WALTER PIDGEON

Walter Pidgeon was an actor from the late 1920s silents and early talkies, moving on to great character roles in 1950s movies such as Forbidden Planet through the 1970s with television roles. He was born in 1897, and started making silent movies and appearing on the stage in the mid 1920s, but he had limited success. He had a wonderful speaking voice, but that did not lead to stardom in early sound movies. Finally, in 1937, at the age of 40, MGM put him under contract, but still limited him to supporting roles. His "big break" finally came in 1941 with How Green Was My Valley, and he became one of MGM's top stars of the early 1940s (no doubt helped by so many other male stars being away at war). He stayed with MGM for the remainder of his career. Some of his movies include: Forbidden Planet, Madame Curie (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film), Mrs. Miniver (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film), Advise and Consent, The Bad and the Beautiful, Man Hunt, Command Decision, and Funny Girl! He passed away in 1984 at the age of 87.