Date of Birth
18 July 1911,
London, Ontario, Canada
Date of Death
15 June 2003, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA (prostate cancer)
Birth Name
Hume Blake Cronyn
Height
5' 6" (1.68 m)
Spouse
| Susan Cooper |
(20 July 1996 - 15 June 2003) (his death) |
| Jessica Tandy |
(27 September 1942 - 11 September 1994) (her death) 2 children |
| Emily Woodruff |
(1935 - 1941) (divorced) |
Trivia
1932: Member of the Kappa Alpha Society at the University of McGill.
Won a Tony Award in 1964 for his performance as Polonius in the Richard Burton Broadway production of "Hamlet", which was recorded live on stage in a process known as Electronovision, and shown in movie theaters the same year (Hamlet (1964/I)).
His father Hume Blake Cronyn has an observatory dedicated to him in the University of Western Ontario. The refractor telescope was the largest ever built in the western hemisphere at the time.
Although not widely known, he had a glass eye, having lost the real one to cancer.
Attended Ridley College, St. Catharines, Ontario
Became a US citizen late in life.
Appeared as Sosigenes in Cleopatra (1963), One film critic's witty appraisal of this mammoth, megastar, megabuck, four-hour production was, "I never miss a Hume Cronyn movie."
At time of death had eight grandchildren and five great-granchildren.
Son: Christopher Cronyn, daughters: Tandy Cronyn and Susan Tettmer.
Stepchildren: Jonathan Grant and Kate Glennon.
Starred (with wife Jessica Tandy) as Ben Marriott on NBC Radio's "The Marriage" (1953-1954).
Won two Tony Awards: in 1964, as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic) for playing Polonius in Shakespeare/s "Hamlet," and, in 1994, a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achuievement that was shared with his wife, Jessica Tandy. And he was nominated six other times: as Best Actor (Dramatic), in 1961 for: Big Fish, Little Fish" and in 1967 for Edward Albee's "A Delicate Balance;" as Best Actor (Play), in 1978 for "The Gin Game" and in 1986 for "The Petition;" as Producer (Dramatic), in 1965 as co-producer of Best Play nominee "Slow Dance on the Killing Ground;" and as co-producer in 1978 of Best Play nominee "The Gin Game."
1990: He and wife Jessica Tandy were both honored with the American National Medal of the Arts from the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington DC.
In 1946 Elia Kazan, looking for an actress to play Blanche Dubois in his upcoming Broadway production of "Streetcar Named Desire", saw a Los Angeles production of Tennessee Williams' earlier play "Portrait of a Madonna" in which Cronyn directed his wife Jessica Tandy. He was so impressed by her performance that he offered her the role.
1972: Won an 1972-73 Obie for Distinguished Performance for "Krapp's Last Tape".
Was once a boxer who was nominated for the Canadian Olympic boxing team.
7/11/88: He was awarded the O.C. (Officer of the Order of Canada) for his services to drama.
The original screenplay of The Locket (1946), called "What Nancy Wanted", was written by Norma Barzman, who was married to writer Ben Barzman, who was blacklisted during the McCarthy "Red Scare" period of the 1940s and 1950s. She sold the script to Cronyn, who planned to direct the film with wife Jessica Tandy starring. Cronyn then sold the script to RKO, which assigned Sheridan Gibney to rewrite it.
Personal Quotes
The whole business of marshaling one's energies becomes more and more important as one grows older.
To act you must have a sense of truth and some degree of dedication.
[he one rule he follows as an actor] If you're doing the devil, look for the angel in him. If you're doing the angel, look for the devil in him.
Image:Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn ...
Image:Jessica Tandy \x26amp; Hume Cronyn. ...
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