British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W 787. Photo: 20th Century Fox. George Montgomery as Philip Marlowe in The Brasher Doubloon (John Brahm, 1947)
Spanish postcard by Sobe, no. 8.
Attracting publicity for his acting and for his liaisons with glamorous stars
George Montgomery Letz was born in Brady, Montana, in 1916. George was the youngest of 15 children of German immigrants from Ukraine and was raised on a Montana homestead.
He was a boxing champion at the University of Montana, where he majored in architecture and interior design. Dropping out a year later, he decided to take up boxing more seriously. He moved to California, where ex-heavyweight world champion James J. Jeffries coached him.
While in Hollywood, he came to the attention of the studios. Montgomery was an expert rider and was hired as a stuntman in 1935. After doing this for four years, George was offered a contract at 20th Century Fox in 1939, but found himself largely confined to leads in B-Westerns.
He did not secure a part in anything even remotely like a prestige picture until his co-starring role in Roxie Hart (William A. Wellman, 1942), opposite Ginger Rogers. Next, in Orchestra Wives (Archie Mayo, 1942), he played the love interest for Ann Rutherford, but the biggest stars were Glenn Miller and His Orchestra.
George attracted as much publicity for his acting as for his liaisons with glamorous stars, like Ginger Rogers, Hedy Lamarr (to whom he was briefly engaged) and singer Dinah Shore, whom he married in 1943. He left Hollywood in 1943 to enlist in the US Army Air Corps. After his discharge in 1946, he went back to Hollywood and resumed his career.
Spanish postcard. Photo: Columbia. Joan Vohs and George Montgomery in Fort Ti (William Castle, 1953).
Austrian postcard by Austriapost, Wien, no. 219. Photo: Columbia. George Montgomery in Fort Ti (William Castle, 1953).
Raymond Chandler's private eye Philip Marlowe
In 1947, George Montgomery got his first serious break when he was cast as Raymond Chandler's private eye Philip Marlowe in The Brasher Doubloon (John Brahm, 1947).
I.S. Mowis at IMDb: "Reviewers, however, compared his performance unfavorably with that of Humphrey Bogart and found the film 'pallid' overall. So it was back in the saddle for George. Unable to shake his image as a cowboy actor, he starred in scores of films with titles like Belle Starr's Daughter (1948), Dakota Lil (1950), Jack McCall, Desperado (1953), and Masterson of Kansas (1954) at Columbia, and for producer Edward Small at United Artists.
When not cleaning up the Wild West with his six-shooter, he branched out into adventure films set in exotic locales." For two years, he starred in the TV series Cimarron City (1958-1959). He was also notable as Harry Quartermain in Watusi (Kurt Neumann, 1959).
During the 1960s, he appeared in the War film Battle of the Bulge (Ken Annakin, 1965) starring Henry Fonda. He also wrote, directed and starred in several long-forgotten, low-budget War films made in the Philippines.
After he retired from the film business, he devoted himself to his love of painting, furniture-making, and sculpting bronze busts, including one of his close friend Ronald Reagan. George Montgomery died in Rancho Mirage, California, in 2000. He had two children with Dinah Shore, daughter Melissa Montgomery and adopted son John 'Jody' David Montgomery.
American Arcade card.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 240. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1384. Photo: Dear Film.
Sources: I.S. Mowis (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.
No comments:
Post a Comment