Pedro de Cordoba (September 28, 1881 â€" September 16, 1950) was an
American actor.De Cordoba was born in New York City to parents who
were French and Cuban in origin. He was a classically trained theatre
actor who confessed he did not enjoy appearing in silent films nearly
as much as he liked working on stage, but his career during the silent
film era was extensive. His first film was Cecil B. DeMille's version
of Carmen (1915), and he soon became a popular leading man in
Hollywood. His Broadway career cast him with such stage actresses as
Jane Cowl and Katharine Cornell.Later, his deeply resonant speaking
voice made him perfectly suited to talking pictures, and his film
career continued, unlike many silent film stars. He enjoyed a career
as a busy character actor in Hollywood, from the 1930s through to the
end of his life. He was most often cast as aristocratic, or clerical
characters of Hispanic origin, as in The Keys of the Kingdom (1944),
because of his last name as well as his royal bearing. On rare
occasions, he would be cast in the role of a villain. His "living
skeleton" sideshow character hides fugitive Robert Cummings (and
Priscilla Lane) in his carnival wagon overnight in the Alfred
Hitchcock film Saboteur (1942).He was a devout Catholic and was very
well read and knowledgeable about the Catholic faith, and served for a
time as president of the Catholic Actors Guild of America. The last
film in which he appeared, a political drama set in an unnamed South
American dictatorship, Crisis (1950), was released shortly after his
death.
American actor.De Cordoba was born in New York City to parents who
were French and Cuban in origin. He was a classically trained theatre
actor who confessed he did not enjoy appearing in silent films nearly
as much as he liked working on stage, but his career during the silent
film era was extensive. His first film was Cecil B. DeMille's version
of Carmen (1915), and he soon became a popular leading man in
Hollywood. His Broadway career cast him with such stage actresses as
Jane Cowl and Katharine Cornell.Later, his deeply resonant speaking
voice made him perfectly suited to talking pictures, and his film
career continued, unlike many silent film stars. He enjoyed a career
as a busy character actor in Hollywood, from the 1930s through to the
end of his life. He was most often cast as aristocratic, or clerical
characters of Hispanic origin, as in The Keys of the Kingdom (1944),
because of his last name as well as his royal bearing. On rare
occasions, he would be cast in the role of a villain. His "living
skeleton" sideshow character hides fugitive Robert Cummings (and
Priscilla Lane) in his carnival wagon overnight in the Alfred
Hitchcock film Saboteur (1942).He was a devout Catholic and was very
well read and knowledgeable about the Catholic faith, and served for a
time as president of the Catholic Actors Guild of America. The last
film in which he appeared, a political drama set in an unnamed South
American dictatorship, Crisis (1950), was released shortly after his
death.
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