandt later told the press that he and the actor settled out of court for $10,000. Marshall publicly denied this claim. In 1947, Russell divorced him in Mexico. They parted on amiable terms. Instead of explaining the reasons for her divorce, she told the press at the time: "I will never say anything against Bart. He is one of the most charming people I have ever known."Richards, p. 54
He was married to his fourth wife, former Ziegfeld girl and actress Boots Mallory, from 1947 until her death in 1958. They were wed in August 1947, with Nigel Bruce acting as best man.AP (2 August 1947). "Herbert Marshall and Boots Mallory to Wed Sunday". The Evening Independent, p. 5. After a 16-month illness, Mallory died of a throat ailment at age 45. Marshall was deeply troubled by her death and had to be hospitalised for pneumonia and pleurisy less than two months later.Richards, p. 54, 55 He married Dee Anne Kahmann, his final wife, on 25 April 1960 when he was almost 70 years old. She was a twice-divorced, 38-year-old department store buyer. They remained married until his death.
Marshall had a daughter Sarah by Edna Best and another daughter Ann by Lee Russell. Sarah Marshall followed her parents and grandparents into the acting profession,"Spotlight: Don't Let the Old Man Down" (27 October 1961). Life, p. 117. "Sarah's parents were divorced when she was very young...But, she says, 'Father's never missed seeing me in anything I've ever done.' Sarah, now 28, is a fine and versatile actress who has been in a string of Broadway hits, the most recent being Come Blow Your Horn. After her first stage success, people kept asking Sarah's father if he was proud. 'He took that for three days,' says Sarah, laughing, 'then left town tired of being so proud.'" appearing in many of the most popular television shows of the 1960s, including , The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, F Troop and Daniel Boone. Herbert and Sarah Marshall acted together in a television version of J.B. Priestley's play An Inspector Calls in 1951. His younger daughter, Ann Marshall (often called Annie), worked for many years as Jack Nicholson's personal assistant.McDougal, Dennis (2008). Five Easy Decades: How Jack Nicholson Became the Biggest Movie Star in Modern Times. Wiley, pp. 162–163, 215, 377. He also had at least four step-children, two from his marriage to BestSeymour (23 September 1938), p. 4. and two from his marriage to Mallory."Boots Mallory" (2 December 1958). Toledo Blade, p. 15. His grandson Timothy M. Bourne, Sarah Marshall's only child, is an independent film producer. Bourne was the executive producer of the Academy Award-winning film The Blind Side (2009).
In November 1936, Swanson left him once she accepted that he would not divorce Edna Best to marry her. Although insisting they were "madly in love," she believed that he would not demand a divorce because of his typically docile nature, reluctance to deliberately hurt people, and guilt over his separation from his young daughter. "He would always turn to alcohol rather than face a painful scene," she remembered.Swanson, pp. 437, 447–449. Despite an emotional parting, near the end of her life Swanson, who was married six times, wrote: "I was never so convincingly and thoroughly loved as I was by Herbert Marshall."Welsch, p. 298.
A few months into their relationship, Marshall became a subject of media gossip after a confrontation at El Morocco in New York City.Swanson, p. 439. A photographer snapped pictures of the couple dining together. When Marshall saw that Swanson was annoyed by the photographer, he "went into one of the most spectacular rages of all times," according to Modern Screen. In a syndicated column, Ed Sullivan wrote that he watched Marshall "rise violently" from his seat and chase the cameraman down the aisles between the nightclub's tables.
Around two months after this incident, Marshall again received substantial publicity after screenwriter John Monk Saunders (husband of actress Fay Wray) punched him in the face and knocked him to the floor at a dinner party given by director Ernst Lubitsch. According to a wire report, Marshall took exception to something Saunders said about Gloria Swanson. Later that night, after Marshall called Saunders a derogatory name, Saunders hit him while he was, in his own words, "seated...and looking in an opposite direction". Wray later added details unreported at the time. According to her, Marshall referred to Saunders as a "bestial bastard" after the screenwriter ogled Swanson's décolletage. Articles about the incident commonly mentioned Marshall's prosthetic leg, which had only very rarely been talked about in the press up to that point.
