Joel McCrea

Joel McCrea (1905-1990) was an American actor whose career spanned 50 years. He was the leading man in three Best Picture Oscar nominees, Dead End (1937), Foreign Correspondent (1940) and The More the Merrier (1943). He starred in more than 80 films and during the 1950s, he became one of the great stars of the American Western.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 1544/1, 1937-1938. Photo: Paramount.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 556.


British Real Photograph postcard, no. 130. Photo: Paramount Pictures.

Raised in Hollywood

Joel Albert McCrea was born in 1905 in South Pasadena, California. His surname is pronounced "MC-Cray". He was the son of Lou Whipple McCrea, a professional Christian Science practitioner, and Thomas McCrea, an employee of the L.A. Gas & Electric Company. He was the grandson of a western stagecoach driver who had fought against the Apaches. Joel was raised in the surroundings of Hollywood.

In his youth, he was a paperboy for the Los Angeles Times, where he came into contact with Cecil B. DeMille and other people in the film industry. He also witnessed the shooting of D.W. Griffith's epic silent film Intolerance (David Wark Griffith, 1916) and had an extra role in a film series with Ruth Roland. Roland's leading man could not ride well. McCrea, an outstanding horseman since he was nine, doubled for the actor at $2.50 a day and was given a job wrangling for the rest of the shoot. He also held horses for Hollywood cowboy stars William S. Hart and Tom Mix.

McCrea attended Hollywood High School with future director Jacques Tourneur who would later direct him in Stars in My Crown (1950), Wichita (1955) and Stranger on Horseback (1955). He then studied at Pomona College where he took acting classes. He got some stage experience at the Pasadena Community Playhouse. McCrea worked as an extra, stunt man, and bit player from 1927 to 1928, when he signed a contract with MGM. There he got his first major role in The Jazz Age (Lynn Shores, 1929). His first leading role was in The Silver Horde (George Archainbaud, 1930) as a fisherman torn between two women, played by top-billed Evelyn Brent and Jean Arthur.

In 1930, he left for RKO. Will Rogers took a liking to the young man. They shared a love of ranching and roping and Rogers helped elevate McCrea's career. Rogers advised him to put the money he made from acting into real estate, a venture that made the novice actor a millionaire. His wholesome good looks and quiet manner were soon in demand, primarily in romantic dramas and comedies, and he became an increasingly popular leading man. In 1932, McCrea starred with Dolores Del Rio in Bird of Paradise (King Vidor, 1932), which caused controversy because of some nude scenes. That year, he also co-starred with Fay Wray in the Horror film The Most Dangerous Game (Ernest B. Schoedsack, Irving Pichel, 1932).

In 1934, he was first seen together with the two actresses he would often work with. With Miriam Hopkins, he appeared in The Richest Girl in the World (William A. Seiter, 1934) and with Barbara Stanwyck, he co-starred in the romantic drama Gambling Lady (Archie Mayo, 1934). In 1937, he starred in the Best Oscar nominee Dead End (William Wyler, 1937) with Humphrey Bogart, and was the first actor to play the role of Dr. Kildare in the film Internes Can't Take Money (Alfred Santell, 1937), with Barbara Stanwyck. He also starred in the Western Wells Fargo (Frank Lloyd, 1937) with his wife Frances Dee. After losing the lead in The Real Glory (Henry Hathaway, 1939) to Gary Cooper, he realised that as long as Samuel Goldwyn had both Cooper and him under contract, he would always come out second in the studio's choice roles. When he refused to re-sign with Goldwyn, the producer warned him that he'd "never work in this town again!" After that, Goldwyn always referred to the actor as "Joel McCreal." McCrea signed with Cecil B. DeMille for Union Pacific (1939) at Paramount.


Dutch postcard by M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam, no. B 200. Photo: Loet C. Barnstijn. Dolores Del Rio and Joel McCrea in Bird of Paradise (King Vidor, 1932).


Dutch postcard by M. Bonnist & Zonen, Amsterdam, no. B 206. Photo: Loet C. Barnstijn. Dolores Del Rio and Joel McCrea in Bird of Paradise (King Vidor, 1932).


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 556a. Photo: Radio.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 556d. Photo: Samuel Goldwyn.


British Real Photograph postcard, no. 130. Photo: Paramount Pictures.

Focusing on Westerns

The peak of Joel McCrea's career was in the early 1940s. He starred in such films as Alfred Hitchcock's espionage thriller Foreign Correspondent (1940), George Stevens' romantic comedy The More the Merrier (1943) with Jean Arthur, and two comedy classics by Preston Sturges, Sullivan's Travels (1941) with Veronica Lake, and The Palm Beach Story (1942) with Claudette Colbert.

He also starred in two Westerns by William A. Wellman, The Great Man's Lady (1942), again with Barbara Stanwyck, and Buffalo Bill (1944). Jim Beaver at IMDb: "He hoped to concentrate on Westerns, but several years passed before he could convince the studio heads to cast him in one. When he proved successful in that genre, more and more Westerns came his way." After the success of The Virginian (Stuart Gilmore, 1946), McCrea decided to focus entirely on Westerns.

The only exceptions were the Film Noir Hollywood Story (William Castle, 1951) and the British spy-thriller Rough Shoot (Robert Parrish, 1953). McCrea played the lead in NBC Radio's Tales from the Texas Rangers from 1950 to 1952. The show was a Western police procedural based on real cases from the Texas Rangers. In 1933, McCrea married actress Frances Dee, whom he had met on the set of The Silver Cord. The couple starred together in five films: The Silver Cord (John Cromwell, 1933), One Man's Journey (John S. Robertson, 1933), Come and Get It (Howard Hawks, William Wyler, 1936), Wells Fargo (Frank Lloyd, 1937), Four Faces West (Alfred E. Green, 1948) and Cattle Drive (Kurt Neumann, 1951).

McCrea and Dee had three children: David, Peter and Jody. Their son Jody followed in his parent's footsteps and also became an actor. In 1959, father and son starred together in the TV series Wichita Town. A few years later, McCrea co-starred with fellow Western veteran Randolph Scott in Ride the High Country (Sam Peckinpah, 1962). In 1966, he returned with The Young Rounders (Casey Tibbs, 1966). McCrea made a few more appearances in small films afterwards but was primarily content to maintain his life as a gentleman rancher.

In 1968, McCrea received a career achievement award from the L.A. Film Critics Association. He was also inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. He received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; one for his film career, and one for his radio career. His last film was Mustang Country (John C. Champion, 1976). In 1990, McCrea made his last public appearance. He died three weeks later at the age of 84 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, from pneumonia. Joel McCrea and Frances Dee remained married until McCrea's death.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 631. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.


Vintage cut-out card.


Spanish postcard in the Estrellas del cine series by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, no. 108. Photo: Fox Film.


German postcard by Frohwalt, no. A 215. Photo: Paramount.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, offered by Les Carbones Korès "Carboplane", no. 677. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer, 1951.

Sources: Jim Beaver (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.