Robert Montgomery (/mÉ'ntˈɡʌmÉ™ri/; born Henry Montgomery Jr.; May
21, 1904 â€" September 27, 1981) was an American film and television
actor, director, and producer. He began his acting career on the
stage, but was soon hired by MGM. Initially assigned roles in
comedies, he soon proved he was able to handle dramatic ones as well.
He appeared in a wide variety of roles, such as a weak-willed prisoner
in The Big House (1930), an Irish handyman in Night Must Fall (1937)
and a boxer mistakenly sent to Heaven in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941).
The last two earned him nominations for the Academy Award for Best
Actor.During World War II, he drove ambulances in France until the
Dunkirk evacuation. When the United States entered the war on December
8, 1941, he enlisted in the Navy, and was present at the invasion at
Normandy. After the war, he returned to Hollywood, where he worked in
both films and, later, in television. He was also the father of
actress Elizabeth Montgomery.Henry Montgomery Jr. was born in Fishkill
Landing, New York (now Beacon, New York), to Henry Montgomery and his
wife, Mary Weed Montgomery (née Barney). His early childhood was one
of privilege, as his father was president of the New York Rubber
Company. His father committed suicide in 1922 by jumping off the
Brooklyn Bridge, and the family's fortune was gone. Robert, according
to Tommy Welchel in True Stories of the Miracles of Azuza Street and
Beyond, was miraculously healed of a traumatic head/ face injury. He
was approximately five years old at the time of healing, and the fall
-down a staircase onto a concrete floor- had happened when he was
about two and a half years old. At the Azuza Street Revival, he was
fully restored from disfigurement after being prayed over. [
https://www.emeryhorvath.com/more-miracles-from-azusa/ ]Montgomery
settled in New York City to try his hand at writing and acting. He
established a stage career, and became popular enough to turn down an
offer to appear opposite Vilma Bánky in the film This Is Heaven
(1929). Sharing a stage with George Cukor gave him an entry to
Hollywood and a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he debuted in
So This Is College (also 1929). One writer claimed that Montgomery was
able to establish himself because he "proceeded with confidence,
agreeable with everyone, eager and willing to take suggestions".
Author Scott Eyman wrote he had an "off-screen reputation as one of
the chilliest, most pompous actors ever to find his way to Hollywood."
This suggestion by a single author seems to contradict the other
evidence presented in this and other biographies that states that he
was “eager and willing to take suggestions†and that he proclaimed
that he learned from backstage people such as sound crew,
electricians, set designers, camera crew and film editors and
confessed that it had shown him that making a film was a co-operative
project. The terse dismissal of Montgomery as “chillest†also
doesn’t consider the idea that a man that had won the Bronze Star
with combat V might be guarded in some relationships due to combat
experience.
21, 1904 â€" September 27, 1981) was an American film and television
actor, director, and producer. He began his acting career on the
stage, but was soon hired by MGM. Initially assigned roles in
comedies, he soon proved he was able to handle dramatic ones as well.
He appeared in a wide variety of roles, such as a weak-willed prisoner
in The Big House (1930), an Irish handyman in Night Must Fall (1937)
and a boxer mistakenly sent to Heaven in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941).
The last two earned him nominations for the Academy Award for Best
Actor.During World War II, he drove ambulances in France until the
Dunkirk evacuation. When the United States entered the war on December
8, 1941, he enlisted in the Navy, and was present at the invasion at
Normandy. After the war, he returned to Hollywood, where he worked in
both films and, later, in television. He was also the father of
actress Elizabeth Montgomery.Henry Montgomery Jr. was born in Fishkill
Landing, New York (now Beacon, New York), to Henry Montgomery and his
wife, Mary Weed Montgomery (née Barney). His early childhood was one
of privilege, as his father was president of the New York Rubber
Company. His father committed suicide in 1922 by jumping off the
Brooklyn Bridge, and the family's fortune was gone. Robert, according
to Tommy Welchel in True Stories of the Miracles of Azuza Street and
Beyond, was miraculously healed of a traumatic head/ face injury. He
was approximately five years old at the time of healing, and the fall
-down a staircase onto a concrete floor- had happened when he was
about two and a half years old. At the Azuza Street Revival, he was
fully restored from disfigurement after being prayed over. [
https://www.emeryhorvath.com/more-miracles-from-azusa/ ]Montgomery
settled in New York City to try his hand at writing and acting. He
established a stage career, and became popular enough to turn down an
offer to appear opposite Vilma Bánky in the film This Is Heaven
(1929). Sharing a stage with George Cukor gave him an entry to
Hollywood and a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he debuted in
So This Is College (also 1929). One writer claimed that Montgomery was
able to establish himself because he "proceeded with confidence,
agreeable with everyone, eager and willing to take suggestions".
Author Scott Eyman wrote he had an "off-screen reputation as one of
the chilliest, most pompous actors ever to find his way to Hollywood."
This suggestion by a single author seems to contradict the other
evidence presented in this and other biographies that states that he
was “eager and willing to take suggestions†and that he proclaimed
that he learned from backstage people such as sound crew,
electricians, set designers, camera crew and film editors and
confessed that it had shown him that making a film was a co-operative
project. The terse dismissal of Montgomery as “chillest†also
doesn’t consider the idea that a man that had won the Bronze Star
with combat V might be guarded in some relationships due to combat
experience.
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