Ronald Colman was born on February 9, 1891, in Richmond, Surrey, England, to Charles Colman and Mabel Louise Colman (née Brown). His father was a wool merchant, and his mother was a homemaker. He had two younger sisters, Gladys and Muriel. Colman was educated at Dulwich College, a public school in south London. He showed an early interest in acting and appeared in school plays.
After graduation, Colman worked for his father’s business for a time. He then joined the British Army and served in World War I. After the war, he began his acting career in earnest. He appeared in several stage productions in London and then made his film debut in 1919 in The Great Adventure.
Colman quickly established himself as a leading man in both British and American films. He starred in such classics as A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Lost Horizon (1937), and Random Harvest (1942). He was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Double Life (1947).
In addition to his successful film career, Colman also appeared on television and radio. He starred in the TV series The Prisoner of Zenda (1956-1957) and The Buccaneers (1956-1957). He also had a popular radio show in the 1940s called The Cavalcade of America.
Colman retired from acting in the early 1960s but made a comeback in 1970 with a supporting role in the film Airport. He died of cancer on May 19, 1974, at the age of 83.
At the time of his death, Colman was survived by his wife, actress Benita Hume, whom he married in 1933. The couple had two sons, Ronald and Christopher. Hume died in 1967.
General Info
Full Name
Ronald Colman
Died
May 19, 1958, Santa Barbara, California, United States
Height
1.77 m
Profession
Actor
Nationality
British
Family
Spouse
Benita Hume, Thelma Raye
Children
Juliet Colman
Parents
Marjory Read Fraser, Charles Colman
Siblings
Edith Colman, Marjorie Colman, Eric Colman
Accomplishments
Awards
Academy Award for Best Actor, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture – Drama
Movies
Random Harvest, Lost Horizon, A Double Life, The Prisoner of Zenda, The Talk of the Town, A Tale of Two Cities, If I Were King, Bulldog Drummond, The White Sister, Raffles, The Winning of Barbara Worth, Clive of India, Under Two Flags, Arrowsmith, Champagne for Caesar, Condemned, Lucky Partners, Aro...
A man usually falls in love with a woman who asks the kind of questions he is able to answer.
2
I visited agents, knocked at producers' doors; no one was interested. I was just another stage actor on tour, on the outside of Hollywood looking in. I returned to New York depressed and disappointed.
3
[asked if The Story of Mankind (1957) was based on a book] Yes. But they are using only the notes on the dust jacket.
4
Why should I go to dull parties and say dull things just because I wear greasepaint and make love to beautiful women on the screen?
5
I loathe war. I'm inclined to be bitter about the politics of munitions and real estate, which are the reasons of war. It certainly taught me to value the quiet life and strengthened my conviction that to keep as far out of range of vision as possible is to to be as safe as possible.
6
I persevered in those English films, and persevered is the word, though I am the first to admit that I was a very bad actor in them.
7
Whenever I hear of young actors down and out and broke in New York (and what a cliché of show business it is supposed to be!), I remember my own experiences in 1921 - and find it no laughing matter by any criterion.
8
They talk of the artist finding liberation in work, it is true. One can be someone else in another, more dramatic, more beautiful world.
9
[to his agent] Before God I'm worth 35 dollars a week. Before the motion picture industry I'm worth anything you can get.
10
Fame has robbed me of my freedom and shut me up in prison, and because the prison walls are gilded, and the key that locks me in is gold, does not make it any more tolerable.
Facts
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Fact
1
He was lined up to play the leading role in a proposed MGM film based on John Wyndham's novel "The Midwich Cuckoos" when illness and then death overcame him. MGM did make a film of this book two years after his death, when his role was taken over by George Sanders - who had, in the meantime, also married Colman's widow, Benita Hume.
2
His Shakespearean acting for the scenes from "Othello" in A Double Life (1947) was coached by Walter Hampden.
3
Colman's Oscar statuette sold for $206,250 when it was auctioned by Nate D. Sanders Memorabilia on February 28, 2012.
4
He, along with wife Benita Hume, was a frequent guest on Jack Benny's radio show. The Colmans were supposed to be next-door neighbors. After Colman won his Oscar, Jack borrowed it to take home only to be robbed and the Oscar taken. For several weeks the show's story line was the recovery of the stolen Oscar.
When he made his mark in Hollywood as a handsome young silent actor, there were some who doubted he would translate well to "talkies." His subsequent success in radio (he made a multi-volume recording of the William Shakespeare sonnets, as well) proved them wrong with a vengeance.
7
In his early film career he was panned by many critics for his overtheatrics (used in the stage work he was doing at the time) and his pronounced limp (from a bad war injury). He credited working with greats such as George Arliss for overcoming those obstacles.
8
Fought with the British Army in World War I, and was wounded during the Battle of Ypres.
9
His recording of "A Christmas Carol", originally released in a Decca 78-RPM set in 1941, was the first recorded version to win wide acclaim. It appeared several times on LP, and has recently (October 2005) been released on CD by Deutsche Grammophon, along with its frequent companion piece on LP, "Mr. Pickwick's Christmas".
10
He made his film debut in an unreleased two-reel short made in 1919. Its title is unknown, and references to it as 'Live Wire, The (1917)' apparently erroneously connect it to a play of that title in which Colman appeared around the same time.