He was interred at Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles."Veteran Actors Attend Herbert Marshall Rites" Los Angeles Times 27 Jan 1966: b8.
I used to tour the provinces in England with my mother and father, you know, when I was a small lad. And I was often tired and cold, there seemed to me to be so much heartache and poverty and disappointment that the glamour and applause and tinsel of the theatre escaped me, quite...No, I had no reason to love the theatre...I spent most of my time trying to forget those tired faces which the footlights served only to illumine, mockingly.
Early acting career
After education at Harlow College in Old Harlow, Essex, Marshall worked for a time as an accounting clerk. After being sacked for the slow speed of his calculations, he took a job as an assistant business manager of a theatre troupe run by a friend of his father's. He later had a series of different backstage jobs at various theatres and acting companies.Ruddy, J.M., & O'Connor, Barbara (18 July 1936). "Kindness and Tolerance: Marshall's Traits". The Mail, p. 27. "I took the assistant job for the sake of the few shillings in it. I kept on taking similar jobs for the same uninspired reason." When a troupe he worked for reformed, he was laid off. He then tried his hand at acting. In a 1935 interview, he claimed that he only became an actor out of necessity because he did not know how to do anything else. To another reporter, he recollected how he had initially vowed never to go on the stage.
War injury
Marshall served with the 14th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (London Scottish). He recalled his time on the Western Front: "I knew terrific boredom. There was no drama lying in the trenches 10 months. I must have felt fear, but I don't remember it. I was too numb to recall any enterprise on my part." On 9 April 1917 he was shot in the left knee by a sniper at the Second Battle of Arras in France. After a succession of operations, doctors were forced to amputate his leg. Marshall remained hospitalised for 13 months. He later recalled in private that after his injury, he had initially over-dramatised his loss and was wrapped up in self-pity and bitterness. Before long, however, he decided he wanted to return to the theatre and learned how to walk well with a prosthetic leg in order to do so. While he was recovering at St Thomas' in London, King George V visited the hospital. When asked to pick which of the actor's legs he thought was artificial, the king chose the wrong one. Throughout his career, Marshall largely managed to hide the fact that he had a prosthetic limb, although it was occasionally reported in the press.
(2025). 9781250001559, Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 9781250001559 common to amputees and from the prosthesis.Richards, p. 35. One friend remembered that he kept holes in his trouser pocket so that he could inconspicuously loosen a strap on his prosthetic leg in order to ease sudden discomfort. The pain in his leg became more pronounced later in life, including bothering him on film shoots in ways noticeable to others and exacerbating his usually very slight limp. (2025). 9780786407552, McFarland. ISBN 9780786407552
Return to acting
Theatre
Following the Armistice, Marshall joined Nigel Playfair's repertory troupe, appearing in Make Believe (December 1918), The Younger Generation (1919) and Abraham Lincoln (1919). Parker, John (1922). Who's Who in the Theatre. Small, Maynard &. Co., p. 547. In 1920, he made his first known appearance opposite Edna Best in Brown Sugar.Wearing (March 2014), pp. 41–42. He also appeared in John Ferguson and the Shakespearean plays The Merchant of Venice and As You Like It. Marshall recalled "Jacques in As You Like It has given me more pleasure than any part I have played". The following year, he toured North America with Australian star Marie Löhr and starred in A Safety Match in London. Westcent. "Cables from London Town: January 9" (15 January 1921).Wearing (March 2014), pp. 73–74. By 1922, Marshall was making regular appearances on both sides of the Atlantic, debuting on Broadway in The Voice from the Minaret and starring in Coward's The Young Idea (with then-wife Maitland)"News of Stage, Screen and Music" (20 February 1932). The Montreal Gazette, p. 11.Coward, Noël (1937). Present Indicative: The First Autobiography of Noël Coward. William Heinneman Limited, p. 143. and The Queen Was in the Parlour.. Among his other successes were Aren't We All? (1923), The Pelican (1924–25), Lavender Ladies (1925), Interference (1927–28), S.O.S. (1928) and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (1931). His greatest hits with Edna Best were the aforementioned Brown Sugar, The Charming People (1925–26), The High Road (1928–29), Michael and Mary (1930), The Swan (1930) and There's Always Juliet (1931–1932).Wearing (March 2014), pp. 222, 324–325, 379, 495, & 569Creelman, Eileen. "Picture Plays and Players: Herbert Marshall, Here on Holiday, Discusses Some of His Latest Movies". The New York Sun. 3 October 1945. p. 31.Wearing (May 2014), p. 997.
