Job Actor
Years active 1934-2003
Known for Nosey parkers, henpecked husbands, sadistic pint-size villains
Top Roles Paul Roeder, Herbie Hawkins, Prof. Rodney Elwell, Louis Howe, Monty
Top GenresDrama, Comedy, Romance, Film Adaptation, Thriller/Suspense, War
Top TopicsWorld War II, Book-Based, Romance (Comic)
Top Collaborators , (Director), (Director), (Producer)
Shares birthday with Richard Dix, Chill Wills, Red Skelton  see more..

Hume Cronyn Overview:

Legendary character actor, Hume Cronyn, was born Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. on Jul 18, 1911 in London, Canada. Cronyn died at the age of 91 on Jun 15, 2003 in Fairfield, CT .

MINI BIO:

With reedy voice, narrow face and frowning brows, Canadian actor Hume Cronyn often played nosey parkers, henpecked husbands, or sadistic pint-size villains. He was little seen in pictures after the 1940s, preferring stage work with his wife Jessica Tandy (married 1942), although he contributed to the scripts of a couple of Hitchcock films in the late 1940s.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Illustrated Dictionary of Film Character Actors).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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Although Cronyn was nominated for one Oscar, he never won a competitive Academy Award.

Academy Awards

YearAwardFilm nameRoleResult
1944Best Supporting ActorThe Seventh Cross (1944)Paul RoederNominated
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Cronyn was inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame .

BlogHub Articles:

Birthday of the Week:

By Beth Daniels on Jul 19, 2014 From Mildred's Fatburgers

Born Hume Blake Cronyn, Ontario July 18, 1911 to June 15, 2003 A Terrible Liar,By , Key Porter Books, 1991 How Did I Not Know He Was Canadian? Born in London, Ontario, to a well-placed family in the city, was sent to boarding school at age six and ult... Read full article


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Hume Cronyn Quotes:

Herbie Hawkins: Well, if I was gonna kill you, I wouldn't do a dumb thing like hitting you on the head. First of all, I don't like the fingerprint angle. Of course, I could always wear gloves. Press your hands against the pipe after you were dead and make you look like a suicide. Except it don't seem hardly likely that you'd beat yourself to death with a club. I'd murder you so it didn't look like murder.


Cleopatra: The way to prevent war is to be ready for it!
Sosigenes: Have 300 warships ever been built for war without war?


[Arthur Keats enters, closes the door]
Cora Smith: If it's the last thing I do, I'll put you out of business. There must be a law, even for lawyers.
Arthur Keats: Of course you know the district attorney fooled you into that confession, don't you? And you fell for it, both of you.
[small hrmph]
Arthur Keats: He planned to get you working against each other. Don't you see?
Cora Smith: You bet I see.
[turning to Frank]
Cora Smith: So when Sackett couldn't get anything out of me, he started in on you, and right away you turned yellow.
Arthur Keats: Yellow? