Stewart Granger (born James Lablache Stewart; 6 May 1913 – 16 August 1993) was a British film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s, rising to fame through his appearances in the Gainsborough melodramas.
When he became an actor, he was advised to change his name in order to avoid being confused with the American actor James Stewart. Granger[3] was his Scottish grandmother's maiden name. Offscreen friends and colleagues continued to call him Jimmy for the rest of his life, but to the general public he became Stewart Granger.
Granger began to get work on stage in London. He appeared in The Sun Never Sets (1938) at the Drury Lane Theatre and in Serena Blandish (1938) opposite Vivien Leigh.
At the Buxton Festival, he played Tybalt in a production of Romeo and Juliet opposite Robert Donat and Constance Cummings. He also acted opposite them in The Good Natured Man. In London he was in Autumn with Flora Robson and The House in the Square (1940).
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Granger enlisted in the Gordon Highlanders, then transferred to the Black Watch with the rank of second lieutenant.[5] However he suffered from stomach ulcers and was invalided out of the army in 1942.[6]
Granger had a small role in the war movie Secret Mission (1942) and a bigger one in a comedy, Thursday's Child (1943). He was in a stage production of Rebecca when he was asked to audition for the film that turned him into a star. Granger had been recommended by Donat, who most recently worked with Granger on stage in To Dream Again.[7]
Granger followed it with The Lamp Still Burns (1943), playing the love interest of nurse Rosamund John. More popular was Fanny by Gaslight (1944), another for Gainsborough Pictures, which reunited him with Calvert and Mason, and added Jean Kent. The New York Times reported that Granger "is a young man worth watching. The customers... like his dark looks and his dash; he puts them in mind, they say of Cary Grant."[9] It was the second most popular movie at the British box office in 1944.
Another hit was Love Story (1944), where he plays a blind pilot who falls in love with terminally ill Margaret Lockwood, with Patricia Roc co-starring. Granger filmed this at the same time as Waterloo Road (1945), playing his first villain, a "spiv" who has run off with the wife of the John Mills character. This movie was popular too, and it was one of Granger's favourites. He was too busy to accept a role offered in The Way to the Stars.[10]
Madonna of the Seven Moons (1945), with Calvert and Roc, was more Gainsborough melodrama, and another hit.[11] Also popular was Caesar and Cleopatra, supporting Claude Rains and Vivien Leigh; this movie lost money because of its high production cost but was widely seen, and was the first of Granger's movies to be a hit in the U.S. At the end of 1945 British exhibitors voted Granger the second most popular British film star, and the ninth most popular overall.[12]The Times reported that "this six-foot black-visaged ex-soldier from the Black Watch is England's Number One pin up boy. Only Bing Crosby can match him for popularity."[13]
Caravan (1946), starring Granger and Kent, was the sixth most popular movie at the British box office in 1946. Also well liked was The Magic Bow (1946), with Calvert and Kent, where Granger played Niccolò Paganini. That year he was voted the third most popular British star, and the sixth most popular overall. James Mason wrote about Granger in his memoir, saying "although he seemed to get as much fun from a spot of producer-baiting as anyone I ever worked with, he was deeply conscientious and had a load of theatrical talent. He should have made himself a producer and/or director."[14]
Rank Organisation 1947–1949
Granger went over to Rank, for whom he made a series of historical dramas: Captain Boycott (1947), set in Ireland, directed by Frank Launder; Blanche Fury (1948), with Valerie Hobson; and Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948), an Ealing Studios production. Granger was cast as the outsider, the handsome gambler Philip Christoph von Königsmarck who is perceived as 'not quite the ticket' by the established order, the Hanoverian court where the action is mostly set. Granger stated that this was one of his few movies of which he was proud. However it was a disappointment at the box office, as was Blanche Fury.
