American actor, singer, dancer (1889?1966)
Clifton Webb
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Webb in 1923
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Born
| Webb Parmelee Hollenbeck
(
1889-11-19
)
November 19, 1889
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Died
| October 13, 1966
(1966-10-13)
(aged 76)
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Resting place
| Hollywood Forever Cemetery
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Occupations
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Years active
| 1913?1962
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Webb Parmelee Hollenbeck
(November 19, 1889
[1]
? October 13, 1966), known professionally as
Clifton Webb
, was an American actor, singer, and dancer. He worked extensively and was known for his stage appearances in the plays of
Noel Coward
, including
Blithe Spirit
, as well as appearances on
Broadway
in a number of successful musical revues. As a film actor, he was nominated for three
Academy Awards
-
Best Supporting Actor
for
Laura
(1944) and
The Razor's Edge
(1946), and
Best Actor in a Leading Role
for
Sitting Pretty
(1948).
Early life
[
edit
]
Webb was born Webb Parmelee Hollenbeck in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was the only child of Jacob Grant Hollenbeck (1867 ? May 2, 1939), the ticket-clerk son of a grocer from an Indiana farming family, and his wife, the former Mabel A. Parmelee (Parmalee or Parmallee; March 24, 1869 ? October 17, 1960), the daughter of David Parmelee, a railroad conductor. The couple married in
Kankakee, Illinois
, on January 18, 1888, and separated in 1891, shortly after their son's birth.
[2]
According to Marion County, Indiana, records, the marriage took place in Indianapolis.
In 1892, Webb's mother, now styling herself "Mabelle", moved to New York City with her beloved "little Webb", as she called him for the remainder of her life. She dismissed questions about her husband, Jacob, who like her father, worked for the
Indianapolis
-
St. Louis
Railroad, by saying, "We never speak of him. He didn't care for the theatre." The couple apparently divorced, since, by 1900, Mabelle was married to Green B. Raum, Jr. New York City's 1900 U.S. census indicates Mabelle and her son were using the surname Raum and living on West 77th Street with Green Berry Raum, Jr., a copper-foundry worker, who gave his position in the household as Mabel's husband.
[3]
Raum was the son of General
Green Berry Raum
, former U.S. Commissioner of Internal Revenue and former U.S. Commissioner of Pensions. Webb's father, Jacob, married his second wife, Ethel Brown, and he died in 1939.
[4]
Career
[
edit
]
Broadway
[
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]
In 1909, using his new stage name, 19-year-old Clifton Webb had become a professional ballroom dancer, often partnering with "exceedingly decorative" star dancer Bonnie Glass (she would eventually replace him with
Rudolph Valentino
); they would perform in about two dozen operettas. His debut on
Broadway
began when
The Purple Road
opened at the
Liberty Theatre
on April 7, 1913; he played the role of Bosco for the 136 performances before closing in August. His mother (billed as Mabel Parmalee) was listed in the program as a member of the opening-night cast. His next musical was an
Al Jolson
vehicle,
Sigmund Romberg
's
Dancing Around
, which opened at the
Winter Garden Theatre
on October 10, 1914, ran for 145 performances, and closed in the following February. Later in 1915, Webb was cast in the all-star revue
Ned Wayburn
's
Town Topics
, which boasted 117 famous performers, including
Will Rogers
, as listed in the
Century Theatre
opening-night program for September 23, 1915. It closed 68 performances later on November 20, 1915. In 1916, he had another short run with
Cole Porter
's
comic opera
See America First
, which opened at the
Maxine Elliott Theatre
on March 28, 1916, and closed after 15 performances on April 8, 1916.
The year 1917 proved to be better, with a 233-performance run of
Jerome Kern
's
Love O' Mike
, opening on January 15 at the
Shubert Theatre
. After moving to
Maxine Elliott's Theatre
, and then the
Casino Theatre
, it closed on September 29, 1917. Webb also appeared that year with other Broadway stars in the
National Red Cross Pageant
a 50-minute film of a stage production held to benefit the
American Red Cross
. Webb's final show of the 1910s, the musical
Listen Lester
, had the longest run, 272 performances. It opened at the
Knickerbocker Theatre
on December 23, 1918, and closed in August 1919.
