John Carradine

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Birth Name: Richmond Reed Carradine

Born: 5 February 1906 Died: 27 November 1988

Country of origin: United States

Height: 6' 2"

Relationship Status: Married

Partner: Emily Cisneros

Lists

82 votes

Acting Dynasties: Generations of Performers (52 items)
list by Joseph Grey

Published 13 years, 4 months ago

14 comments

61 votes

Dracula actors (15 items)
list by Elfflame

Published 17 years, 9 months ago

13 comments

51 votes

Different actors, same characters (74 items)
list by Lexie

Published 15 years, 6 months ago

16 comments

49 votes

Tribute to the Dinosaurs of the Cinema (122 items)
list by xolmis

Published 11 years, 8 months ago

2 comments

42 votes

Hollywood Dynasties (88 items)
list by Lexie

Published 15 years, 4 months ago

7 comments

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Description: Though best known to modern filmgoers as a horror star, cadaverous John Carradine was, in his prime, one of the most versatile character actors on the silver screen. The son of a journalist father and physician mother, Carradine was given an expensive education in Philadelphia and New York. Upon graduating from the Graphic Arts School, he intended to make his living as a painter and sculptor, but in 1923 he was sidetracked into acting. Working for a series of low-paying stock companies throughout the 1920s, he made ends meet as a quick-sketch portrait painter and scenic designer. He came to Hollywood in 1930, where his extensive Though best known to modern filmgoers as a horror star, cadaverous John Carradine was, in his prime, one of the most versatile character actors on the silver screen. The son of a journalist father and physician mother, Carradine was given an expensive education in Philadelphia and New York. Upon graduating from the Graphic Arts School, he intended to make his living as a painter and sculptor, but in 1923 he was sidetracked into acting. Working for a series of low-paying stock companies throughout the 1920s, he made ends meet as a quick-sketch portrait painter and scenic designer. He came to Hollywood in 1930, where his extensive talents and eccentric behavior almost immediately brought him to the attention of casting directors. He played a dizzying variety of distinctive bit parts -- a huntsman in Bride of Frankenstein (1935), a crowd agitator in Les Miserables (1935) -- before he was signed to a 20th Century Fox contract in 1936. His first major role was the sadistic prison guard in John Ford's Prisoner of Shark Island (1936), which launched a long and fruitful association with Ford, culminating in such memorable screen characterizations as the gentleman gambler in Stagecoach (1939) and Preacher Casy ("I lost the callin'!") in The Grapes of Wrath (1940). Usually typecast as a villain, Carradine occasionally surprised his followers with non-villainous roles like the philosophical cab driver in Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) and Abraham Lincoln in Of Human Hearts (1938). Throughout his Hollywood years, Carradine's first love remained the theater; to fund his various stage projects (which included his own Shakespearean troupe), he had no qualms about accepting film work in the lowest of low-budget productions. Ironically, it was in one of these Poverty Row cheapies, PRC's Bluebeard (1944), that the actor delivered what many consider his finest performance. Though he occasionally appeared in an A-picture in the 1950s and 1960s (The Ten Commandments, Cheyenne Autumn), Carradine was pretty much consigned to cheapies during those decades, including such horror epics as The Black Sleep (1956), The Unearthly (1957), and the notorious Billy the Kid Meets Dracula (1966). He also appeared in innumerable television programs, among them Twilight Zone, The Munsters, Thriller, and The Red Skelton Show, and from 1962 to 1964 enjoyed a long Broadway run as courtesan-procurer Lycus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Though painfully crippled by arthritis in his last years, Carradine never stopped working, showing up in films ranging from Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask (1972) to Peggy Sue Got Married (1984). Married four times, John Carradine was the father of actors David, Keith, Robert, and Bruce Carradine. ... (more)

Tags: American (5), Male (4), Born 1906 (3), Died 1988 (3), Actor (3), Horror (2), Deceased (2), Tv Actor (1), The Wizard Of Mars (1), Supporting Actor (1), Count Dracula (1), Carradine (1), Family Tradition (1), Actro (1), Died Aged 82 (1), Horror Film Actor (1), B-Movie Actor (1), February (1), Tv Western (1), Drama (1)

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Python Actor Championships 4 (100 person items)

"58 Morning Glory The Black Cat Cleopatra Bride of Frankenstein The Prisoner of Shark Island Mary of Scotland Jesse James Alexander's Ragtime Band Stagecoach The Hound of the Baskervilles Drums Along the Mohawk The Grapes of Wrath Man Hunt The Return of Frank James Western Union Reunion in France Revenge of the Zombies Bluebeard It's in the Bag! Fallen Angel The Private Affairs of Bel Ami Johnny Guitar The Egyptian Thunder Pass Stranger on Horseback The Kentuckian Desert Sands The Court Jester "

SA-512 posted a image 1 year, 9 months ago