Early films
In 1927, Marshall debuted onscreen opposite Pauline Frederick in the British silent film Mumsie (1927). He made his first American film appearance as the lover of Jeanne Eagels's character in the first version of The Letter (1929), produced at Paramount Pictures' Astoria studios two years later.
Romantic roles
As a Hollywood leading man, the suave, gentlemanly actor played romantic roles opposite such stars as Claudette Colbert, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Barbara Stanwyck, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis throughout the 1930s and into the 1940s.
I am strongly of the belief that if there had been another 'Blond Venus'—my first picture ( sic), with the acute direction of von Sternberg—I would have been thrown off the screen! By the grace of God and Lubitsch, against the wishes of his company, I was next cast in a good role in 'Trouble in Paradise' for which Lubitsch seemed to think me peculiarly suited and would have been very unhappy if he had had anyone else.
He was suave in Evenings for Sale (1932) then returned to England briefly to make I Was a Spy (1933) with Saville. He was in a play in London Another Man which flopped.Herbert Marshall Here.
New York Times 17 Feb 1933: 14.
Second World War
During the 1940s, Marshall was less associated with romantic leading man parts. He supported Maureen O'Hara in A Bill of Divorcement (1940) and played a villain for Hitchcock in Foreign Correspondent (1940). Marshall had one of his more famous roles when cast as Bette Davis' cuckolded husband in The Letter (1940), directed by William Wyler with Bette Davis; Marshall previously appeared in a silent film version of this play.
Radio
In 1936, Marshall began lending his talents to radio, appearing on Lux Radio Theatre (at least 19 appearances), The Screen Guild Theatre (at least 16 appearances), The Jell-O Program (three appearances, including one as host), The Burns and Allen Show (two appearances), Birds Eye Open House, The Pepsodent Show and Hollywood Star Time (taking over as host in October 1946). He made radio history in July 1940 as the narrator of "The Lodger", the first audition show of the Suspense series (making 20 appearances on the program). His most famous role was as globetrotting intelligence agent Ken Thurston in The Man Called 'X' (1944–52). The Man Called X The series, first aired on CBS as a summer replacement for the Lux Radio Theatre, introduced Thurston as an employee of an agency known only as "The Bureau". His boss, dubbed "The Chief", tasked him with dealing with some of the world's most hardened, sophisticated criminals, including smugglers, murderers, black marketeers, saboteurs, kidnappers, various types of thieves, corrupt politicians and rogue scientists. Man Called X, The Thurston's sidekick/nemesis Egon Zellschmidt was played by character actor Hans Conried during the first season. From 1945 to 1952, Russian comic and musician Leon Belasco appeared in the same role as Pegon Zellschmidt. The show was broadcast not only for the sake of entertainment but it also "alerted an anxious war-weary world to the inherent dangers of peace after war." The Man Called 'X'
Work with amputees
Using his own money for travel, Marshall visited many military hospitals during the war. In particular, he focused on encouraging soldiers with amputations to keep a positive attitude and not to think of themselves as handicapped or limited. Despite his usual reluctance to discuss his own injury, he talked freely about his personal experiences in order to give these amputees tips on how to use and adjust to their new artificial limbs. Although mostly kept private, a 1945 article in Motion Picture Magazine reported, against Marshall's wishes, on his work at military hospitals. The author Patty De Roulf insisted that his story needed to be told to help injured veterans and their families and to show that "Marshall is doing one of the finest war jobs any human being can do." She interviewed one young officer, who recalled:
Herbert Marshall gave me back my life. When I found out I had a metal claw instead of a hand, I was completely broken...Then one day, while I was in the hospital, we were told Herbert Marshall, the film star, was coming to talk to us. I was disgusted with the idea. A collar ad, I thought, coming to give us a Pollyanna speech!