In the 1920s, Webb played in eight Broadway shows and made numerous other stage appearances, including
vaudeville
, and a handful of
silent films
. The revue
As You Were
, with additional songs by
Cole Porter
, opened at the Central Theatre on January 29, 1920, running 143 performances until May 29, 1920. Webb was busy with films, tours, and an appearance at the
London Pavilion
in 1921 as Mr. St. Louis in
Fun of the Fayre
and in 1922 in
Phi-Phi
? he did not return to Broadway until 1923. He then played in the musical
Jack and Jill
at the
Globe Theatre
for 92 performances between March 22 and June 9 of 1923, followed by Lynn Starling's comic play
Meet the Wife
, which opened on November 26, 1923, and ran through the summer of 1924. One of the play's leads was 24-year-old
Humphrey Bogart
.
In 1925, Webb appeared on stage in a dance act with vaudeville star and silent film actress
Mary Hay
. Later that year, when her husband,
Richard Barthelmess
and she decided to produce and star the film
New Toys
, they chose Webb to be second lead. The film proved to be financially successful, but 19 more years would pass before Webb appeared in another feature film.
Webb's mainstay was clearly
Broadway theatre
. Between 1913 and 1947, the tall, slender performer with the clear, gentle tenor appeared in 23 Broadway shows, starting with major supporting roles and quickly progressing to leads. He introduced
George
and
Ira Gershwin
's "
I've Got a Crush on You
" in
Treasure Girl
in 1928;
Arthur Schwartz
and
Howard Dietz
's "
I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan
" in
The Little Show
in 1929; "Louisiana Hayride" in
Flying Colors
in 1932; and
Irving Berlin
's “
Easter Parade
" in the very successful revue
As Thousands Cheer
. His steamy duet with
Libby Holman
of “
Moanin' Low
” stunned the crowd nightly.
[5]
in 1933. One of his stage sketches, performed with co-star
Fred Allen
, was filmed by
Vitaphone
as a short subject entitled
The Still Alarm
in 1930. Allen's experiences while working with Webb in the film appear in Allen's memoirs.
Most of Webb's Broadway shows were musicals, but he also starred in
Oscar Wilde
's
The Importance of Being Earnest
, and his longtime friend
Noel Coward
's plays
Blithe Spirit
and
Present Laughter
.
Laura
– established as character actor
[
edit
]
Webb was in his mid-fifties when actor/director
Otto Preminger
chose him over the objections of
20th Century Fox
chief
Darryl F. Zanuck
to play the elegant but evil radio columnist Waldo Lydecker, who is obsessed with
Gene Tierney
's character in the 1944
film noir
Laura
. Zanuck reportedly found Webb too effeminate as a person and an actor; he wanted
Laird Cregar
to play the role; but Cregar by then was well established as an on-screen villain and Preminger wanted someone who would surprise the audience.
Webb's performance won him wide acclaim, and he received an
Academy Award
nomination for
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
. Despite Zanuck's original objection, Webb was signed to a long-term contract with Fox. He worked for them solely for the rest of his career. His first film under the contract was
The Dark Corner
(1946), a film noir directed by
Henry Hathaway
; as in
Laura
, Webb played a suave villain. He was then reunited with Tierney in another highly praised role as the elitist Elliott Templeton in
The Razor's Edge
(1946). He received another
Academy Award
nomination for
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
.
Sitting Pretty
and stardom
[
edit
]
Webb was billed in a starring role in
Sitting Pretty
, playing
Mr. Belvedere
, a snide, know-it-all babysitter. It was a huge hit and Webb received an Oscar nomination for
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Fox promptly put Webb in a sequel,
Mr. Belvedere Goes to College
(1949) where Belvedere has to complete his college degree and acts as matchmaker. It was another box office success.
In the film
Cheaper by the Dozen
(1950), Webb and
Myrna Loy
played
Frank
and
Lillian Gilbreth
, real-life efficiency experts of the 1910s and 1920s, and the parents of 12 children. It resulted in Webb's third hit in a row and led to exhibitors voting him the seventh biggest star in the United States.
