Gene Lockhart

Edwin Eugene Lockhart (July 18, 1891 – March 31, 1957) was a Canadian-American character actor, playwright, singer, and lyricist. He appeared in over 300 films, and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Regis in Algiers, the American remake of Pépé le Moko.

Early life Lockhart was born in London, Ontario, Canada, and made his professional debut at the age of six when he appeared with the Kilties Band of Canada. He later appeared in sketches with Beatrice Lillie.

Lockhart was raised Catholic and educated in Canadian schools and at the London Oratory School in London, England. He played football for the Toronto Argonauts.

Stage

Lockhart had a long stage career; he also wrote professionally and taught acting and stage technique at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. He also wrote theatrical sketches, radio shows, special stage material, song lyrics and articles for stage and radio magazines.

He made his Broadway debut in 1916, in the musical The Riviera Girl.

He was a member of the traveling play The Pierrot Players (for which he wrote the book and lyrics). This play introduced the song, The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise, for which Lockhart wrote the lyrics along with Canadian composer Ernest Seitz. (The song was subsequently made popular by Les Paul and Mary Ford in the 1950s.) He wrote and directed the Broadway musical revue Bunk of 1926. He sang in Die Fledermaus for the San Francisco Opera Association. On Broadway, Lockhart originated the roles of Uncle Sid in Eugene O'Neill's only comedy, Ah, Wilderness! (1933), and Fortesque in Arthur Schwartz's Virginia (1937).

In 1949, he took over from Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman, during the original run of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.

Film

Lockhart made his film debut in Smilin' Through (1922) as the Rector, but he made few additional appearances during the silent era. His full-talkie debut was in the film By Your Leave (1934), where he played the playboy "Skeets". Lockhart subsequently appeared in more than 300 motion pictures. He often played villains, including a role as the treacherous informant Regis in Algiers (1938), the American remake of Pépé le Moko, which gained him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He played the suspicious Georges de la Trémouille, the Dauphin's chief counselor, in Joan of Arc (1948), starring Ingrid Bergman.

He also had a great succession of "good guy" supporting roles including Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol (1938) and Judge Harper in Miracle on 34th Street (1947).

Upon the arrival of Orson Welles in Hollywood in 1940, Lockhart wrote a short poem satirizing Welles entitled "Little Orson Annie". The poem was a parody of the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley.

Lockhart played a bumbling sheriff in His Girl Friday (1940), opposite Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. He appeared in the movie The Sea Wolf (1941), adapted from the novel by Jack London, as a ship's doctor. He played the Starkeeper in Carousel (1956). His last film role was that of the Equity Board President in the film Jeanne Eagels (1957).

Personal life Lockhart was married to actress Kathleen Lockhart from June 12, 1924, until his death. They had one child together, actress June Lockhart, through whom he is the grandfather of actress Anne Lockhart.

Lockhart became an American citizen in 1939.

Legacy Lockhart has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame—one for motion pictures, at 6307 Hollywood Boulevard, and one for television at 6681 Hollywood Boulevard. Both were dedicated February 8, 1960.