(1994). 9780813118666, University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813118666
Postwar career
After the war, Marshall worked almost exclusively as a supporting actor in films: Crack-Up (1946), a noir; The Razor's Edge (1946), playing Somerset Maugham; Duel in the Sun (1946), the epic Western; Ivy (1947), with Joan Fontaine; High Wall (1947), another noir; The Secret Garden (1949) with Margaret O'Brien at MGM; The Underworld Story (1950); Black Jack (1950), billed second to George Sanders; and Anne of the Indies (1951).
Television
Beginning in 1950, Marshall performed periodically on television, starting with a production of An Inspector Calls for Robert Montgomery Presents. He was in The Ford Television Theatre. He appeared as the "mystery guest" on an episode of the popular game show What's My Line? in November 1954.
1960s
Marshall's final performances include the feature films College Confidential (1960), Midnight Lace (1960), A Fever in the Blood (1961), Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962), The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) and The Caretakers (1963). He guest starred on episodes of Hong Kong, Michael Shayne, Zane Grey Theater, and 77 Sunset Strip. "They don't seem to make my kind of pictures any more," he said in 1964.Herbert Marshall, 75, Actor Half Century, Dies: Urbane Briton, Famed for Film, Stage and TV Roles, Succumbs at Beverly Hills Home
Berman, Art. Los Angeles Times 23 Jan 1966: d2.
Personal life
Marshall, a soft-spoken man who was one of the pillars of the Hollywood British community,Morley, Sheridan (1983). Tales from The Hollywood Raj: The British, The Movies and Tinseltown. The Viking Press, pp. 145, 108. was widely respected and well-liked due to his talent and professionalism,Stine, Whitney (1990). I'd Love to Kiss You: Conversations With Bette Davis. Pocket Books, p. 139.Service, Faith (1935 June). "I Love My Husband But-". Modern Screen Magazine. pleasant and easygoing demeanor,Villeco, Tony (2001). Silent Stars Speak: Interviews With Twelve Cinema Pioneers. McFarland & Co., Inc., p. 80.Weaver, Tom (2000), p. 318. sensitivity,Seymour, Robert (23 September 1938).Glyn, Elinor (3 February 1934). "I Know Herbert Marshall". The Daily News, p. 7. gentlemanly and courteous manner,Weaver, Tom (2004). It Came from Horrorwood: Interviews with Moviemakers in the SF and Horror Tradition. McFarland & Co., Inc., pp. 110, 112.Temple, Shirley (1988). Child Star. McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., p. 333. witty sense of humour,York, Cal (1936). "Cal York's Gossip of Hollywood". Photoplay: 35. Cal York was a pseudonym for the editors, an amalgam of California and New York.Fischer, Dennis (2011). Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895–1998. McFarland & Co., Inc., p. 480. and his "very great personal charm".Plummer, Christopher (2008). In Spite of Myself. Alfred A. Knopf, pp. 228–229. Among the actor's many friends in the British community were Edmund Goulding, Eric Blore, Ronald Colman, Clive Brook, Merle Oberon, C. Aubrey Smith, David Niven, Basil Rathbone, Cedric Hardwicke and Brian Aherne. Other friends included Raymond Massey, Rod La Rocque, Vilma Bánky, Kay Francis, Mary Astor, Irving Thalberg, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Melvyn Douglas, Bette Davis and Grace Moore. Although popular and likeable, Marshall suffered from bouts of depression through much of his life.Richards, p. 57. In his free time, he especially enjoyed sketching and fishing.