Less successful at the box-office was
For Heaven's Sake
(1950) in which Webb played an angel trying to help a couple on earth. He made
Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell
(1951), with Belvedere causing trouble in an old-folks home, but the film was not as successful at the box-office as the first two, resulting in the end of the series.
Webb played a father trying to cancel his daughter Anne Francis' marriage in
Elopement
(1952), a minor hit. He made a brief appearance in
Belles on Their Toes
(1952), on a sequel to
Cheaper by the Dozen
, which covered the family's life after the death of the father.
Webb then starred in
Dreamboat
(1952) as college professor Thornton Sayre, who in his younger days was known as silent-film idol Bruce "Dreamboat" Blair. Now a distinguished academic who wants no part of his past fame, he sets out to stop the showing of his old films on
television
. The film concludes with Webb's alter ego Sayre watching himself star in
Sitting Pretty
.
Around the same time, he starred in the
Technicolor
film biography of bandmaster
John Philip Sousa
,
Stars and Stripes Forever
(also 1952). He was a Belvedere-like scoutmaster in
Mister Scoutmaster
(1953). Webb had his most dramatic role as the doomed but brave husband of unfaithful
Barbara Stanwyck
in
Titanic
(also 1953). Writer
Walter Reisch
says this movie was created in part as a vehicle for Webb by Fox, who wanted to push Webb into more serious roles.
[6]
Soon afterwards, he played the (fictional) novelist John Frederick Shadwell in
Three Coins in the Fountain
(1954), romancing
Dorothy McGuire
. It was a huge hit. He was top billed as a company owner in
Woman's World
(1954), a corporate drama.
The British film
The Man Who Never Was
(1956) featured Webb playing the part of
Royal Navy
Lt. Cmdr.
Ewen Montagu
in the true story of
Operation Mincemeat
, the elaborate plan to deceive the Axis powers about the Allied invasion of
Sicily
during
World War II
. In
Boy on a Dolphin
(1957), second-billed to
Alan Ladd
, with third-billed
Sophia Loren
, he portrayed a wealthy sophisticate who enjoyed collecting illegally obtained
Greek
antiquities. In a nod to his own identity, the character's name was Victor Parmalee.
He starred in
The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker
(1959), a
Cheaper By the Dozen
comedy as a man with two families, and
Holiday for Lovers
(1959), a family comedy set in South America. Neither was particularly successful. Fox was developing
Journey to the Center of the Earth
(1959) as a vehicle for Webb, but when he fell ill and was unable to work,
James Mason
stepped into the role.
[7]
Webb's final film role was an initially sarcastic, but ultimately self-sacrificing
Catholic
priest in
Leo McCarey
's
Satan Never Sleeps
(1962). The film showed the victory of
Mao Tse-tung
's armies in the
Chinese Civil War
, which ended with his ascension to power in 1949, but was actually filmed in
Britain
during the summer of 1961, using sets left from the film
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
(1958), which was also set in China.
Webb was honored with a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6850 Hollywood Boulevard for his contributions to the motion picture industry.
[8]
Webb's portrayal of Lynn Belvedere was the model for the "Mr. Peabody" character in the "
Peabody's Improbable History
" segment of the animated cartoon series
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends
. And the 1980's television sitcom Mr. Belvedere was based on Webb's character, with Christopher Hewett in the title role.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Throughout his career, Clifton Webb remained a
confirmed bachelor
and had no children. He lived with his mother until her death at age 91 in 1960, leading
Noel Coward
to remark, "It must be terrible to be orphaned at 71."
[9]
Actor
Robert Wagner
, who co-starred with Webb in the films
Stars and Stripes Forever
and
Titanic
and considered the actor one of his mentors, stated in his memoirs,
Pieces of My Heart: A Life
, that "Clifton Webb was gay, of course, but he never made a pass at me, not that he would have."
[10]
[11]
[12]
According to a journal article published more than 40 years after Webb's death, his sexual orientation was frequently alluded to through many veiled references in entertainment newspaper columns, though the article does not provide digital scans of any of them.
