Garfield, John [né Jules Garfinkel] (1913–52), actor. The handsome if pug‐faced performer was born in New York, where he was an amateur boxer and then later studied at the Heckscher Foundation and Maria Ouspenskaya drama schools. He made his debut in 1930 playing small parts with the Civic Repertory Theatre but called attention to himself only after he joined the Group Theatre. Among his notable roles there was the ambitious but embittered son Ralph Berger in Awake and Sing! (1935). After failing to win the title role in Golden Boy (1937), Garfield left the company, then showed a gift for comedy as the amorous law student Chick Kessler in Having Wonderful Time (1937). After playing the legendary hobo Overland Kid in Heavenly Express (1940), he spent several years in films before returning to portray the Dutch sea captain Joris Kuiper in Skipper Next to God (1948) and Hollywood star Charlie Castle in The Big Knife (1949). In 1951 he essayed Peer Gynt and the following year gave his last performance, somewhat ironically, as prizefighter Joe Bonaparte, the title role in a revival of Golden Boy. Garfield was a likable, realistic actor, best in parts requiring a streak of toughness. Biography: Body and Soul: The Story of John Garfield, Larry Swindell, 1975.
John Garfield
| American Theater Guide: John Garfield |
| Actor: John Garfield |
- Born: Mar 04, 1913 in New York City, New York
- Died: May 21, 1952
- Occupation: Actor
- Active: '30s-'50s
- Major Genres: Drama
- Career Highlights: Force of Evil, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Gentleman's Agreement
- First Major Screen Credit: Juarez (1939)
Biography
American actor John Garfield, when judged by looks and attitude alone, seemed more the pugnacious, defiant urban thug than one of Hollywood's most respected dramatic actors of the '30s and '40s. As evidence of his popularity, despite the fact that many insiders considered Garfield's personal ways and beliefs a bit radical, the attendance at his funeral in 1952 broke the records set at Rudolph Valentino's funeral.He was born Julius Garfinkle, the son of poor Jewish immigrants from New York's Lower-East-Side ghettos. Poverty was the norm there, and life was tough. Young Garfield's juvenile delinquent tendencies landed him in a special school for problem children. Still, it was almost inevitable that he would get involved with neighborhood street gangs. He may have remained on those streets struggling to survive, had Garfield not had a special gift for debate, a talent that won him a state-wide contest sponsored by the New York Times. The ensuing scholarship gained him entrance into the Ouspenskaya Drama School and an apprenticeship in repertory theater. Afterward, Garfield hit the road and became a freight-train-hopping hobo and transient worker, but by the late 1930s he returned home to join the Group Theater.
Following a role in Odet's production of Golden Boy, Garfield landed a contract with Warners and made his film debut in the melodramatic tragedy Four Daughters (1938). He played a cynical, embittered piano prodigy who finds redemption through a young woman's love, and for her well-being he makes the ultimate sacrifice. It was a powerful multi-textured performance that led to his receiving a nomination for "Best Supporting Actor." Following that success, he appeared in a brief series based on the film and then continued playing assorted angry young men and ill-fated outsiders in such films as Dust Be My Destiny. Though his appearance and demeanor locked him into playing tough outsiders and anti-heroes, Garfield was a versatile actor who unsuccessfully fought with studio heads to play different kinds of roles to demonstrate his true range. Glimpses of it can be seen in such powerful films as Pride of the Marines (1945) in which he plays a real-life war hero who must cope with his battle-caused blindness back home.
Beginning with MGM's classic The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), Garfield began to establish himself in film noir. He is still considered one of the best actors in that genre, with one of his best films being Force of Evil in which he played a corrupt attorney. Following the end of his Warner's contract, Garfield founded Enterprise Productions and began free-lancing. His distinctly leftist views and staunch support of the working class lead to his being labeled a communist sympathizer by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. He did not cooperate at the official hearings and suddenly found it difficult to find work. Though he returned briefly to the theater, Garfield did not flourish. At the age of 39, he died of coronary thrombosis, a condition that some have attributed to the stress the Committee placed upon him. His two surviving children, Julie Garfield and David Patton Garfield (aka John David Garfield or John Garfield Jr.), both became actors during the 1960s. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
| Filmography: John Garfield |
| Wikipedia: John Garfield |
| John Garfield | |
|---|---|
 from the trailer for the film Gentleman's Agreement (1947) |
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| Born | Jacob Julius Garfinkle March 4, 1913 New York City, New York |
| Died | May 21, 1952 (aged 39) New York City, New York |
| Spouse(s) | Roberta Seidman (1935-1952) |
John Garfield (March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor. Garfield was especially adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles. Garfield is acknowledged as the predecessor of such Method actors as Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Montgomery Clift.
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Youth
Born Jacob Julius Garfinkle in New York City, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants David and Hannah Garfinkle, Garfield spent the first seven years of his life in Sea Gate, Brooklyn. After the death of his mother, Garfield was sent to a school for difficult children in the Bronx. It was under the guidance of the school's principal—the noted educator Angelo Patri—that he was introduced to both boxing and acting.[1] He had also contracted a childhood illness, severely damaging his heart and limiting his ability to engage in strenuous athletics. He received a scholarship to Maria Ouspenskaya's acting school, making his Broadway debut in 1932.
