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
Under Suspicion (1930)
as Inspector Turner
Housewife (1934)
as William H. Reynolds
International Lady (1941)
as Tim Hanley
The Spiral Staircase (1946)
as Professor Warren
Special Agent (1935)
as Bill Bradford
Twin Beds (1942)
as Mike Abbott
Jezebel (1938)
as Buck Cantrell
Dark Victory (1939)
as Dr. Frederick Steele
Death of a Scoundrel (1956)
as Man with Balloon at Party
My Reputation (1946)
as Major Scott Landis
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage (1983)
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Purchase Price (1932)
as Jim Gilson
In Person (1935)
as Emory Muir
The Painted Veil (1934)
as Jack Townsend
Front Page Woman (1935)
as Curt Devlin
Breakdowns of 1942 (1942)
as Self
42nd Street (1933)
as Pat Denning
The Go-Getter (1937)
as Bill Austin
The Rains Came (1939)
as Tom Ransome
Racket Busters (1938)
as Denny Jordan
Bride for Sale (1949)
as Paul Martin
Wings of the Navy (1939)
as Cass Harrington
Montana Belle (1952)
as Tom Bradfield
Tomorrow Is Forever (1946)
as Lawrence Hamilton
Land of Liberty (1939)
as Buck Cantrell (edited from 'Jezebel')
Lilly Turner (1933)
as Bob Chandler
The Great Lie (1941)
as Peter 'Pete' Van Allen
Honeymoon for Three (1941)
as Kenneth Bixby
'Til We Meet Again (1940)
as Dan Hardesty
The Last Page (1952)
as John Harman
The Fighting 69th (1940)
as Wild Bill Donovan
Experiment Perilous (1944)
as Dr. Huntington Bailey
Luxury Liner (1933)
as Dr. Karl Bernhard
The Lightning Warrior (1931)
as Alan Scott
Once a Sinner (1931)
as James Brent
Slave Girl (1947)
as Matt Claibourne
Snowed Under (1936)
as Alan Tanner
The Old Maid (1939)
as Clem Spender
The Iron Horse (1925)
as Worker (uncredited)
They Dare Not Love (1941)
as Prince Kurt von Rotenberg
Ex-Bad Boy (1931)
as Donald Swift
Breakdowns of 1944 (1944)
as Self
Breakdowns of 1938 (1938)
as Buck Cantrell (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Gay Sisters (1942)
as Charles Barclay
Silver Queen (1942)
as James Kincaid
Luxury Liner (1948)
as Captain Jeremy Bradford
Mountain Justice (1937)
as Paul Cameron
Breakdowns of 1937 (1937)
as Self
Gold Is Where You Find It (1938)
as Jared Whitney
The Affairs of Susan (1945)
as Roger Berton
The Man Who Talked Too Much (1940)
as Stephen Forbes
The Right to Live (1935)
as Colin Trent
More Than a Secretary (1936)
as Fred Gilbert
The Corpse Came C.O.D. (1947)
as Joe Medford
Temptation (1946)
as Nigel Armine
Female (1933)
as Jim Thorne
In This Our Life (1942)
as Craig Fleming
You Can't Escape Forever (1942)
as Steve Mitchell
From Headquarters (1933)
as Lt. Jim Stevens
So Big! (1932)
as Adult Roelf Pool
Born Again (1978)
as Judge Gerhard Gesell
God's Country and the Woman (1937)
as Steve Russett
FBI Girl (1951)
as Jeff Donley
The Keyhole (1933)
as Neil Davis
Illegal Entry (1949)
as Chief Agent Dan Collins
Things You Never See on the Screen (1935)
as Self
Jezebel: Legend of the South (2006)
as Self (archive footage)
Tangier Incident (1953)
as Steve Gordon
Week-End Marriage (1932)
as Peter Acton
They Call It Sin (1932)
as Dr. Tony Travers
The Golden Arrow (1936)
as Johnny Jones
Breakdowns of 1936 (1936)
as Self
Red Canyon (1949)
as Matthew Bostel
Charlie Chan Carries On (1931)
as Capt. Ronald Keane
The Rich Are Always with Us (1932)
as Julian Tierney
Homicide Squad (1931)
as Jimmy
Out Where the Stars Begin (1938)
as Jared Whitney (archive footage)
Miss Pinkerton (1932)
as Police Inspector Patten
Adventure in Diamonds (1940)
as Capt. Stephen Dennett
Living on Velvet (1935)
as Terry Parker
Lover Come Back (1946)
as Bill Williams
Out of the Blue (1947)
as Arthur Earthleigh
The Case Against Mrs. Ames (1936)
as Matt Logan
A Dream Comes True (1935)
as Himself (uncredited)
The Crash (1932)
as Geoffrey Gault
Stranded (1935)
as Mack Hale
Stamboul Quest (1934)
as Douglas Beall
Give Me Your Heart (1936)
as James 'Jim' Baker
Swingtime in the Movies (1938)
as Himself (uncredited)
The Goose and the Gander (1935)
as Bob McNear
South of Suez (1940)
as John Gamble
Christmas Eve (1947)
as Michael Brooks
The Kid from Cleveland (1949)
as Mike Jackson
Submarine D-1 (1937)
as Lt. Commander Dan Matthews
Angel on the Amazon (1948)
as Jim Warburton
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill (1994)
as Self (archive footage)
Mexican Manhunt (1953)
as David L. 'Dave' Brady
Breakdowns of 1940 (1940)
as Self
Desirable (1934)
as McAllister
Secrets of an Actress (1938)
as Richard 'Dick' Orr
Fair Warning (1931)
as Les Haines