Granger wanted a change of pace and so appeared in Woman Hater (1948), a comedy with Edwige Feuillère. In 1949, Granger was reported as earning around £30,000 a year.[15]
That year Granger made Adam and Evelyne, starring with Jean Simmons. The story, about a much older man and a teenager whom he gradually realises is no longer a child but a young woman with mature emotions and sexuality, had obvious parallels to Granger's and Simmons' own lives. Granger had first met the young Jean Simmons when they both worked on Gabriel Pascal's Caesar and Cleopatra (1945). Three years later, Simmons had transformed from a promising newcomer into a star. They married the following year in a bizarre wedding ceremony organised by Howard Hughes: One of his private aircraft flew the couple to Tucson, Arizona, where they were married, mainly among strangers, with Michael Wilding as Granger's best man.[16]
Granger's stage production of Leo Tolstoy's The Power of Darkness (a venture he had intended as a vehicle for him to star with Jean Simmons) was very poorly received when it opened in London at the Lyric Theatre on 25 April 1949. During the run, two men attempted to cut some locks from Granger's hair.[17] The disappointment added to his dissatisfaction with the Rank Organisation, and his thoughts turned to Hollywood.[18]
According to Alan Wood, historian, "Granger, annoyed because his name was not billed sufficiently prominently in posters for Saraband for Dead Lovers, had asked to be released from his contract, and Rank agreed to let him go; box-office results for his latest British films had been disappointing."[19]
On the basis of the huge success of this movie, released in 1950 and co-starring Deborah Kerr and Richard Carlson, he was offered a seven-year contract by MGM. He signed it in May 1950, and MGM announced three vehicles for him: Robinson Crusoe, a remake of Scaramouche and an adaptation of Soldiers Three.[21]
His first movie under the new arrangement was an action comedy, Soldiers Three (1951). Granger followed it with location work for Constable Pedley in Canada. This was put on hold so Granger could make a light comedy, The Light Touch, in a role meant for Cary Grant. It was a box office disappointment. However filming resumed on Constable Pedley which became The Wild North (1953) and that was a big hit.
In 1952, Granger starred in Scaramouche in the role of Andre Moreau, the bastard son of a French nobleman, a part Ramón Novarro had played in the 1923 version of Rafael Sabatini's novel. Granger's co-star Eleanor Parker said Granger was the only actor she did not get along with during her entire career. "Everyone disliked this man...Stewart Granger was a dreadful person, rude...just awful. Just being in his presence was bad. I thought at one point the crew was going to kill him."[22] However, the resulting movie was a notable critical and commercial success.
After this came the remake of The Prisoner of Zenda (1952), for which his theatrical voice, stature (6'2") and dignified profile made him a natural. It too was popular.
In 1952 he and Jean Simmons sued Howard Hughes for $250,000 damages arising from an alleged breach of contract.[23][24] The case was settled out of court.[25]
Columbia borrowed him to play the love interest of Rita Hayworth in Salome (1953), another big hit. Back at MGM he co-starred with his wife in Young Bess (1953), playing Thomas Seymour. The movie was popular, though it did not recover its cost, and it remained a favourite of Granger's.
He had a commercial success in All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953), playing a villain opposite Robert Taylor. Granger lost the role in A Star Is Born, which went to James Mason. He had the title role in Beau Brummell (1954), opposite Elizabeth Taylor, and it was a box-office disappointment. More successful was the adventure story Green Fire (1954), co starring Grace Kelly.
Granger went to Britain to make Footsteps in the Fog (1955), a movie with Simmons, for Columbia. Back at MGM, he was in Moonfleet (1955), cast as adventurer Jeremy Fox in the Dorset of 1757, a man who rules a gang of cut-throat smugglers with an iron fist until he is softened by a 10-year-old boy who worships him and who believes only the best of him. The film was directed by Fritz Lang and produced by John Houseman, a former associate of Orson Welles. It was a flop.
Granger and Robert Taylor were reunited in The Last Hunt (1956), a Western, with Taylor playing the villain, and a box office disappointment. So too was Bhowani Junction (1956), adapted from a John Masters novel about colonial India on the verge of obtaining independence. Ava Gardner played an Anglo-Indian (mixed race) woman caught between the two worlds of the British and the Indians, and Granger the British officer with whom (in a change from the novel) she ultimately fell in love.
Gardner was teamed with Granger in The Little Hut (1957), a sex farce that proved a surprise smash at the box office. He followed it with Gun Glory (1957). It was his last movie under his MGM contract, which ended September 10, 1957. Granger had turned down the role of Messala in the 1959 film Ben-Hur, reportedly because he did not want to take second billing to Charlton Heston.