[13]
On the
Kraft Music Hall
network radio broadcast of March 25, 1948, Webb exchanged banter with singer/actor
Al Jolson
and pianist/comedian
Oscar Levant
, with Webb, then near 60 himself, charging Jolson with "having aged". "You're not exactly a boy," responded Jolson, to which Levant added, "He's not exactly a girl, either."
[13]
Later years and death
[
edit
]
Due to health problems, Webb spent the last five years of his life as a recluse at his home in
Beverly Hills, California
. On October 13, 1966, Webb suffered a fatal
heart attack
at his home at the age of 76.
[14]
He is interred in crypt 2350, corridor G-6, Abbey of the Psalms in
Hollywood Forever Cemetery
, alongside his mother.
[15]
Legacy
[
edit
]
UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television
's Clifton Webb Scholarship, which was established in 1969, was named in honor of Webb.
[16]
[17]
Complete filmography
[
edit
]
Box office ranking
[
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]
For a number of years film exhibitors voted Webb among the most popular stars in the country:
- 1949: 14th (U.S.)
[18]
- 1950: 7th (U.S.)
- 1951: 21st (U.S.)
Stage work
[
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]
Radio appearances
[
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]
Awards and nominations
[
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]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Movies"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
February 24,
2023
.
- ^
Illinois Marriage Collection, 1800?1941; www.ancestry.com, accessed September 25, 2010
- ^
Also living with them was Mabelle's mother, Grace S. Parmelee. Information from 1900 U.S. Federal Census viewed on ancestry.com, September 25, 2010. The 1910 U. S. federal census shows that Mabelle Hollenbeck and Green Raum had been married since 1897; he had formerly been married to Annie Iredell Rogers in 1890 (separated 1891, divorced 1894).
- ^
1910 U.S. Federal Census accessed on ancestry.com on September 25, 2010
- ^
Green, Kay Broadway Musicals, Show By Show.1996 Hal Leonard Corporation.
ISBN
0-7935-7750-0
- ^
McGilligan, Patrick (1991).
Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s
. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 237?238.
- ^
McGilligan, Pat (1991).
Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s
. University of California Press. pp. 243?244.
- ^
"Clifton Webb"
.
walkoffame.com
. October 25, 2019.
- ^
Conner, Floyd (2002).
Hollywood's Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Lucky Breaks, Prima Donnas, Box Office Bombs, and Other Oddities
. Brassey's. p.
107
.
ISBN
1-57488-480-8
.
- ^
Robert Wagner with Scott Eyman,
Pieces of My Heart: A Life
(HarperCollins, 2009)
- ^
Robert Hofler,
The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson
(Carroll & Graf, 2006), p. 203
- ^
Graham Payn with Barry Day,
My Life with Noel
, (Hal Leonard Corporation, 1996), page 5
- ^
a
b
Leff, Leonard (Spring 2008). "Becoming Clifton Webb: A Queer Star in Mid-Century Hollywood".
Cinema Journal
.
47
(3): 3?28.
doi
:
10.1353/cj.0.0005
.
S2CID
191480093
.
- ^
Obituary
Variety
, October 19, 1966, page 54.
- ^
Wilson, Scott.
Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons
, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 49982-49983). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition
- ^
Rosky, Nicole (May 31, 2011).
"Photo Flash: Joyce DeWitt Joins MISS ABIGAIL'S GUIDE"
.
Broadway World
.
Archived
from the original on December 25, 2015
. Retrieved
May 23,
2022
.
- ^
"Clifton Webb Scholarship of the Arts"
.
UCLA
.
Archived
from the original on May 23, 2022
. Retrieved
May 23,
2022
.
- ^
"Hope Tops Crosby At the Boxoffice" by Richard L. Coe.
The Washington Post
(1923?1954) 30 December 1949: 19.
- ^
"Monday Selections"
.
Toledo Blade (Ohio)
. January 16, 1950. p. 4 (Peach Section)
. Retrieved
October 10,
2022
.
External links
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1943?1975
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1976?2000
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2001?present
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International
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National
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People
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Other
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