Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway, 26 September 1877 â€" 6
September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered
for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film Miracle on 34th
Street (1947), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actor and the corresponding Golden Globe Award. He received a second
Golden Globe and another Academy Award nomination for the comedy film
Mister 880 (1950). He is also remembered for being in four films
directed by Alfred Hitchcock.As a stage actor in the West End and on
Broadway, he was associated with a wide range of works by modern
playwrights, including Bernard Shaw, John Galsworthy and J. B.
Priestley. After the Second World War, he lived in the United States,
where he had a successful career in Hollywood and on Broadway.Gwenn
was born in Wandsworth, London to John and Catherine (Oliver)
Kellaway. His brother was the actor Arthur Chesney and his cousin,
Cecil Kellaway. Gwenn was educated at St. Olave's School and later at
King's College London. He began his acting career in the theatre in
1895, and learnt his craft as a member of Willie Edouin's company,
playing brash comic roles. In 1901 he married Minnie Terry, niece of
the famous actress Ellen Terry. In the same year he went to Australia
and acted there for three years with the J. C. Williamson company. His
wife accompanied him and when Gwenn was in a production of Ben Hur
that was a disastrous failure, she restored the couple's fortunes by
accepting an engagement from Williamson. Later, the couple appeared on
stage together in London in a farce called What the Butler Saw in 1905
and, in 1911, when Irene Vanbrugh made her debut in variety, she chose
Terry and Gwenn to join her in a short play specially written by J. M.
Barrie.
September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered
for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film Miracle on 34th
Street (1947), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actor and the corresponding Golden Globe Award. He received a second
Golden Globe and another Academy Award nomination for the comedy film
Mister 880 (1950). He is also remembered for being in four films
directed by Alfred Hitchcock.As a stage actor in the West End and on
Broadway, he was associated with a wide range of works by modern
playwrights, including Bernard Shaw, John Galsworthy and J. B.
Priestley. After the Second World War, he lived in the United States,
where he had a successful career in Hollywood and on Broadway.Gwenn
was born in Wandsworth, London to John and Catherine (Oliver)
Kellaway. His brother was the actor Arthur Chesney and his cousin,
Cecil Kellaway. Gwenn was educated at St. Olave's School and later at
King's College London. He began his acting career in the theatre in
1895, and learnt his craft as a member of Willie Edouin's company,
playing brash comic roles. In 1901 he married Minnie Terry, niece of
the famous actress Ellen Terry. In the same year he went to Australia
and acted there for three years with the J. C. Williamson company. His
wife accompanied him and when Gwenn was in a production of Ben Hur
that was a disastrous failure, she restored the couple's fortunes by
accepting an engagement from Williamson. Later, the couple appeared on
stage together in London in a farce called What the Butler Saw in 1905
and, in 1911, when Irene Vanbrugh made her debut in variety, she chose
Terry and Gwenn to join her in a short play specially written by J. M.
Barrie.
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