Leaving MGM 1957–1960
Granger had become a successful cattle rancher. He bought land in New Mexico and Arizona and introduced Charolais cattle to America.[26][27] In order to finance his ranch he kept acting. He played a professional adventurer in Harry Black (1958), partly shot in India. He went to Britain to be in the thriller The Whole Truth (1958) for Romulus, for whom he was to make The Nightcomers but it never was filmed.[28][29]
He returned to Los Angeles to support John Wayne in North to Alaska (1960). By now his marriage to Simmons had ended, and Granger decided to move to Europe.
Later career
Continental European career 1960–1969
In June 1960, Granger announced he would appear in The Leopard; two movies for MGM in Britain, one of which was I Thank a Fool alongside Susan Hayward; Pontius Pilate for Hugo Fregonese; and The Tumbled House for John Farrow.[30] The role in The Leopard ultimately went to Burt Lancaster, the one in I Thank a Fool to Peter Finch, and the Fregonese and Farrow movies were never made. Granger did go to Britain to appear in the thriller The Secret Partner (1961) for MGM.
He went to Italy and played Lot in Robert Aldrich's Sodom and Gomorrah (1962), filmed in Rome. When Sodom and Gomorrah started filming, Granger announced he had signed a three-picture deal with MGM, which would include I Thank a Fool, Swordsman of Siena and a third movie for Jacques Bar. He also announced he had reactivated his production company, Tracy Productions, which was scheduled to make Dark Memory by Jonathan Latimer.[31] Granger did not appear in I Thank a Fool, and Dark Memory was not made. Instead Granger stayed in Italy to make Commando (1962), an action movie and Swordsman of Siena (1963), a swashbuckler. Granger was in the war movie The Secret Invasion (1964) for Roger Corman, shot in Yugoslavia.
In West Germany, Granger acted in the role of Old Surehand in three Western movies adapted from novels by German author Karl May, with French actor Pierre Brice (playing the fictional Indian chief Winnetou), in Among Vultures (1964), with Elke Sommer; The Oil Prince (1965) (Rampage at Apache Wells) (1965), shot in Yugoslavia; and Old Surehand (Flaming Frontier) (1965). He was teamed with Brice and Lex Barker, also a hero of Karl May movies, in the crime movie Killer's Carnival (1966).
Granger's last studio picture was The Last Safari (1967), shot in Africa and directed by Henry Hathaway. Granger was billed under Kaz Garas. He later called this "my last real film...the worst film ever made in Africa!"[32]
In 1970, he described his recent movies as "movies not even I will talk about".[27] He later estimated that he made more than $1.5 million in the 1960s but lost all of it.[33]
U.S. television
Granger returned to the U.S. and made a TV movie, Any Second Now (1969).
In 1970, he appeared as Colonial Mackenzie on the TV western series The Men from Shiloh in the episode titled "Colonial Mackenzie Versus the West". The Men from Shiloh was previously known as The Virginian. The new version changed the costumes and added moustaches and beards to some of the characters, making the actors look more dashing and realistic for the time. He followed actors Lee J. Cobb, Charles Bickford and John McIntire as the new owner of the Shiloh ranch on prime-time TV for its ninth year (1971).[27] Granger said he accepted the role for money and because it "seemed like it could be a lot of fun", but was disappointed by the lack of character development for his role.[27]
In the 1970s, Granger retired from acting and went to live in southern Spain, where he invested in real estate and resided in Estepona, Málaga. While living there, he became a friend and business partner of former barrister and television producer James Todesco (Eldorado TV series). Together they were involved in real estate investment and development.
He appeared in The Wild Geese (1978) as an unscrupulous banker who hires a unit of mercenary soldiers (Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris and others) to stage a military coup in an African nation. His character then makes a deal with the existing government, and betrays the mercenaries.
In 1980, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and was told he had three months to live. Granger later said, "I was 67 and had smoked 60 cigarettes a day for 40 years, but the doctor said if I had an operation there might be a chance of two to four more years of life. So I said, 'Who the hell needs that? But you better give me three months to put my house in order'."[34] Granger underwent the operation, having a lung and a rib removed, only to be informed he did not have cancer after all but tuberculosis.
