Gilbert Roland

Gilbert Roland
from the trailer for The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
Born	Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso December 11, 1905(1905-12-11) Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico
Died	May 15, 1994 (aged 88) Beverly Hills, California, United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1923–1982
Spouse(s)	Constance Bennett (1941-1945) Guillermina Cantu (1954-1994)

Gilbert Roland (December 11, 1905 – May 15, 1994) was a Mexican-born American film actor.

He was born Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico and originally intended to become a bullfighter like his father. When the family moved to the United States, however, he became interested in acting when he was picked at random for a role as an extra. He chose his screen name by combining the names of his favorite actors, John Gilbert and Ruth Roland. He was often cast in the typical "Latin Lover" role.

Roland's first major role was as one of Clara Bow's love interests in the collegiate comedy The Plastic Age (1925). In 1927, he played Armand in Camille opposite Norma Talmadge, with whom he was romantically linked. He starred opposite Talmadge in several films, until sound ended her career. Roland's strong masculine voice assured that his own career continued. He starred in several Spanish language adaptations of American films and continued as a romantic lead.

Beginning in the 1940s, critics began to take notice of his acting and he was praised for his supporting roles in John Huston's We Were Strangers (1949), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), Thunder Bay (1953), and Cheyenne Autumn (1964). He also appeared in a series of films in the mid 1940s as the popular character "The Cisco Kid". He played Hugo, the agnostic (and totally fictional) friend of the three shepherd children in The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima, based on the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917. In 1953 he starred in the epic Beneath the 12-Mile Reef as Greek-American sponge diver Mike Petrakis. His last film appearance was in the 1982 Western Barbarosa.

Personal life

Roland was married to actress Constance Bennett from 1941 to 1946. His second marriage, to Guillermina Cantú in 1954, lasted until his death forty years later.

Death

Gilbert Roland died of cancer in Beverly Hills, California in 1994, aged 88. His remains were cremated and his ashes scattered at sea.

Award nominations

Roland was nominated twice for a Golden Globe Award - for his roles in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964). For his contributions to the motion picture industry, Gilbert Roland has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6730 Hollywood Blvd.

Filmography

Features:

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
• The Lost World (1925)
• The Lady Who Lied (1925)
• The Midshipman (1925)
• The Lawful Cheater (1925)
• The Plastic Age (1925)
• The Campus Flirt (1926)
• The Blonde Saint (1926)
• Camille (1926)
• Rose of the Golden West (1927)
• The Love Mart (1927)
• The Dove (1927)
• The Woman Disputed (1928)
• La Possession (1929)
• New York Nights (1929)
• Méphisto (1930)
• Men of the North (1930) (Spanish and French version also filmed)
• Resurrección (1931) (Spanish version of Resurrection)
• The Passionate Plumber (1932)
• Hombres de mi vida (1932) (Spanish version of Men in Her Life)
• The Woman in Room 13 (1932)
• Life Begins (1932)
• No Living Witness (1932)
• A Parisian Romance (1932)
• Call Her Savage (1932)
• She Done Him Wrong (1933)
• Our Betters (1933)
• The Romantic Widow (1933)
• Gigolettes of Paris (1933)
• Tarnished Youth (1933) (UK version of Gigolettes of Paris)
• After Tonight (1933)
• Una Viuda Romantica (1933)
• Yo, tú y ella (1933)
• Elinor Norton (1934)
• Mystery Woman (1935)
• Juliet Buys a Baby (1935)
• Ladies Love Danger (1935)
• La Vida Bohemia (1937)
• Midnight Taxi (1937)
• The Last Train from Madrid (1937)
• Thunder Trail (1937)
• Gateway (1938)
• Juarez (1939)
• Isle of Destiny (1940)
• Gambling on the High Seas (1940)
• The Sea Hawk (1940)
• Rangers of Fortune (1940)
• Angels with Broken Wings (1941)
• My Life with Caroline (1941)
• Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen (1942)
• Isle of Missing Men (1942)
• The Desert Hawk (1944)
• Captain Kidd (1945)
• The Gay Cavalier (1946)
• South of Monterey (1946)
• Beauty and the Bandit (1946)
• Riding the California Trail (1947)
• The Other Love (1947)
• High Conquest (1947)
• Robin Hood of Monterey (1947)
• King of the Bandits (1947)
• Pirates of Monterey (1947)
• The Dude Goes West (1948)
• The Rebellion of the Ghosts (1949)
• We Were Strangers (1949)
• Malaya (1949)
• The Torch (1950)
• Crisis (1950)
• The Furies (1950)
• The Bullfighter and the Lady (1951)
• Mark of the Renegade (1951)
• Ten Tall Men (1951)
• My Six Convicts (1952)
• Glory Alley (1952)
• The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952)
• Apache War Smoke (1952)
• The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
• Thunder Bay (1953)
• The Diamond Queen (1953)
• Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953)
• The French Line (1954)
• The Racers (1955)
• Underwater! (1955)
• That Lady (1955)
• The Treasure of Pancho Villa (1955)
• Bandido (1956)
• Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
• Three Violent People (1957)
• The Midnight Story (1957)
• The Last of the Fast Guns (1958)
• Catch Me If You Can (1959) (unreleased)
• The Wild and the Innocent (1959)
• The Big Circus (1959)
• Guns of the Timberland (1960)
• Samar (1962)
• Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
• The Reward (1965)
• The Poppy Is Also a Flower (1966)
• Any Gun Can Play (1967)
• The Ruthless Four (1968)
• God Was in the West, Too, at One Time (1968)
• Johnny Hamlet (1968)
• Sonora (1969)
• The Christian Licorice Store (1971)
• Running Wild (1973)
• Treasure of Tayopa (1974)
• The Pacific Connection (1974)
• Islands in the Stream (1977)
• The Black Pearl (1977)
• Caboblanco (1980)
• Barbarosa (1982)

Short Subjects:

• La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (1935)
• Screen Snapshots Series 15, No. 8 (1936)
• Picture People No. 2: Hollywood Sports (1941)
• Wings Up (1943)

References

• Monush, Barry. The Encyclopedia of Film Actors From The Silent Era to 1965. New York: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 2003.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gilbert Roland

• Gilbert Roland at the Internet Movie Database
• Original letter from Greta Garbo to Gilbert Roland (1943)
• Photographs and literature

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