
Roland Young
Actor · 1887 – 1953 · London, England, UK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Roland Young (11 November 1887 – 5 June 1953) was an English actor. Young made his first stage appearance in London's West End in Find the Woman in 1908, and in 1912 he made his Broadway debut in Hindle Wakes. He appeared in two comedies written for him by Clare Kummer, Good Gracious Annabelle! (1916) and A Successful Calamity (1917) before he served with the United States Army during World War I. He returned to New York when the war ended, and married Kummer's daughter, Frances. For the next few years he alternated between New York and London. He made his film debut in the 1922 silent film Sherlock Holmes, in which he played Watson opposite John Barrymore as Holmes. He signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and made his talkie debut in The Unholy Night (1929), directed by Lionel Barrymore. He was loaned to Warner Bros. to appear in Her Private Life, with Billie Dove and Fox Film Corporation, winning critical approval for his comedic performance as Jeanette MacDonald's husband in Don't Bet on a Woman. He was again paired with MacDonald in the film version of Good Gracious Annabelle!, titled Annabelle's Affairs. He appeared in Cecil B. de Mille's The Squaw Man, and played opposite Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in The Guardsman (both 1931). He appeared with Evelyn Brent in Columbia's The Pagan Lady (1932) and Pola Negri in RKO's A Woman Commands (1932). His final film under his MGM contract was Lovers Courageous (1932), opposite Robert Montgomery. In 1933 he had a starring role in the risqué comedy for Fox Film called Pleasure Cruise along side Genevieve Tobin. Young began to work as a freelance performer and found himself in constant demand. He appeared with Jeanette MacDonald, Genevieve Tobin and Maurice Chevalier in One Hour With You (1932) and with Kay Francis in Street of Women (1932). Alexander Korda invited him to return to Britain to make his British film debut in Wedding Rehearsal (1932). He returned to Hollywood and appeared in a diverse group of films that included comedies, murder mysteries, and dramas, and also worked on Broadway. Among his films of this period were Ruggles of Red Gap (1935), David Copperfield (1935) (playing Uriah Heep), and the H.G. Wells fantasy The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936). In 1937, he achieved one of the most important successes of his career in Topper, as a bank president haunted by the ghosts of his clients, played by Cary Grant and Constance Bennett. It was one of the most successful films of the year, and Young was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Topper's wife was played by Billie Burke, who wrote in her memoir that Young "was dry and always fun to work with". They also appeared together in The Young in Heart (1938), and both of the Topper sequels, Topper Takes a Trip (1938) and Topper Returns (1941). He continued working steadily through the 1940s, playing small roles opposite some of Hollywood's leading actresses, such as Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Paulette Goddard and Greta Garbo in her final film, Two-Faced Woman (1941). In the 1950s, Young appeared on several episodic television series, including Lux Video Theatre, Studio One, Pulitzer Prize Playhouse and The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre.
Movies24
Movie7.5ComedyRomanceWhen a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
The Philadelphia Story
1940 · 1K votes
Movie7.1CrimeDramaTen strangers are summoned to a remote island and while they are waiting for the mysterious host to appear, a recording levels serious accusations at each of the guests. Soon they start being murdered, one by one. As the survivors try to keep their wits, they reach a disturbing conclusion: one of them must be the killer.
And Then There Were None
1945 · 426 votes
Movie6.7ComedyFantasyMadcap couple George and Marion Kerby are killed in an automobile accident. They return as ghosts to try and liven up the regimented lifestyle of their friend and bank president, Cosmo Topper. When Topper starts to live it up, it strains relations with his stuffy wife.
Topper
1937 · 141 votes
Movie7.1DocumentaryMusicSome of MGM's musical stars review the studio's history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929 to Brigadoon, from the first musical talkies to Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain.
That's Entertainment! III
1994 · 42 votes
Movie6.7DramaRomanceA young man journeys from a difficult childhood to maturity, exploring social injustice, personal development, and the complexities of human relationships.
The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger
David Copperfield
1935 · 79 votes
Movie6.6ComedyRomanceIn old New Orleans, a beautiful adventuress juggles the attentions of a rich banker and a dashing sea captain.
The Flame of New Orleans
1941 · 26 votes
Movie6.4DramaComedyTen screenwriters collaborated on this series of tales concerning the effect a tailcoat cursed by its tailor has on those who wear it. The video release features a W.C. Fields segment not included in the original theatrical release.
Tales of Manhattan
1942 · 39 votes
Movie7.5DramaHistoryIn World War II, American Gates Trimble Pomfret is in London during the Blitz to sell the ancestral family house. The current tenant, Leslie Trimble, tries to dissuade him from selling by telling him the 140-year history of the place and the connections between the Trimble and Pomfret families.
Forever and a Day
1943 · 12 votes
Movie6.5ComedyFantasyTopper is once again tormented by a fun-loving spirit. This time, it's Gail Richards, accidentally murdered while vacationing at the home of her wealthy friend, Ann Carrington, the intended victim. With Topper's help, Gail sets out to find her killer with the expected zany results.