Granger returned to acting in 1981 with the publication of his autobiography Sparks Fly Upward, claiming he was bored.[33] Granger spent the last decade of his life appearing on stage and television including playing Prince Philip in The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana (1982), a guest role in the TV series The Fall Guy starring Lee Majors, and as a suspect in Murder She Wrote in 1985. He starred in a German soap-opera, Das Erbe der Guldenburgs (The Guldenburg Heritage) (1987).
Caroline LeCerf (married 1964–1969); one daughter, Samantha.
Granger wrote in his autobiography that Deborah Kerr had approached him romantically in the back of his chauffeur-driven car at the time he was making Caesar and Cleopatra.[40] Although he was married to Elspeth March, he states that he and Kerr went on to have an affair.[41] When asked about this revelation, Kerr's response was, "What a gallant man he is."[42]
In 1956, Granger became a naturalized citizen of the United States.[43]
In 1944 it was reported Granger's ambition was to play Rob Roy[9] – J. Arthur Rank announced he was interested in a Rob Roy project in 1945 but it was never made.[49]
1953 – 21st most popular star in the US and 8th most popular in Britain
Partial television credits
The Virginian The Men from Shiloh (1970–71) – Starred in 11 of 24 episodes as Col. Alan MacKenzie. Episodes 1 "The West v Colonel MacKenzie", 5 "The Mysterious Mr Tate", 7 "Crooked Corner", 9 "The Price of the Hanging", 11 "Follow the Leader", 12 "Last of the Comencharos", 14 "Nan Allen", 19 "Flight from Memory", 21 "The Regimental Line", 23 "Wolf Track", and 24 "Jump Up".
Hotel – episodes "Glass People", "Blackout" (1983–1987) as Anthony Sheridan / Tony Fielding
The Fall Guy – episode "Manhunter" (1983) as James Caldwell
^"Meteoric Rise To Fame". The Voice. Vol. 18, no. 47. Tasmania, Australia. 24 November 1945. p. 4. Retrieved 9 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
^In the 1985 Murder, She Wrote episode, "Paint Me a Murder", Granger wore a blazer with a metal-embroidered Black Watch breast pocket badge.
^Shiach, Don: Stewart Granger: Last of the Swashbucklers (chapter 1). Aurum Press, 2005
^ abC.A. LEJEUNE (16 July 1944). "LONDON'S MOVIE NEWS: Newsreels Prove Strongest Draw – 'The Way Ahead' an Apt War Film". New York Times. p. X3.
^Giesler, Rodney (26 May 1993). "Rosamund John". British Entertainment History Project.
^"GAUMONT-BRITISH PICTURE: INCREASED NET PROFIT". The Observer. London (UK). 4 November 1945. p. 3.
^"JAMES MASON HEADS FILM POLL". The Irish Times. Dublin. 28 December 1945. p. 3.
^C.A. LEJEUNE (29 April 1945). "REVIVING THE PAST: London Film Producers Turn to Another Era for Stories—Studio Chit-Chat in the Long, Long Ago Coming Up Odds and Ends Familiar Early Morning Broadway Scene". New York Times. p. X3.
^THOMAS F BRADY (3 August 1949). "STEWART GRANGER SIGNS WITH METRO: British Star to Play Opposite Deborah Kerr for Studio in 'King Solomon's Mines'". New York Times. p. 27.
^'FRANCIS' STORIES ARE BOUGHT BY U.-I.:New York Times 17 May 1950: 35.
^"Howard Hughes May Take Stand in Trial This Week: RKO Executive's Appearance Moved Up in Suit by Jean Simmons and Stewart Granger". Los Angeles Times. 3 July 1952. p. 16.
^"Actor Granger, RKO Studios Trade Shenanigan Charges: Rival Tax Claims Made in $250,000 Suit for Damages". Los Angeles Times. 18 June 1952. p. A1.
^"HUGHES, FILM ACTORS SETTLE COURT BATTLE". New York Times. 18 July 1952. p. 10.
^'Oldest Confession' Next for Hayworth Los Angeles Times 25 July 1960: C11.
