Robert Montgomery

Born Henry Montgomery Jr. , the elder son of New York businessman Henry Montgomery and his wife, Mary W. (nee Barney) Montgomery (a native of Brooklyn, Kings County, New York), Robert Montgomery had a younger brother, Donald. He was not related to Belinda Montgomery. As a child, he enjoyed a privileged life. His father, Henry Montgomery, was the president of the New York Rubber Co. When Henry Montgomery died and owing to the Depression, the family fortune was gone. Henry Jr. and his younger brother, Donald, worked at a number of jobs. He later went to New York to be a writer, and on the advice of a friend, tried acting. He worked with George Cukor on the stage and his first film, at MGM, was So This Is College (1929), changing his forename.

Had three children with his first wife Elizabeth Allen: daughter, Martha Bryan (born October 13, 1930), who died of spinal meningitis at the age of 14 months; daughter, Elizabeth Montgomery; and son, Robert Montgomery Jr...

When Norma Shearer picked him to be her leading man in Private Lives (1931), he was set. He ran the gamut of different characters over the years.

Co-starred with Madge Evans in five films: Lovers Courageous (1932), Hell Below (1933), Made on Broadway (1933), Fugitive Lovers (1934) and Piccadilly Jim (1936).

Was the leading man of Ann Harding in two films - When Ladies Meet (1933) and Biography of a Bachelor Girl (1935).

Appeared with Rosalind Russell in five films: Forsaking All Others (1934), Trouble for Two (1936), Live, Love and Learn (1937), Night Must Fall (1937) and Fast and Loose (1939).

He served as President of the Screen Actors Guild from 1935-38 and 1946-47. . His stay with MGM lasted 16 years, and was only interrupted by WWII when he joined the navy. He saw action in both Europe and the Pacific.

He returned to MGM in 1945 and co-starred with John Wayne in the John Ford-directed They Were Expendable (1945) and then made his directorial debut with Lady in the Lake (1946) (although he had directed a few scenes, uncredited, in They Were Expendable (1945) when John Ford took ill). He left MGM to become an independent director, preferring work behind the camera instead of in front.

Co-starred with Audrey Totter in two movies, Lady in the Lake (1946) and The Saxon Charm (1948).

A staunch Republican, he was a friendly witness before the House Un-American Activities in 1947 during the McCarthy era and then spent most of his time on television and stage.

Hosted CBS Radio's "Suspense" for six months in 1948 when the show was expanded from 30 minutes to an hour.

In 1949 he accepted the Oscar for "Best Actor in a Leading Role" on behalf of Laurence Olivier, who was not present at the awards ceremony.

His popular show, Robert Montgomery Presents (1950), was where his daughter, Elizabeth Montgomery (who later gained lasting fame as beautiful witch Samantha Stevens on Bewitched (1964)), got her first acting job.

Shortly after Dwight D. Eisenhower was inaugurated in 1953, the new President asked Montgomery to become the White House's television consultant. Montgomery agreed and insisted on taking no pay. Pioneered the concept of the political "image consultant" in the early television era by advising President Eisenhower on how to most effectively present himself to television viewers. Following Richard Nixon's disastrous first televised debate with John F. Kennedy during the 1960 campaign, Eisenhower remarked that he was certain that if Nixon had only let Montgomery coordinate his appearance, Nixon would have performed better, and would have probably won the debate--and the election.

His SAG and other union activities caused a rift between Montgomery and MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer. However, through Montgomery's efforts the criminal activities of union official Willie Morris Bioff of the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) in his efforts to help Chicago gangster Al Capone take over the union were exposed. Bioff and two other union officials ultimately served prison time. Bioff testified against his organized crime bosses and got a reduced sentence. In 1955, Bioff was assassinated in Phoenix, Arizona, when he turned on the ignition in his truck and it exploded -- a car bomb made of dynamite had been attached to the ignition and blew up when the key was turned.

Served on the board of directors of several major corporations in the 1960s, including R.H. Macy and Co. and the Milwaukee Telephone Company.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 571-573. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998.