Actors - Richard Cromwell

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	Actors - Richard Cromwell

Richard Cromwell (January 8, 1910 - October 11, 1960) was an American actor, born LeRoy Melvin Radabaugh. His family and friends called him Roy, though he was also professionally known and signed autographs as Dick Cromwell. Cromwell was best known for his work in Jezebel
(1938) with Bette Davis and Henry Fonda and in The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
(1935) where he shared top billing with Gary Cooper and Franchot Tone. That film was the first major effort directed by Henry Hathaway and it was based upon the popular novel by Francis Yeats-Brown. The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
earned Paramount Studios a nomination for Best Picture in 1935, though Mutiny on the Bounty
instead took the top award at The Oscars that year. Leslie Halliwell in The Filmgoer's Companion, summed up Cromwell's enduring appeal when he described him as "a leading man, gentle hero of early sound films."

Early life

Cromwell was born in Long Beach, California on January 8, 1910, the oldest in a family of five children. His father Hobart Radabaugh, an inventor, died of a sudden illness, most likely influenza during the Spanish flu pandemic, when Cromwell was still in grade school. While helping his young widowed mother, Faye Stocking Radabaugh, to support the family with odd-jobs, Cromwell enrolled as a teenager in the Chouinard Art School in Los Angeles on a scholarship. As Cromwell developed his talents for lifelike mask-making and oil-painting, he curried friendships in the late 1920s with various then-starlets who posed for him including Tallulah Bankhead, Joan Crawford, Anna Q. Nilsson, Greta Garbo, and even Marie Dressler (whom he would later share top-billing with in 1932's Emma).

Overnight stardom & early film career

The young Roy Radabaugh, as he was then known, had dabbled in film extra work on the side, and can be seen in King of Jazz (1930), along with Paul Whiteman and his band. On a whim, friends encouraged Roy to audition in 1930 for the remake of the Richard Barthelmess silent: Tol'able David (1930). (Note: the UCLA Film Archives today contains one of the few remaining restored prints, donated by the Radabaugh-Putnam family). Radabaugh won the role over thousands of hopefuls, and in storybook fashion, Harry Cohn gave him his screen name and launched his career. Cromwell earned $75 per week for his work on Tol'able David. Noah Beery, Sr. and John Carradine co-starred in the film. Later, Cohn signed Cromwell to a multi-year contract based on the strength of his performance and success in his first venture at the box-office. Amidst the flurry of publicity during this period, Cromwell toured the country, even meeting President Herbert Hoover in Washington, D.C.

Cromwell by then had maintained a deep friendship with Marie Dressler, which continued until her death from cancer in 1934. Dressler was nominated for a second Best Actress award for her 1932 portrayal of the title role in Emma. With that film, Dressler demonstrated her profound generosity to other performers: Dressler personally insisted that her studio bosses cast Cromwell on a loan-out in the lead opposite her--it was another break that helped firm up his rising status in Tinseltown. Emma also starred Myrna Loy in one of her earliest screen performances. After production on Emma was completed, Director Clarence Brown tested Cromwell for the male lead in his next feature: The Son-Daughter, which was set to star Helen Hayes. However, the part of the oriental prince ultimately went to Ramon Novarro, and Cromwell never again worked at MGM.

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Actors - Richard Cromwell

Early life

Overnight stardom & early film career

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