Marriages and family
Marshall was married five times and divorced three. In 1914, he appeared with Mollie Maitland (whose real name was Hilda Lloyd Bosley) in The Headmaster;"Dramatic Doings." Cheltenham Looker-On. 28 Feb 1914. the following year, they were married."Miss Edna Best Divorced: Married Actor as Co-respondent" (28 June 1928). The Advertiser, p. 11. Five years later, he first appeared with Edna Best, who became his most frequent stage co-star; they also made three films together ( The Calendar, Michael and Mary and The Faithful Heart)."Private Lives of Screen Stars: Herbert Marshall and His Wife, Edna Best" (6 December 1934). "It was after the war that he met Edna Best...He was playing the role of Lord Sloane in Brown Sugar, and she was cast as Lady Sloane." Marshall and Best were married in November 1928, following their respective divorces (they had been cohabiting for the previous three years)."News of Stage, Screen and Music" (20 February 1932). "Marshall and Miss Best, although British stars, are sentimental favourites of New Yorkers, for it was while they were playing together in The High Road that they were married.""Miss Edna Best Divorced: Married Actor as Co-respondent" (28 June 1928). Their respective spouses asked for divorces owing to their misconduct.Richards, p. 37. In 1931, Best broke a lucrative contract with MGM Studios and walked off the filming of The Phantom of Paris with John Gilbert in order to be with Marshall in New York, where he was performing in a play.Richards, p. 38. In response to a press inquiry, he said: "I'm sorry if Hollywood is annoyed, but Edna and I happen to be in love with each other and we want to be together."
Affair with Gloria Swanson
In the early 1930s, Marshall was commonly rumoured within Hollywood social circles to have had affairs with both his Trouble in Paradise co-stars Kay Francis and Miriam Hopkins.Kear, Lynn and Rossman, John (2006). Kay Francis: A Passionate Life and Career. McFarland & Co., pp. 72, 79. "However, Kay's diary mentioned no affair with Marshall...If they did have an affair, it was probably during this brief time mid-February in New York." In January 1934, Marshall, while still married to Best, began a serious affair with actress Gloria Swanson, who recounted their relationship in her memoirs, Swanson on Swanson (1980). She described Marshall at the time of their first meeting as "a handsome man in his early forties with a gentle face and soft brown eyes", who had "one of the most perfect musical voices I had ever heard". Swanson also wrote that the actor was "sweet beyond belief" and "a nice man", who "utterly charmed" her and her children.Swanson, pp. 436, 442, 444–445. He constantly wrote her love notes, and when she was out of town, he sent her romantic telegrams almost hourly. (2025). 9781617037498, University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781617037498 (Many of these personal documents now reside at the University of Texas at Austin's Harry Ransom Center archives, as part of the Gloria Swanson Papers.)Welsch, notes.Shearer, notes. Newspapers and film fan magazines widely discussed his affair with Swanson at the time, which he made little attempt to keep secret.
Later years
With the increasing public demand for grittier films after the Second World War, the remaining members of the Hollywood British "colony" began to part ways, with some returning to Britain while others stayed in Hollywood. Marshall, like many of his contemporaries who stayed in Hollywood, began to receive far fewer acting offersMorley, pp. 191–199. and, especially toward the end of his life, had to take whatever he could get due to financial reasons. In May 1951, while in the hospital recuperating from corrective surgery, he suffered a "pulmonary embolism around his heart". "Herbert Marshall, 60, In Critical Condition" (8 May 1951). The Knickerbocker News, p. B9."Stricken Star" (14 May 1951). The Bend Bulletin, p. 8. After NBC aired three episodes of The Man Called 'X' that were previously transcribed, Marshall's friends Van Heflin, John Lund and Joseph Cotten filled in (one episode each) until Marshall's return in June 1951. French, Jack (Jan/Feb 2011). "The Biggest and Best Radio Premium...Ever!" The Old Radio Times, No. 53, pp. 11–12.
Marshall appeared in his last significant film role in The Caretakers (1963) with Joan Crawford, who was happy to act with him again 22 years after they made When Ladies Meet together. Noting his poor health and heavy drinking, she worked with the film's director to minimise the time Marshall had to be on the set.
Death
In late 1965, after his final brief film appearance in the thriller The Third Day, Marshall was admitted to the Motion Picture Relief Fund Hospital for severe depression.Richards, p. 57 Eight days after his release, he died on 22 January 1966 in Beverly Hills, California of heart failure at the age of 75.
