From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Stanley Ridges (17 July 1890 – 22 April 1951) was a British-born actor who made his mark in films by playing a wide assortment of character parts. Born 17 July 1890 in Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK, Stanley Ridges became a protégé of Beatrice Lillie, a star of musical stage comedies, and spent many years learning and honing his craft on the stage. Eventually making his way to America, Ridges began as a song-and-dance man on Broadway, but later turned to dramatic roles onstage, appearing in such plays as Maxwell Anderson's Mary of Scotland (as Lord Morton) and Valley Forge (as Lieutenant Colonel Lucifer Tench), becoming a romantic leading man. Ridges' silent film debut was in Success (1923). With his excellent diction and rich speaking voice, he easily made the transition into sound films, with his career taking off at age 43, in Crime Without Passion (1934), with Claude Rains. Ridges found himself cast in character roles, as his greying hair put his romantic leading man days at an end. His most best known roles were probably two different characters in one film, one of them the kindly Professor Kingsley and the other the murderous Red Cannon in the thriller Black Friday (1940). The Jekyll and Hyde transformations gave Ridges a chance to display his acting ability. Ridges was often cast in supporting roles in many classic films, and played the lead only once, in the B-picture False Faces (1943). Among Ridges's other film roles were as the Scotland Yard inspector who is shadowing Charles Laughton in the film The Suspect (1944), as Major Buxton (Gary Cooper's commanding officer) in Sergeant York (1942), as Professor Siletsky in To Be or Not to Be (also 1942), and as Cary Travers Grayson, the official White House physician in Wilson (1944). By 1950, he had just begun appearing in television anthologies such as Studio One and Philco Television Playhouse. His last feature film, the Ginger Rogers comedy The Groom Wore Spurs, in which he played a mobster, was released a month before he died. Stanley Ridges died 22 April 1951, in Westbrook, Connecticut, aged 60.

Filmography

• 1951The Groom Wore Spurs — Harry Kallen
• 1950No Way Out — Sam Moreland
• 1950Paid in Full — Dr. P.J. 'Phil' Winston
• 1950The Man Who Had Influence — J. C. Grant
• 1949Streets of Laredo — Major Bailey
• 1949Task Force — Sen. Bentley
• 1949The File on Thelma Jordon — Kingsley Willis
• 1949You're My Everything — Mr. Henry Mercer
• 1948An Act of Murder — Doctor Walter Morrison
• Studio One — Police Chief Scott Anderson, J.C. Grant
• 1947Possessed — Dr. Harvey Willard
• 1946Because of Him — Charles Gilbert
• 1946Canyon Passage — Jonas Overmire
• 1946Mr. Ace — Toomey
• 1945Captain Eddie — Col. Hans Adamson
• 1945God Is My Co-Pilot — Col. Merian 'Steve' Cooper
• 1945The Phantom Speaks — Dr. Paul Renwick
• 1945The Suspect — Inspector Huxley
• 1944The Master Race — Phil Carson
• 1944The Story of Dr. Wassell — Cmdr. William B. 'Bill' Goggins
• 1944Wilson — Dr. Cary Grayson
• 1943Air Force — Maj. Mallory - Clark Field
• 1943False Faces — District Attorney Stanley S. Harding
• 1943Tarzan Triumphs — Colonel Von Reichart
• 1943This Is the Army — John Davidson
• 1942Eagle Squadron — Air Minister
• 1942Eyes in the Night — Hansen
• 1942The Big Shot — Martin T. Fleming, Attorney
• 1942The Lady Is Willing — Kenneth Hanline
• 1942To Be or Not to Be — Professor Alexander Siletsky
• 1941Mr. District Attorney — District Attorney Tom F. Winton
• 1941Sergeant York — Major Buxton
• 1941The Sea Wolf — Johnson
• 1941They Died with Their Boots On — Maj. Romulus Taipe
• 1940Black Friday — Prof. George Kingsley / Red Cannon
• 1939Dust Be My Destiny — Charles 'Charlie' Garreth
• 1939Each Dawn I Die — Mueller
• 1939Espionage Agent — Hamilton Peyton
• 1939I Stole a Million — Downs (uncredited)
• 1939Let Us Live — District Attorney
• 1939Nick Carter, Master Detective — Doctor Frankton (as Stanley C. Ridges)
• 1939Silver on the Sage — Earl Brennan / Dave Talbot
• 1939Union Pacific — Gen. Casement
• 1938If I Were King — Rene de Montigny
• 1938The Mad Miss Manton — Edward Norris
• 1938There's That Woman Again — Tony Croy
• 1938They're Always Caught — Dr. John Pritchard
• 1938Yellow Jack — Dr. James Carroll
• 1937Internes Can't Take Money — Dan Innes
• 1936Sinner Take All — MacKelvey
• 1936Winterset — Shadow
• 1935The Scoundrel — Paul Decker
• 1934Crime Without Passion — Eddie White
• 1930For Two Cents
• 1930The Poor Fish — George
• 1923Success — Gilbert Gordon

Appearances as themselves (1)

• 1943The Voice That Thrilled the World — Self (segment 'Sergeant York') (archive footage)