Adolphe Jean Menjou (February 18, 1890 â€" October 29, 1963) was an
American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies. He
appeared in such films as Charlie Chaplin's A Woman of Paris, where he
played the lead role; Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory with Kirk
Douglas; Ernst Lubitsch's The Marriage Circle; The Sheik with Rudolph
Valentino; Morocco with Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper; and A Star
Is Born with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, and was nominated for an
Academy Award for The Front Page in 1931.Menjou was born on February
18, 1890, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to a French father, Albert
Menjou (1858â€"1917), and an Irish mother from Galway, Nora (née
Joyce, 1869â€"1953). His brother, Henry Arthur Menjou (1891â€"1956),
was a year younger. He was raised Catholic, attended the Culver
Military Academy, and graduated from Cornell University with a degree
in engineering. Attracted to the vaudeville stage, he made his movie
debut in 1916 in The Blue Envelope Mystery. During World War I, he
served as a captain in the United States Army Ambulance Service, for
which he trained in Pennsylvania before going overseas.After returning
from the war, Menjou became a star in such films as The Sheik and The
Three Musketeers. When he starred in 1923's A Woman of Paris, he
solidified the image of a well-dressed man-about-town, and was voted
Best Dressed Man in America nine times. In 1929, he attended the
preview of Maurice Chevalier's first Hollywood film Innocents of
Paris, and personally reassured Chevalier that he would enjoy a great
future, despite the mediocre screenplay. His own career stalled with
the coming of talkies, but in 1930, he starred in Morocco, with
Marlene Dietrich. He was nominated for an Academy Award for The Front
Page (1931).
American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies. He
appeared in such films as Charlie Chaplin's A Woman of Paris, where he
played the lead role; Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory with Kirk
Douglas; Ernst Lubitsch's The Marriage Circle; The Sheik with Rudolph
Valentino; Morocco with Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper; and A Star
Is Born with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, and was nominated for an
Academy Award for The Front Page in 1931.Menjou was born on February
18, 1890, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to a French father, Albert
Menjou (1858â€"1917), and an Irish mother from Galway, Nora (née
Joyce, 1869â€"1953). His brother, Henry Arthur Menjou (1891â€"1956),
was a year younger. He was raised Catholic, attended the Culver
Military Academy, and graduated from Cornell University with a degree
in engineering. Attracted to the vaudeville stage, he made his movie
debut in 1916 in The Blue Envelope Mystery. During World War I, he
served as a captain in the United States Army Ambulance Service, for
which he trained in Pennsylvania before going overseas.After returning
from the war, Menjou became a star in such films as The Sheik and The
Three Musketeers. When he starred in 1923's A Woman of Paris, he
solidified the image of a well-dressed man-about-town, and was voted
Best Dressed Man in America nine times. In 1929, he attended the
preview of Maurice Chevalier's first Hollywood film Innocents of
Paris, and personally reassured Chevalier that he would enjoy a great
future, despite the mediocre screenplay. His own career stalled with
the coming of talkies, but in 1930, he starred in Morocco, with
Marlene Dietrich. He was nominated for an Academy Award for The Front
Page (1931).
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