Richard Arlen

 
Actor:

Richard Arlen

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  • Born: Sep 01, 1900 in Charlottesville, Virginia
  • Died: Mar 28, 1976 in North Hollywood, California
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '20s-'60s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Western
  • Career Highlights: Thunderbolt, When My Baby Smiles at Me, Dangerous Curves
  • First Major Screen Credit: Wings (1927)

Biography

American actor Richard Arlen was working as a messenger boy at Paramount studios in the early 1920s when he was injured in a slight accident; the story goes that Arlen went to the studio heads to thank them for their prompt medical care, whereupon the executives, impressed by Arlen's good looks, hired him as an actor. Whether the story is true or not, it is a fact that Arlen soon became one of Paramount's most popular leading men, earning a measure of screen immortality by costarring with Buddy Rogers and Clara Bow in the first-ever Oscar winning picture, Wings (1927). Arlen was memorably cast as a World War I flying ace, a part in which he felt uniquely at home because he'd been a member of the Royal Canadian Flying Corps during the "real" war (though he never saw any combat!) The actor retained his popularity throughout the 1930s, and when roles became harder to come by in the 1940s, he wisely invested his savings in numerous successful businesses. Keeping in character, Arlen was also part-owner of a civilian flying service, and worked as an air safety expert for the government during World War II. Still acting in TV and commercials into the 1960s, Richard Arlen was reunited with his Wings costar Buddy Rogers in an amusing episode of the TV sitcom Petticoat Junction. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Wikipedia: Richard Arlen
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Richard Arlen (September 1, 1898 – March 28, 1976) was an American actor.

Born Cornelius Richard Van Mattimore in Charlottesville, Virginia, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War I. At war's end, he went to Los Angeles where he found work as an unskilled laborer. By a stroke of pure luck, he was given an opportunity to act, appearing at first in silent films before making the transition to talkies.

Arlen is best known for his role as a pilot in the 1927 Academy Award-winning Wings with Clara Bow, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, and his future first-wife Jobyna Ralston.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Richard Arlen has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6753 Hollywood Blvd.

On his death from emphysema in 1976, Richard Arlen was buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Amongst his more than 140 films are:

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Copyrights:

Actor. Copyright © 2006 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Richard Arlen".  Read more

 

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