John Carradine

He was of English, with more distant Irish and Dutch, ancestry. He was sometimes said to have Italian or Spanish roots, from the surname "Carradine", but his last traceable patrilineal ancestor, a man named Parker Carradine, was born, c. 1755, in the state of Georgia, and had no evident Spanish or Italian origins.

John Carradine, the son of a reporter/artist and a surgeon, grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York. He attended Christ Church School and Graphic Art School, studying sculpture, and afterward roamed the South selling sketches. He made his acting debut in "Camille" in a New Orleans theatre in 1925.

Arriving in Los Angeles in 1927, he worked in local theatre. He applied for a job as as scenic designer to Cecil B. DeMille, who rejected his designs but gave him voice work in several films.

His first co-starring role with Boris Karloff came in 1929 during a ten-week run of "Window Panes" in Figueroa, CA. Carradine played a dimwit and Karloff played a Grigory Rasputin-like character.

His on-screen debut was in Tol'able David (1930), billed as Peter Richmond. A protégé and close friend of John Barrymore, Carradine was an extremely prolific film character actor while simultaneously maintaining a stage career in classic leading roles such as Hamlet and Malvolio. In his later years he was typed as a horror star, putting in appearances in many low- and ultra-low-budget horror films. He was a member of the group of actors often used by director John Ford that became known as "The John Ford Stock Company".

He missed out on playing two iconic horror icons - he was considered for the lead role in Dracula (1931) and refused the role of the monster in Frankenstein (1931), claiming the part was beneath him. He later played the former in House of Frankenstein (1944) and House of Dracula (1945).

He has appeared in eight films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Invisible Man (1933), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Stagecoach (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Johnny Guitar (1954), The Court Jester (1955), The Ten Commandments (1956) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962).

Appears in eight Oscar Best Picture nominees: Cleopatra (1934), Les Misérables (1935), Captains Courageous (1937), Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938), Stagecoach (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), The Ten Commandments (1956) and Around the World in 80 Days (1956). Only the last of these won.

Officially changed his name from John Peter Richmond to John Carradine in early 1935.

He appeared with Basil Rathbone in seven films: The Garden of Allah (1936), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939), Casanova's Big Night (1954), The Court Jester (1955), The Black Sleep (1956) The Last Hurrah (1958) and Hillbillys In A Haunted House (1967).

He appeared with Peter Lorre in eight films: Nancy Steele Is Missing! (1937), Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937), I'll Give a Million (1938), Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1939), Around the World in 80 Days (1956), Hell Ship Mutiny (1957), The Story of Mankind (1957) and The Patsy (1964).

His own touring productions of "The Merchant of Venice", "Hamlet" and "Othello" outgrossed Maurice Evans' celebrated 1940 version of "Hamlet". During the San Francisco run, Carradine always had a memorial seat reserved for his close friend, the late John Barrymore.

Whispering Ghosts (1942) was his last film under his long-term Fox contract.

Always ranked his performance in Bluebeard (1944) high among his career favorites.

Jailed briefly in 1953 on contempt of court charges for falling behind on his alimony payments.

Although he played Martha Scott's son in The Ten Commandments (1956), he was six years her senior in real life.

He made guest appearances on both The Twilight Zone (1959) and The Twilight Zone (1985).

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6240 Hollywood Blvd. on February 8, 1960.

He had two roles in common with his The McMasters (1970) co-star Jack Palance: (1) Carradine played Count Dracula in House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945), Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966) and Nocturna (1979) while Palance played him in Dracula (1974) and (2) Carradine played Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (1947) while Palance played him in Ebenezer (1998).

He and his granddaughter Martha Plimpton both appeared in Woody Allen films: Carradine played Doctor Bernardo in Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972) while Plimpton played Laura in Another Woman (1988).

According to Jim Beaver's career article on Carradine for the October 1979 issue of "Films in Review", writer Tennessee Williams wrote the role of Big Daddy in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" with Carradine in mind, although other commitments kept him out of the Broadway production in favor of Burl Ives. However, Carradine did play the role in a 1977 Los Angeles production.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 165-167. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.

He was offered the role of Grandpa in The Lost Boys (1987), but had to pass due to illness.

Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 2003.