George Brent
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George Brent (born George Brendan Nolan; 15 March 1904 – 26 May 1979) was an Irish-American stage, film, and television actor. Brent was born in Ballinasloe, County Galway in 1904 to John J. and Mary (née McGuinness) Nolan. His mother was a native of Clonfad, Moore, County Roscommon. Brent made his first film, Under Suspicion, in 1930. Over the next two years, he appeared in a number of minor films produced by Universal Studios and Fox, before being signed to contract by Warner Bros. in 1932. He remained at Warner Bros. for the next 20 years, carving out a successful career as a top-flight leading man during the late 1930s and 1940s. Highly regarded by Bette Davis, he became her most frequent male co-star, appearing with her in 13 films, including Front Page Woman (1935), Special Agent (1935), The Golden Arrow (1936), Jezebel (1938), The Old Maid (1939), Dark Victory (1939), and The Great Lie (1941). Brent also played opposite Ruby Keeler in 42nd Street (1933), Greta Garbo in The Painted Veil (1934), Ginger Rogers in In Person (1935), Madeleine Carroll in The Case Against Mrs. Ames (1936), Jean Arthur in More Than a Secretary (1936), Myrna Loy in Stamboul Quest (1934) and The Rains Came (1939), Merle Oberon in 'Til We Meet Again (1940), Ann Sheridan in Honeymoon for Three (1941), Joan Fontaine in The Affairs of Susan (1945), Barbara Stanwyck in So Big! (1932), The Purchase Price (1932), Baby Face (1933), The Gay Sisters (1942), and My Reputation (1946), Claudette Colbert in Tomorrow Is Forever (1946), Dorothy McGuire in The Spiral Staircase (1946), Lucille Ball in Lover Come Back (1946), and Yvonne De Carlo in Slave Girl (1947). Brent drifted into "B" pictures from the late 1940s and retired from film in 1953. He continued to appear on television until 1960, having appeared on the religion anthology series Crossroads. He was cast in the lead in the 1956 television series Wire Service. In 1978, he made one last film, the made-for-television production Born Again. In 1960, Brent was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with two stars. He received a motion-pictures star located at 1709 Vine Street, and a second star located at 1612 Vine Street for his work in television. Brent was married five times: Helen Louise Campbell (1925–1927), Ruth Chatterton (1932–1934), Constance Worth (1937), Ann Sheridan (1942–1943), and Janet Michaels (1947–1974). His final marriage to Janet Michaels, a former model and dress designer, lasted 27 years until her death in 1974. They had a son and a daughter. Brent also carried on a lengthy relationship with his frequent Warner Bros. co-star, actress Bette Davis, who described her last meeting with Brent after many years of estrangement. He was suffering from advanced emphysema, and she expressed great sadness at his ill health and deterioration. George Brent died in 1979 in Solana Beach, California.
Known for
Credits
Baby Face (1933)
as Courtland Trenholm
Dark Victory (1939)
as Dr. Frederick Steele
42nd Street (1933)
as Pat Denning
Jezebel (1938)
as Buck Cantrell
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage (1983)
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Housewife (1934)
as William H. Reynolds
Angel on the Amazon (1948)
as Jim Warburton
In This Our Life (1942)
as Craig Fleming
Death of a Scoundrel (1956)
as Man with Balloon at Party
They Dare Not Love (1941)
as Prince Kurt von Rotenberg
Gold Is Where You Find It (1938)
as Jared Whitney
The Case Against Mrs. Ames (1936)
as Matt Logan
The Spiral Staircase (1946)
as Professor Warren
The Affairs of Susan (1945)
as Roger Berton
My Reputation (1946)
as Major Scott Landis
