Hugh Marlowe

Hugh Marlowe, born Hugh Herbert Hipple on January 30, 1911, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was an American actor whose career spanned film, television, stage, and radio. He died on May 2, 1982, from a heart attack at age 71 and was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum in Hartsdale, Westchester County, New York. Of primarily English ancestry, his family had been present in the northeastern United States since the early colonial period. Among his ancestors were passengers on the Mayflower, including Myles Standish, through whose son Alexander Standish Marlowe traced his descent. He was also descended from Isaac Allerton, Isaac Allerton Jr., and the Revolutionary War figure Ichabod Alden, through whom he connected to John Alden. On his mother's side, he descended from John Endecott.

Marlowe began his stage career in the 1930s at the Pasadena Playhouse in California, performing initially under his birth name and then as John Marlowe before settling on Hugh Marlowe as his professional name. His Broadway debut came in 1936 with Arrest That Woman, launching a stage career that continued through 1968. His Broadway credits include Margin for Error, Kiss the Boys Goodbye, Young Couple Wanted, Woman Is My Idea, The Land Is Bright, Lady in the Dark, Laura, and Duet for Two Hands, among other productions.

In addition to his stage work, Marlowe was active in radio during 1939 and 1940, taking on two network roles. He played Jim Curtis in the soap opera Brenda Curtis and portrayed the title character in the first radio version of The Adventures of Ellery Queen.

His film career began with Brilliant Marriage in 1936, and he worked regularly for 20th Century Fox for a period, appearing in Twelve O'Clock High (1949), All About Eve (1950), Night and the City (1950), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Rawhide (1951), and Howard Hawks' Monkey Business (1952). Earlier credits include Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), and later films include Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), Elmer Gantry (1960), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), and Seven Days in May (1964). He typically appeared in secondary lead or supporting roles throughout his film work.

On television, Marlowe accumulated a substantial body of guest appearances. He played the Reverend William Hyde in the 1956 Crossroads episode "Dig or Die, Brother Hyde" and the Reverend Jacob Stucki in the 1957 episode "Jhonakehunkga Called Jim." He guest-starred in the 1961 Andy Griffith Show episode "Mayberry on Record" and appeared as Sam Garner in the 1962 Rawhide episode "The Pitchwagon." He made six guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the roles of district attorney Brander Harris in "The Case of the Fraudulent Foto" (1959), murder victim Commander James Page in "The Case of the Slandered Submarine" (1960), murder victim Ernest Stone in "The Case of the Nebulous Nephew" (1963), a doctor Lambert in "The Case of the Sleepy Slayer" (1963), and murderer Guy Munford in "The Case of the Hasty Honeymooner" (1965). In 1964, he appeared as Clay Billings in The Virginian episode "The Intruders," and in 1965 he played newspaper reporter Donald Burton in the Hazel episode "Hazel's Day in Court." He appeared as TV documentarian Bainbridge Wells in a 1966 episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. In his later years, Marlowe joined the NBC daytime drama Another World as Jim Matthews, the Matthews family patriarch, a role he held from 1969 until his death in 1982, making him the last of four actors to portray the character.

Marlowe was married three times, each time to an actress. His first marriage, to Edith Atwater, lasted from 1941 to 1946. He was then married to K.T. Stevens from 1946 to 1968, and the two had two sons, Jeffrey and Christian. His third marriage, to Rosemary Torri, began in 1968 and continued until his death; they had one son, Hugh Michael II.