Tyrone Power

Tyrone Edmund Power III was born on May 5, 1914, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Helen Emma "Patia" Power and the English-born stage and screen actor Tyrone Power Sr. His family carried a long Irish theatrical heritage tracing back to his great-grandfather, the Irish actor and comedian Tyrone Power (1797–1841). Through his paternal great-grandmother Anne Gilbert, Power was related to actor Laurence Olivier; through his paternal grandmother, stage actress Ethel Lavenu, he was connected by marriage to author Evelyn Waugh; and through his father's first cousin Norah Emily Gorman Power, he was related to theatrical director Sir Tyrone Guthrie, who founded both the Stratford Festival in Canada and the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Power's mother was Roman Catholic, with ancestry that included the French-Canadian Reaume family and French roots from Alsace-Lorraine. His sister Ann was born in 1915 after the family relocated to California.

Power attended Catholic schools in the Cincinnati area and graduated from Purcell High School in 1931, at which point he joined his father to study acting. The two had been separated for some years following his parents' divorce. His father suffered a fatal heart attack in December of that year while preparing to perform in The Miracle Man, dying in his son's arms. Power resolved to continue pursuing an acting career despite the loss. His father's professional contacts offered admiration for the elder Power but no employment for the son. He appeared in a small role in the 1932 film Tom Brown of Culver and worked as an extra in Flirtation Walk, but neither opportunity advanced his career. On the advice of a friend, Arthur Caesar, he traveled to New York to build experience on the stage.

His Broadway career spanned from 1935 to 1958. Among his early stage credits were Saint Joan, Romeo and Juliet, and Back to Methuselah. He later starred in The Dark Is Light Enough and John Brown's Body, and received significant recognition for his stage work in the latter production as well as in Mister Roberts. In the 1950s, Power deliberately reduced his film commitments in order to spend more time in the theater.

Power transitioned to Hollywood in 1936 when director Henry King, impressed by his presence and bearing, pushed for him to be tested for the lead in Lloyd's of London, a role that had been expected to go to Don Ameche. After King and Fox film editor Barbara McLean persuaded Darryl F. Zanuck of Power's superior screen presence, Power was cast in the film. Though billed fourth, he carried the majority of the screen time, and the film's premiere transformed him from an unknown into a star. Between 1936 and 1943, he accumulated a string of successful films across multiple genres. His work included romantic comedies such as Thin Ice and Day-Time Wife; dramas including Suez, The Rains Came, Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake, and In Old Chicago; musicals such as Alexander's Ragtime Band and Rose of Washington Square; westerns including Jesse James and Brigham Young; war films A Yank in the R.A.F. and This Above All; and swashbucklers The Mark of Zorro and The Black Swan. Jesse James, shot partly on location in Pineville, Missouri, was his first location shoot and his first film in Technicolor. He was loaned to MGM once, for Marie Antoinette in 1938, a decision that angered Zanuck, who felt Fox's biggest star had been used in what amounted to a supporting role despite the billing. Power ranked as the second-largest box-office draw of 1939, behind only Mickey Rooney.

The 1940 film The Mark of Zorro marked a significant shift in the direction of his career. Playing Don Diego Vega by day and the bandit hero Zorro by night, Power demonstrated genuine swordsmanship that drew praise from his co-star Basil Rathbone, who called Power the most agile man with a sword he had ever faced before a camera. The film's success led 20th Century-Fox to cast Power in further swashbuckler productions. Among his better-known films overall were Jesse James, Marie Antoinette, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan, Prince of Foxes, The Black Rose, Captain from Castile, and Witness for the Prosecution. Of all the films in which he appeared, Power himself named Nightmare Alley as his personal favorite.

In August 1942, Power enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He completed boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego and attended Officer's Candidate School at Marine Corps Base Quantico, where he was commissioned a second lieutenant on June 2, 1943. Having already logged 180 solo flight hours before enlisting, he completed an accelerated flight training program at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, earning his wings and a promotion to first lieutenant. The Marine Corps considered him beyond the age limit for active combat flying, so he volunteered to pilot cargo aircraft in order to reach active combat zones. In July 1944, he was assigned to Marine Transport Squadron VMR-352 as a co-pilot of R5C transport aircraft at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. The squadron relocated to Marine Corps Air Station El Centro in California in December 1944, and Power was subsequently reassigned to VMR-353, joining them on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands in February 1945. He flew missions carrying cargo into and wounded Marines out of the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. For his service in the Pacific, he received the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronze stars, and the World War II Victory Medal. He returned to the United States in November 1945 and was released from active duty in January 1946. He was promoted to captain in the reserves on May 8, 1951, and reached the rank of major in 1957.

Before his military service interrupted his film career, Power had been sent back by 20th Century-Fox to complete Crash Dive, a 1943 patriotic war film in which he was credited as Tyrone Power, U.S.M.C.R. Following his return from the war, he resumed his film career while also maintaining his commitment to the stage, appearing on Broadway in productions including The Dark Is Light Enough and John Brown's Body. Power died of a heart attack on November 15, 1958, in Madrid, Spain, at the age of 44, while filming a production he did not live to complete.