Ronald Colman

Ronald Charles Colman was born on 9 February 1891 at 156 Sandycombe Road in Richmond, Surrey, England, the third surviving son and fifth child of Charles Colman, a silk merchant and mantle manufacturer, and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. His surviving siblings were Gladys, Edith, Eric, and Freda. In subsequent years the family relocated to Ealing, living first at 27 Inglis Road, then at 44 Inglis Road, and by 1911 at 27 Denbigh Road. Colman was a cousin of the Labour politician Grace Colman. He attended Hadleigh House School in Littlehampton and later Rolandseck School in Ealing, where the headmaster was the German-born Ernst Felix Marx. His intention to study engineering at Cambridge was abandoned after his father died suddenly of pneumonia in 1907, making the expense impossible.

While employed as a clerk with Watts, Watts & Co., Ltd., managers of the Britain Steamship Company in the City of London, Colman joined the London Scottish Regiment in 1909 for a four-year term. When the First World War began, he rejoined the regiment the day after leaving his job. Serving as Private No. 2148 with the 1/14th Battalion of the London Regiment, he embarked at Southampton on 15 September 1914 aboard the SS Winifred, arriving at Le Havre the following day. Six weeks later the battalion was sent to Ypres, where on 30 October 1914 Colman was reportedly buried alive by a shell explosion but was dug out unharmed. The following day, during the Battle of Messines near Wytschaete, he sustained a serious fracture to his right ankle. Medical records noted considerable thickening of the joint, persistent tenderness, and pain and lameness after walking any distance — an injury he worked to conceal throughout his acting career. He was treated at a field ambulance, transferred to England, and admitted to St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London from 6 to 11 November. After recovery he was assigned to the 3/14 Battalion in Perth for light clerical duty, and on 6 May 1915 was discharged as no longer physically fit for war service. His military character was recorded as "Very good. Honest, sober and trustworthy." He received a pension along with the Victory Medal, the British War Medal, the 1914 Star with clasps and roses, and the Silver War Badge. In 1928 he was made an honorary life member of the London Scottish.

Colman's performing life began around the same time he first enlisted. Between 1909 and 1914 he appeared with various concert parties and amateur dramatic groups in Ealing, starting with banjo solos at benefit concerts. He joined the short-lived Pierrot troupes The Tangerines and The Summer 'Uns, and in 1912 on the Isle of Wight formed The Mad Medicos, which he directed. Part of that troupe became The Popinjays, also under his direction until George Denby took over. His repertoire included songs, musical monologues, recitations of poems such as The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God, and character sketches drawn from Dickens — among them Uriah Heep, John Brodie, and Martin Chuzzlewit. He also wrote and staged three pieces of his own: the duologues "My Pierrot" and "A Knotty Problem," and the miniature revue "Come Inside." His amateur stage debut came on 11 November 1909 at Victoria Hall, Ealing, playing Freddy Fitzfoodle in Rich Miss Rustle. Subsequent amateur appearances included the comic opera The Rose of Persia with the Baltic Amateur Dramatic and Operatic Society at the Royal Court Theatre in April 1910, the role of Bill Bobstay in H.M.S. Pinafore with the West Middlesex Operatic Society later that year, and six productions with the Bancroft Dramatic Club between 1911 and 1914, including The Admirable Crichton, Fanny's First Play, and The Passing of the Third Floor Back.

His professional stage career in Britain resumed after his discharge. On 19 June 1916 he appeared at the London Coliseum as Rahmat Sheikh in The Maharani of Arakan with Lena Ashwell. That September he played Stephen Weatherbee in The Misleading Lady at the Playhouse, and in March 1917 appeared as Webber in Partnership at the Court Theatre, where the following year he also appeared in Eugène Brieux's Damaged Goods. In February 1918 he played George Lubin in The Little Brother at the Ambassadors Theatre, and that same year toured the UK in The Bubble and The Live Wire.

Colman subsequently emigrated to the United States, where his Broadway career spanned 1921 to 1922. During that period he appeared in three productions: The Green Goddess, The Nightcap, and La Tendresse. From Broadway he moved into Hollywood, where he built a highly successful film career in both silent pictures and sound films. His transition to sound was aided by his distinctive voice, and he was among the most popular film actors of the 1930s and 1940s. He received Academy Award nominations for Bulldog Drummond and Condemned, both released in 1929, and for Random Harvest in 1942. His notable film credits include A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Lost Horizon (1937), The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), and the Technicolor production Kismet (1944), in which he starred opposite Marlene Dietrich. In 1947 he won both the Academy Award for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Double Life. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in motion pictures and a second star for his television work.

Colman died on 19 May 1958.