Filmography

Smilin' Through (1922) as Village Rector (film debut) The No Man (1933, Short) Paul Revere, Jr. (1933, Short) as Miles Standish (uncredited) By Your Leave (1934) as Skeets The Gay Bride (1934) as Jim Smiley (uncredited) Captain Hurricane (1935) as Capt. Jeremiah Taylor I've Been Around (1935) as Sammy Ames Storm Over the Andes (1935) as Cracker Star of Midnight (1935) as Horatio Swayne Thunder in the Night (1935) as Police Lt. Gabor Crime and Punishment (1935) as Lushin The Garden Murder Case (1936) as Lowe Hammle Brides Are Like That (1936) as John Robinson The First Baby (1936) as Mr. Ellis Times Square Playboy (1936) as P.H. "Ben"/"Pig Head" Bancroft Earthworm Tractors (1936) as George Healey The Gorgeous Hussy (1936) as Maj. William O'Neal The Devil Is a Sissy (1936) as Mr. Murphy Wedding Present (1936) as Archduke Gustav Ernest Come Closer, Folks (1936) as Elmer Woods Career Woman (1936) as Uncle Billy Burly Mind Your Own Business (1936) as Bottles Mama Steps Out (1937) as Mr. Sims Too Many Wives (1937) as Winfield Jackson The Sheik Steps Out (1937) as Samuel P. Murdock Something to Sing About (1937) as Bennett O. "B.O." Regan Algiers (1938) as Regis Of Human Hearts (1938) as Quid Sinners in Paradise (1938) as Senator Corey Stock and Blondes (1938, Short) Men Are Such Fools (1938) as Bill Dalton Penrod's Double Trouble (1938) as Mr. Frank Schofield Meet the Girls (1938) as Homer Watson Listen, Darling (1938) as Mr. Drubbs Blondie (1938) as C.P. Hazlip A Christmas Carol (1938) as Bob Cratchit Sweethearts (1938) as Augustus I'm from Missouri (1939) as Porgie Rowe The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939) as Thomas Sanders Hotel Imperial (1939) as Elias Tell No Tales (1939) as Arno Bridal Suite (1939) as Cornelius McGill Our Leading Citizen (1939) as J.T. Tapley Blackmail (1939) as William Ramey Geronimo (1939) as Gillespie His Girl Friday (1940) as Sheriff Peter B. Hartwell Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940) as Stephen Douglas Edison, the Man (1940) as Mr. Taggart We Who Are Young (1940) as C.B. Beamis South of Pago Pago (1940) as Lindsay Dr. Kildare Goes Home (1940) as George Winslow A Dispatch from Reuter's (1940) as Otto Bauer Keeping Company (1940) as Mr. Hellman Meet John Doe (1941) as Mayor Lovett The Sea Wolf (1941) as Dr. Prescott Billy the Kid (1941) as Dan Hickey One Foot in Heaven (1941) as Preston Thurston International Lady (1941) as Sidney Grenner The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) as Squire Slossum They Died with Their Boots On (1941) as Samuel Bacon, Esq. Steel Against the Sky (1941) as John Powers Juke Girl (1942) as Henry Madden The Gay Sisters (1942) as Herschell Gibbon You Can't Escape Forever (1942) as Carl Robelink Forever and a Day (1943) as Cobblewick Hangmen Also Die (1943) as Emil Czaka Mission to Moscow (1943) as Premier Molotov Find the Blackmailer (1943) as John M. Rhodes Northern Pursuit (1943) as Ernst Madame Curie (1943) (uncredited) The Desert Song (1943) as Pere FanFan Action in Arabia (1944) as Josef Danesco Going My Way (1944) as Ted Haines Sr. Man from Frisco (1944) as Joel Kennedy That's the Spirit (1945) as Jasper Cawthorne The House on 92nd Street (1945) as Charles Ogden Roper Leave Her to Heaven (1945) as Dr. Saunders Meet Me on Broadway (1946) as John Whittaker A Scandal in Paris (1946) as Prefect of Police Richet The Strange Woman (1946) as Isaiah Poster The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947) as Saxon Honeymoon (1947) as Consul Prescott Miracle on 34th Street (1947) as Judge Henry X. Harper Cynthia (1947) as Dr. Fred I. Jannings The Foxes of Harrow (1947) as Viscount Henri D'Arceneaux Her Husband's Affairs (1947) as Peter Winterbottom The Inside Story (1948) as Horace Taylor I, Jane Doe (1948) as Arnold Matson Apartment for Peggy (1948) as Prof. Edward Bell Joan of Arc (1948) as Georges de la Trémoille That Wonderful Urge (1948) as Judge Parker Down to the Sea in Ships (1949) as Andrew L. Bush The Sickle or the Cross (1949) as James John Madame Bovary (1949) as J. Homais Red Light (1949) as Warni Hazard The Inspector General (1949) as The Mayor Riding High (1950) as J.P. Chase The Big Hangover (1950) as Charles Parkford I'd Climb the Highest Mountain (1951) as Jeff Brock Rhubarb (1951) as Thaddeus J. Banner Texas Lady (1951) as Judge George Jeffers A Girl in Every Port (1952) as Garvey Hoodlum Empire (1952) as Senator Tower Down Among the Sheltering Palms (1953) as Rev. Paul Edgett Bonzo Goes to College (1952) as Clarence B. Gateson Apache War Smoke (1952) as Cyril R. Snowden Face to Face (1952) as Capt. Archbold ('The Secret Sharer') Tales of Tomorrow (1952, TV) as Prof. Vanya Androcles and the Lion (1952) as Menagerie Keeper Confidentially Connie (1953) as Dean Edward E. Magruder The Lady Wants Mink (1953) as Mr. Heggie Francis Covers the Big Town (1953) as Tom Henderson World for Ransom (1954) as Alexis Pederas The Father Who Had No Sons (1955, TV Movie) as Milton Hershey The Vanishing American (1955) as Blucher Carousel (1956) as Starkeeper/Dr. Selden The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956) as Bill Hawthorne Science Fiction Theatre (1956, TV) as Dr. Richard Hewitt/Dr. Elwood Dove Telephone Time (1956, TV) as Louis P. Cashman Jeanne Eagels (1957) as Equity Board President (final film, released posthumously)