British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 449.
Vintage postcard in the Celebrity Series by Associated Photo Printers, London, no. 117. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Dennis King in The Vagabond King (Ludwig Berger, 1930).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4983/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Paramount. Dennis King in The Vagabond King (Ludwig Berger, 1930).
When Oscar Hammerstein heard him singing in his dressing room
Dennis King was born Dennis Pratt in 1897 in Coventry, Warwickshire. He was the son of John and Elizabeth King Pratt. Dennis had one sister and three brothers. King described his father as "a man of tremendous vision but little initiative", resulting in the family's being "very poor". When he was a young boy, his family moved to Balsall Heath in Birmingham, where he was educated at Dennis Road School.
His first involvement with the stage was working as a call boy at the newly opened Birmingham Repertory Theatre when he was 14 years old. With the hope of eventually appearing on stage, he changed his surname to King, his mother's maiden name. He first performed on stage at age 16. With George Melville Cooper, he played two footmen in 'The Return of the Prodigal' in 1914, carrying the leading man on stage and depositing him on a sofa.
He served in the Oxford Bucks Infantry during World War I. Injured in battle, he spent a night in a muddy shell hole before stretcher-bearers took him to a first-aid station for initial treatment. Two days later, he was moved to a field hospital, where plastic surgeons repaired the damage that shrapnel had done to his face. He was discharged, and he returned home. After appearing legitimately in further shows, he moved to Edinburgh in 1916, appearing in a musical at the Royal Lyceum, where he met his future wife, actress Edith Wright.
King debuted in London in 'Monsieur Beaucaire' in 1919 and had a stage career in drama, including works by William Shakespeare. He immigrated to the US in 1921 and went on to a successful career on the Broadway stage. His career turned from drama to music after Oscar Hammerstein heard him singing in his dressing room.
Persuaded by Hammerstein, King tried out for the male lead in the original production of Rudolf Friml's 'Rose-Marie' (1925). In this musical, he introduced the songs 'Rose-Marie' and 'Indian Love Call'. His success in that production led to his performing in other musical comedy shows on Broadway, including 'The Vagabond King' (1925) as François Villon and 'The Three Musketeers' (1928) as d'Artagnan. Two years later, he repeated the role in London's West End.
Belgian postcard. Photo: Films Paramount. Jeanette MacDonald and Dennis King in The Vagabond King (Ludwig Berger, 1930). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.
Belgian postcard by Ern. Thill, Bruxelles / Nels. Photo: Paramount. Dennis King and Lillian Roth in The Vagabond King (Ludwig Berger, 1930).
Belgian postcard by Ern. Thill, Bruxelles / Nels. Photo: Paramount. Dennis King and Jeanette MacDonald in The Vagabond King (Ludwig Berger, 1930).
Laurel and Hardy's biggest-selling feature at the box office
Dennis King appeared in two musical films. He starred in the Two-colour Technicolour Operetta The Vagabond King (Ludwig Berger, 1930) with Jeanette MacDonald. It told the story of the real-life renegade French poet named François Villon.
His second film was the all-star American pre-Code revue Paramount on Parade (Ernst Lubitsch, a.o., 1930). King soon returned to Broadway, where he appeared as Gaylord Ravenal in the revival of 'Show Boat' (1932). He switched again to the screen as Fra Diavolo in the musical comedy The Devil's Brother / Fra Diavolo (Hal Roach, Charles Rogers, 1933) starring Laurel and Hardy and based on Daniel Auber's operetta 'Fra Diavolo' about the Italian bandit. It became Laurel and Hardy's biggest-selling feature at the box office.
His later Broadway shows included 'I Married an Angel' (1938) as Count Willi Palaffi, 'Music in the Air' (1951) as Bruno Mahler, and 'Shangri-La' (1956) as Hugh Conway. King was one of the first star actors to devote himself almost exclusively to television. He appeared in six full-length dramas on TV from the fall of 1948 to February 1949. He was also featured in TV musical productions, including Knickerbocker Holiday (1950), Babes in Toyland (1950), Jack and the Beanstalk (1956) and Aladdin (Ralph Nelson, 1958) with Sal Mineo.
In 1960, he performed in a colour special of The Mikado with Groucho Marx and Stanley Holloway. In between, he made periodic returns to Broadway, including starring in 'Pygmalion' with Gertrude Lawrence in 1946-1947. His later (non-singing) film roles were in Between Two Worlds (Edward A. Blatt, 1944) starring John Garfield and The Miracle (Irving Rapper, 1959) with Carroll Baker. His final film was the comedy Some Kind of a Nut (Garson Kanin, 1969), starring Dick Van Dyke.
King became a citizen of the United States in 1953. He was made president of The Players in June 1965, a position he held until 1970. That year, he was nominated for a Tony Award as best supporting actor in John Osborne's 'A Patriot For Me'. King was married to stage actress Edith Wright till she died in 1963. They had two sons, Dennis King Jr. and musical theatre actor John Michael King, who originated the role of Freddy Eynsford Hill in 'My Fair Lady. Dennis King died of heart disease in University Hospital in New York City in 1971. He was 73.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 449a.
French postcard by Europe, no. 1060. Photo: Paramount.
Sources: Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.
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