Topper Returns
1941 · 61 votes
Movie6.4ComedyRomanceA woman pretends to be her own twin sister to win back her straying husband.
Two-Faced Woman
1941 · 28 votes
Movie6.8ComedyRomanceIndecisive heiress Dee Dee Dillwood is pushed into marrying her sixth fiancée, but unable to face the wedding night, she flees into the adjacent hotel room of commercial pilot Marvin Payne, who just wants to sleep. She then persuades him to take her to California.
You Gotta Stay Happy
1948 · 18 votes
Movie5.4ComedyEarly MGM talkie about a retired businessman, his headstrong daughter, and the comical complications that result when she marries in haste.
Wise Girls
1929 · 5 votes
Movie6.6ComedyFantasyMrs. Topper's friend Mrs. Parkhurst has convinced Mrs Topper to file for a divorce from Cosmo due to the strange circumstances of his trip with ghost Marion Kirby. Marion comes back from heaven's door to help Cosmo again, this time only with dog Mr. Atlas. Due to a strange behavior of Cosmo, the judge refuses to divorce them, so Mrs. Parkhurst takes Mrs. Topper on a trip to France where she tries to arrange the final reasons for the divorce. With help of a gold-digging French baron, Marion takes Cosmo to the same hotel to bring them back together and to get her own final ticket to heaven, but the whole thing turns out to be not too easy.
Topper Takes a Trip
1938 · 29 votes
Movie5.6Race horse owner pays so much attention to business he winds up divorced from his wife. His alimony payments are so steep he plots with his lawyer to get her married off.
He Married His Wife
1940 · 9 votes
Movie6.0ComedyFantasyAn ordinary man, while vigorously asserting the impossibility of miracles, suddenly discovers that he can perform them.
The Man Who Could Work Miracles
1936 · 31 votes
Movie6.6ComedyA family of confidence tricksters sets their sights on a very rich, very lonely old lady named Miss Fortune.
The Young in Heart
1938 · 32 votes
Movie6.0DramaComedySome dastardly criminals have stolen some top secret plans and tattoo them on the back of a woman so she can sell them to the highest bidder in Lisbon. This woman plans to take the place of a 'Sidney Royce', a legitimate traveler going to Lisbon as a reporter. Crossed signals allows the real Sidney to reach Portugal first, where she is pursued by those trying to obtain the plans and US government agents trying to prevent the sale.
The Lady Has Plans
1942 · 6 votes
Movie7.0ComedyRomanceMolly Hull, a maid, and Sam Sutton, a butler, are bequeathed a million dollars, and they encounter many problems and difficulties as they try to become the newest members of the idle rich.
They Just Had to Get Married
1933 · 1 votes
Movie5.9RomanceMusicA socialite masquerades as a notorious femme fatale to win back her straying husband during a costume party aboard a doomed dirigible.
Madam Satan
1930 · 28 votes
Movie5.4ComedyRomanceWhen Stephen, the husband of Gerald’s mistress, Claire, discovers a pair of tickets for their planned trip to Venice, Gerald must invent a wife to cover their tracks. He is then forced to hire a woman to play “his wife” when Stephen insists he and Claire accompany them to Venice.
This Is the Night
1932 · 18 votes
Movie7.3ComedyA rich and famous singer disguises himself as a waiter in order to be near the woman he loves, a European princess.
Here Is My Heart
1934 · 7 votes
Movie5.9ComedyRomanceMargaret Drew runs her trucking company single-mindedly, if not ruthlessly. The only thorn in her side is writer Michael Holmes who is writing a book on some of her tough ways. With no time for men, the effect an attractive stranger has on her at her sister's wedding is unnerving. When it turns out this is the hated writer, she starts seriously to lose her bearings. Surely it can't become Maggie and Mike?
They All Kissed the Bride
1942 · 9 votes
Movie7.1ComedyIn this comedy of an Englishman stranded in a sea of barbaric Americans, Marmaduke Ruggles – a gentleman's gentleman and butler to an Earl – is lost in a poker game to an uncouth American cattle baron. Ruggles' life is turned upside down as he's taken to the USA, is gradually assimilated into American life, accidentally becomes a local celebrity, and falls in love along the way.
Ruggles of Red Gap
1935 · 86 votes
Movie6.1ComedyRomanceYears after the death of her husband, Kitty McNeil takes her son and flees from the home of her wealthy and controlling mother-in-law. Alone and jobless in New York, she runs into an old flame, her USO partner Donald Elwood, who agrees to help her fight for custody of the child.
Let's Dance
1950 · 8 votes
Series4
TV7.0FamilyComedyFour panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while blindfolded, their identity - by asking only "yes" or "no" questions.
What's My Line?
1950 · 29 votes
TV5.4DramaAn American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. Studio One, presented by Westinghouse, was one of the first of the anthology TV programs. The episodes were often abridged remakes of movies from years gone by and many future well-known television and movie actors appeared in the productions.
Studio One
1948 · 13 votes
TV6.8ComedyTalk ShowThe Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948 · 23 votes
- TV6.7DramaComedy
Lux Video Theatre is an American anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays.
Lux Video Theatre
1950 · 7 votes