Career
He became a member of the Group Theater. The Group's play Golden Boy was written for him by Clifford Odets, but ultimately he was cast in a supporting role rather than the lead.[2] Garfield decided to leave Broadway and try his luck in Hollywood. In 1938, he received wide critical acclaim and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Four Daughters.
At the onset of World War II, Garfield immediately attempted to enlist in the armed forces, but was turned down because of his heart condition.[3] Frustrated, he turned his energies to supporting the war effort. He and actress Bette Davis were the driving forces behind the opening of the Hollywood Canteen, a club offering food and entertainment for American servicemen. He later traveled to Yugoslavia to help entertain for the war effort.
Garfield graduated to leading roles in films such as The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) with Lana Turner, Humoresque (1946) with Joan Crawford, and the Oscar-winning Best Picture Gentleman's Agreement (1947). (In the latter film, Garfield took a featured, but supporting part because he believed deeply in the project.) In 1948, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his starring role in Body and Soul (1947). That same year, Garfield returned to Broadway in the play Skipper Next to God. A strong-willed and often verbally combative individual, Garfield did not hesitate to venture out on his own when the opportunity arose. In 1946, when his contract with Warner Bros. expired, Garfield decided not to renew his studio contract and opted to start his own independent production company, one of the first Hollywood stars to take this step.
Long involved in liberal politics, Garfield was caught up in the Communist scare of the late 1940s and early 1950s. He supported the Committee for the First Amendment, which opposed governmental investigation of political beliefs. When called to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, which was empowered to investigate purported communist infiltration in America, Garfield refused to name communist party members or followers, testifying that, indeed, he knew none in the film industry. Garfield rejected Communism, and just prior to his death, in hopes of redeeming himself in the eyes of the blacklisters, wrote that he had been duped by Communist ideology, in an unpublished article "I Was a Sucker for a Left Hook", a reference to Garfield's movies about boxing.[4] However, his forced testimony before the committee had severely damaged his reputation. He was blacklisted in Red Channels, and barred from future employment as an actor by Hollywood movie studio bosses for the remainder of his career.[5]
With film work scarce because of the blacklist, Garfield returned to Broadway and starred in a 1952 revival of Golden Boy, finally being cast in the lead role denied him years before.
Personal life
He and Roberta Seidman married in February 1935. Though his wife had been a member of the Communist Party,[6] there was no evidence that Garfield himself was ever a Communist. They had three children: Katherine (1938-1945), who died of an allergic reaction, David (1943-1994), and Julie (born 1946), the latter two later becoming actors themselves.[3]
Death
Long-term heart problems, allegedly aggravated by the stress of his blacklisting,[7] led to his early death at the age of 39 on May 21, 1952. Garfield is interred at Westchester Hills Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson, Westchester County, New York.
In 1954, the widowed Roberta Garfield married attorney Sidney Cohn, who died in 1991. She died in January 2004.[8]
Legacy and Honors
- 1948 - nominated for Academy Award for Best Actor for Body and Soul
- 1939 - nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Four Daughters
- Garfield was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7065 Hollywood Boulevard.
- Doc Sportello, the protagonist in Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice, is an avid Garfield fan and discusses his film appearances throughout the book.
- The John Prine song "The Late John Garfield Blues" is inspired by Garfield.
Filmography
Features
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Short Subjects
- Swingtime in the Movies (1938)
- Meet the Stars #1: Chinese Garden Festival (1940)
- Show Business at War (1943)
- Screen Snapshots: The Skolsky Party (1946)
- Screen Snapshots: Out of This World Series (1947)
References
- ^ Jim Beaver. John Garfield: His Life and Films Cranbury NJ, A.S. Barnes & Co., 1978 ISBN 0-49801-890-3
- ^ Nott, Robert He Ran All the Way: The Life of John Garfield, New York, Limelight Editions, 2003 ISBN 0-87910-985-8
- ^ a b Nott, Robert He Ran All the Way: The Life of John Garfield, New York, Limelight Editions, 2003 ISBN 0-87910-985-8
- ^ http://cla.calpoly.edu/cla/legacies/rsimon/massculture.html
- ^ Jim Beaver. John Garfield: His Life and Films Cranbury NJ, A.S. Barnes & Co., 1978 ISBN 0-49801-890-3
- ^ John Garfield
- ^ W. Pechter, "Abraham Polonsky and 'Force of Evil'", Film Quarterly, vol. 15, nr. 3 - Spring 1962, p. 53 : Pechter interviewing Polonsky: "It has been suggested that John Garfield’s political difficulties and debarment from Hollywood work was a considerable influence in accelerating his early death. Do you have any opinion on this? Yes. He defended his streetboy’s honor and they killed him for it."
- ^ New York Times Death Notice, Roberta Garfield Cohn, Jan. 23, 2004
Further reading
- Jim Beaver. John Garfield: His Life and Films Cranbury NJ, A.S. Barnes & Co., 1978 ISBN 0-49801-890-3
- Nott, Robert. He Ran All the Way: The Life of John Garfield. New York, Limelight Editions, 2003 ISBN 0-87910-985-8
- Morris, George. John Garfield. New York, Jove Publications, 1977 ISBN 0-15-646250-8
External links
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 | American Theater Guide. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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- Humoresque (Classical Album)
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- Dust Be My Destiny (1939 Drama Film)
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