Filmography
1927 Mumsie Colonel Armytage Lost film 1929 The Letter Geoffrey Hammond 1930 Murder! John Menier 1931 Secrets of a Secretary Lord Danforth The Calendar Gerry Anson Released as Bachelor's Folly in US Michael and Mary Michael Rowe 1932 The Faithful Heart Waverly Ango Released as Faithful Hearts in US Blonde Venus Edward 'Ned' Faraday Trouble in Paradise Gaston Monescu Evenings for Sale Count Franz von Degenthal 1933 I Was a Spy Stephan The Solitaire Man Oliver Lane 1934 Four Frightened People Arnold Ainger Riptide Lord Rexford Outcast Lady Napier The Painted Veil Dr. Walter Fane 1935 The Good Fairy Dr. Max Sporum The Flame Within Doctor Gordon Philips Accent on Youth Steven Gaye The Dark Angel Gerald Shannon If You Could Only Cook Jim Buchanan 1936 The Lady Consents Dr. Michael J. Talbot Till We Meet Again Alan Barclay Forgotten Faces Harry Ashton Girls' Dormitory Doctor Stephen Dominik A Woman Rebels Thomas Lane Make Way for a Lady Christopher 'Chris' Drew 1937 Angel Sir Frederick Barker Breakfast for Two Jonathan Blair 1938 Mad About Music Richard Todd / Mr Harkinson Woman Against Woman Stephen Holland Always Goodbye Jim Howard 1939 Zaza Dufresne 1940 A Bill of Divorcement Gray Meredith Foreign Correspondent Stephen Fisher The Letter Robert Crosbie 1941 Adventure in Washington John Coleridge The Little Foxes Horace Giddens When Ladies Meet Rogers Woodruff Kathleen John Davis 1942 The Moon and Sixpence Geoffrey Wolfe 1943 Forever and a Day Curate in Air Raid Shelter Flight for Freedom Paul Turner Young Ideas Michael Kingsley 1944 Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble Doctor M.J. Standish The Shining Future Himself Short, Uncredited 1945 The Enchanted Cottage Major John Hillgrove The Unseen Doctor Charles Evans 1946 Crack-Up Traybin The Razor's Edge W. Somerset Maugham Duel in the Sun Scott Chavez Monuments of the Past Narrator Documentary 1947 Ivy Miles Rushworth High Wall Wilard I. Whitcombe 1949 The Secret Garden Archibald Craven 1950 The Underworld Story E. J. Stanton Black Jack Doctor James Curtis Released as Captain Blackjack 1951 Anne of the Indies Doctor Jameson 1953 Angel Face Mr. Charles Tremayne 1954 Riders to the Stars Doctor Don Stanton Gog Doctor Van Ness The Black Shield of Falworth William, Earl of Mackworth 1955 The Virgin Queen Robert Dudley 1956 Wicked as They Come Stephen Collins The Weapon Inspector Mackenzie 1957 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Judge Connors Season 2 Episode 19: "A Bottle of Wine" 1958 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Colin Bragner Season 3 Episode 39: "Little White Frock" Stage Struck Robert Harley Hedges The Fly Inspector Charas 1960 College Confidential Professor Henry Addison Midnight Lace Charles Manning 1961 A Fever in the Blood Governor Oliver P. Thornwall 1962 Five Weeks in a Balloon The Prime Minister 1963 The List of Adrian Messenger Sir Wilfrid Lucas The Caretakers Doctor Jubal Harrington 1964 The Presidency: A Splendid Misery George Washington TV documentary 1965 The Third Day Austin Parsons
Radio credits
The Lodger 2 February episode; substitutes for Jack Benny as master of ceremonies 1946 Intermezzo Bedelia 16 February episode; at surprise birthday party for Jack BennyBroadcast on Sirius XM Ch. 148 Radio Classics, 5 March 2019 1953 The Mystery of Edwin Drood The Dead Alive
External links
Categories: 1890 Births, 1966 Deaths, 20th-century English Male Actors, British Army Personnel Of World War I, English Expatriate Male Actors In The United States, Burials At Chapel Of The Pines Crematory, English Amputees, English Emigrants To The United States, English Male Film Actors, English Male Stage Actors, London Scottish Soldiers, Male Actors From London, Military Personnel From London, Metro-goldwyn-mayer Contract Players, Warner Bros. Contract Players, Rko Pictures Contract Players, English Actors With Disabilities
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