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Adolphe Menjou
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Adolphe Menjou | |
 from the film A Star Is Born (1937). |
|
| Birth name | Adolphe Jean Menjou |
| Born | February 18, 1890 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Died | October 29, 1963 Beverly Hills, California, USA |
Adolphe Jean Menjou (February 18, 1890 – October 29, 1963) was an American actor.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania of French and Irish descent, he was raised Roman Catholic, and attended the Culver Military Academy and graduated from Cornell University with a degree in engineering. Attracted to the vaudeville stage, he made his movie debut in 1916 in The Blue Envelope Mystery. During World War I, he served as a captain in the ambulance service.
Returning from the war, he became a star in such films as The Sheik and The Three Musketeers. When he starred in 1923's A Woman of Paris, he solidified the image of a well-dressed man-about-town.
His career stalled with the coming of talkies, but in 1930 he starred in Morocco, with Marlene Dietrich. He was nominated for an Academy Award for The Front Page (1931).
In 1947, Menjou cooperated with the House Committee on Un-American Activities in its hunt for Communists in Hollywood. Menjou was a leading member of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a conservative group formed to oppose Communist influence in Hollywood. Other members included Barbara Stanwyck and her husband, actor Robert Taylor.
He published his autobiography, It Took Nine Tailors in that year. He ended his career with such roles as French General George Broulard during World War I in 1957's Paths of Glory, and as the town curmudgeon in Pollyanna in 1960.
Menjou has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6822 Hollywood Blvd.