'Til We Meet Again (1940)
as Dan Hardesty
The Rich Are Always with Us (1932)
as Julian Tierney
A Dream Comes True (1935)
as Himself (uncredited)
Experiment Perilous (1944)
as Dr. Huntington Bailey
Twin Beds (1942)
as Mike Abbott
Slave Girl (1947)
as Matt Claibourne
Wings of the Navy (1939)
as Cass Harrington
International Lady (1941)
as Tim Hanley
The Painted Veil (1934)
as Jack Townsend
Give Me Your Heart (1936)
as James 'Jim' Baker
Breakdowns of 1942 (1942)
as Self
The Great Lie (1941)
as Peter 'Pete' Van Allen
The Gay Sisters (1942)
as Charles Barclay
You Can't Escape Forever (1942)
as Steve Mitchell
The Iron Horse (1925)
as Worker (uncredited)
Special Agent (1935)
as Bill Bradford
Red Canyon (1949)
as Matthew Bostel
The Rains Came (1939)
as Tom Ransome
The Corpse Came C.O.D. (1947)
as Joe Medford
The Fighting 69th (1940)
as Wild Bill Donovan
Charlie Chan Carries On (1931)
as Capt. Ronald Keane
Luxury Liner (1933)
as Dr. Karl Bernhard
Out of the Blue (1947)
as Arthur Earthleigh
Swingtime in the Movies (1938)
as Himself (uncredited)
In Person (1935)
as Emory Muir
Jezebel: Legend of the South (2006)
as Self (archive footage)
The Go-Getter (1937)
as Bill Austin
More Than a Secretary (1936)
as Fred Gilbert
Under Suspicion (1930)
as Inspector Turner
Front Page Woman (1935)
as Curt Devlin
The Goose and the Gander (1935)
as Bob McNear
The Man Who Talked Too Much (1940)
as Stephen Forbes
The Kid from Cleveland (1949)
as Mike Jackson
God's Country and the Woman (1937)
as Steve Russett
They Call It Sin (1932)
as Dr. Tony Travers
Tomorrow Is Forever (1946)
as Lawrence Hamilton
Out Where the Stars Begin (1938)
as Jared Whitney (archive footage)
Breakdowns of 1938 (1938)
as Buck Cantrell (archive footage) (uncredited)
Secrets of an Actress (1938)
as Richard 'Dick' Orr
The Old Maid (1939)
as Clem Spender
Female (1933)
as Jim Thorne
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill (1994)
as Self (archive footage)
Montana Belle (1952)
as Tom Bradfield
Things You Never See on the Screen (1935)
as Self
Submarine D-1 (1937)
as Lt. Commander Dan Matthews
The Purchase Price (1932)
as Jim Gilson
Breakdowns of 1944 (1944)
as Self
Land of Liberty (1939)
as Buck Cantrell (edited from 'Jezebel')
The Right to Live (1935)
as Colin Trent
Desirable (1934)
as McAllister
Christmas Eve (1947)
as Michael Brooks
Illegal Entry (1949)
as Chief Agent Dan Collins
Ex-Bad Boy (1931)
as Donald Swift
Mountain Justice (1937)
as Paul Cameron
Miss Pinkerton (1932)
as Police Inspector Patten
Breakdowns of 1937 (1937)
as Self
The Last Page (1952)
as John Harman
Bride for Sale (1949)
as Paul Martin
Silver Queen (1942)
as James Kincaid
Lilly Turner (1933)
as Bob Chandler
The Golden Arrow (1936)
as Johnny Jones
Racket Busters (1938)
as Denny Jordan
Luxury Liner (1948)
as Captain Jeremy Bradford
The Keyhole (1933)
as Neil Davis
Breakdowns of 1936 (1936)
as Self
Stamboul Quest (1934)
as Douglas Beall
Once a Sinner (1931)
as James Brent
Temptation (1946)
as Nigel Armine
Adventure in Diamonds (1940)
as Capt. Stephen Dennett
So Big! (1932)
as Adult Roelf Pool
FBI Girl (1951)
as Jeff Donley
Breakdowns of 1940 (1940)
as Self
Lover Come Back (1946)
as Bill Williams
Stranded (1935)
as Mack Hale
Born Again (1978)
as Judge Gerhard Gesell
The Lightning Warrior (1931)
as Alan Scott
South of Suez (1940)
as John Gamble
Week-End Marriage (1932)
as Peter Acton
Honeymoon for Three (1941)
as Kenneth Bixby
Fair Warning (1931)
as Les Haines
The Crash (1932)
as Geoffrey Gault
From Headquarters (1933)
as Lt. Jim Stevens
Snowed Under (1936)
as Alan Tanner
Living on Velvet (1935)
as Terry Parker
Tangier Incident (1953)
as Steve Gordon
Homicide Squad (1931)
as Jimmy
Mexican Manhunt (1953)
as David L. 'Dave' Brady