George Brent

The favorite leading man of star Bette Davis was born George Brendan Nolan, near Dublin. An orphan from the tender age of eleven, he briefly stayed with an aunt in New York. Once old enough to earn money he moved back to the other side of the Atlantic making ends meet herding sheep and (at one time) working in the gold fields of South Africa. George eventually returned to Ireland to study at the University of Dublin. Leaving university in 1919, he became a courier for Sinn Fein leader Michael Collins during the 'The Troubles' and was hunted by the Black and Tan with a bounty on his head. By that time, he had developed an interest in acting and (partly to cover up his nightly activities for Sinn Fein) joined the Abbey Theatre Players. Tipped off as to an imminent arrest by British soldiers, George went into hiding and later skipped town. His return to acting was rather necessitated by the need for a sustainable source of income.

Served as a messenger/assassin for the Irish Republican Army during its struggle against the British in the early 1920s. Although only a teenager, he managed to elude capture by the British and was smuggled out of Ireland to Canada by freighter, and then crossed the border to the US.

By 1925, he was back in New York touring with the play 'Abie's Irish Rose'.

He then worked with stock companies in Colorado, Florida and Massachusetts and appeared in the ensemble cast of 'The Nightingale' on Broadway' (1927). Another three years later, he co-starred with Alice Brady and Clark Gable in the short-lived play 'Love, Honor and Betray'.

He worked in Hollywood from 1930, initially playing farmers, doctors and partner of Rin Tin Tin, before Warner Brothers finally recognised his potential as a handsome leading man for some of their more temperamental female stars.

One of those was Ruth Chatterton who picked him to play opposite her in The Rich Are Always with Us (1932). This was the first of four films he made with the actress whom he eventually married - and divorced after just two years. A specialist in dapper, sophisticated gentlemen, George gave reliable support to stars like Greta Garbo, Hedy Lamarr, Barbara Stanwyck and (eleven times) Bette Davis. However, he could rarely be described as dynamic. In his own words, all a good leading man needed 'was a good haircut since an audience was only ever likely to see the back of his head'. On the other hand, he was able to accumulate six marriages, among his wives another Warner Brothers star (Ann Sheridan).

George was at his best opposite Bette Davis in Front Page Woman (1935), Dark Victory (1939), The Old Maid (1939), and, co-starring Myrna Loy, The Rains Came (1939).

He was a licensed pilot. You can see him landing an airplane in The Great Lie (1941).

He played Jane Powell's father in the film Luxury Liner (1948). Powell claims that the two had a crush on each other and that Brent didn't express it until near the end of his life when he proposed marriage to her when he was in his 70s.

Was to have starred in the film, Death of a Scoundrel (1956), but took ill after a large party scene with many, many extras had been filmed. Rather than an expensive re-shoot, the producers left the scene (with him visible) in the final cut. He was replaced in the lead by George Sanders.

Last saw his favorite co-star Bette Davis in 1978 when he went to visit her back stage at one of her one-woman shows in San Diego that featured film clips from her vast career. She didn't recognize him at first, as he had grown quite old, white-haired and unhealthily overweight. He died in May of 1979.

On August 13, 2018, he was honored with a day of his film work during the TCM Summer Under The Stars.