Walter Pidgeon

Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, Pidgeon was the son of Hannah (née Sanborn), a housewife, and Caleb Burpee Pidgeon, a haberdasher. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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). 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.