^2 FILM STARS POST BUSY SCHEDULES: Debbie Reynolds, Stewart Granger 'Well Booked' – 2 Premieres Set Today
By HOWARD THOMPSON. New York Times 8 Feb 1961: 25.
^WILLIAM GRIMES (18 August 1993). "Stewart Granger, 80, Star in Swashbuckler Roles". New York Times. p. D18.
^Thomas F. Brady (27 December 1950). "Metro Considers Cast For 'Ivanhoe': Jean Simmons May Get Role of Rowena—Stewart Granger Will Play the Title Part of Local Origin". The New York Times.
^C.A. LEJEUNE (11 November 1945). "NOTES FROM LONDON: Down, But Not Out". New York Times. p. 47.
^C.A. LEJEUNE (23 December 1945). "NOTES FROM LONDON'S FILM STUDIOS: Thriller What, No Love Affair?". New York Times. p. X5.
^C.A. LEJEUNE (25 August 1946). "BUSY DAYS IN LONDON: Film Studios Move Into High Gear, With Full Schedule of Pictures Under Way Films Coming Up In Father's Footsteps Notes in Brief". New York Times. p. 51.
^A.H. WEILER (22 September 1946). "RANDOM NOTES ABOUT FILMS: Hollywood and England Discover Columbus—New Theatre—Code Revised New Show House Ban Eased Professional Opinion But He Doesn't Sing". New York Times. p. X3.
^Hopper, Hedda (2 May 1947). "Looking at Hollywood". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 28.
^ abHopper, Hedda (11 September 1947). "Looking at Hollywood". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 32.
^"STUDIO BRIEFS". Los Angeles Times. 1 October 1949. p. 11.
^Schallert, Edwin (20 January 1950). "Drama: Pirate Picture Shapes for Fairbanks; Wyman May Do Lawrence Story". Los Angeles Times. p. 23.
^Schallert, Edwin (31 October 1949). "Wild Elephant Feature Will Star Breen; Gardner Roles Grow More Torrid". Los Angeles Times. p. A7.
^Hopper, Hedda (30 October 1952). "Looking at Hollywood: Stewart Granger Will Play Role of an Irish Pugilist". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. c4.
^"'Young Bess' Gets Green Light for July Start; Veterans Set for Roles Schallert, Edwin". Los Angeles Times. 19 April 1952. p. 7.
^Hopper, Hedda (26 January 1957). "Granger Will Star in 'Highland Fling'". Los Angeles Times. p. B2.
^Schallert, Edwin (27 February 1957). "Comedy Slated to Star Simmons and Granger; Student Wins Top Part". Los Angeles Times. p. C9.
^Ervine, St John (23 May 1937). "At the Play: THE REPERTORY THEATRES—IV BIRMINGHAM". The Observer. London (UK). p. 15.
^"MALVERN FESTIVAL: "The. Millionairess"". The Manchester Guardian. Manchester (UK). 27 July 1937. p. 13.
^H H (1 August 1937). "The Week's Theatres: THE MALVERN FESTIVAL". The Observer. London (UK). p. 9.
^Our Correspondent (20 September 1937). "ANOTHER VICTORIA PLAY: Birmingham Production". The Manchester Guardian. Manchester (UK). p. 13. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
^"A QUEEN VICTORIA PLAY: Comprehending and Humane CAPACITY FOR POLITICS". The Scotsman. Edinburgh, Scotland. 20 September 1937. p. 14.
^"The Week's Theatres: THE BUXTON FESTIVAL". The Observer. London (UK). 3 September 1939. p. 7.
^J M (12 September 1939). "BUXTON FESTIVAL: "The Good-Natured Man"". The Manchester Guardian. Manchester (UK). p. 4.
^A D (6 April 1940). "A HOUSE IN THE SQUARE". The Manchester Guardian. Manchester (UK). p. 10.
^"GLASGOW". The Scotsman. Edinburgh, Scotland. 4 August 1942. p. 6.
^Scheuer, Philip K (2 October 1949). "ROLE IN MOVIE TO TAKE BRITISH STAR 42,600 MILES". Los Angeles Times. p. D1.
^"LONDON LETTER". The Irish Times. Dublin, Ireland. 2 March 1949. p. 5.
^"Verdict On the Playboy". The Irish Times. 12 December 1946.
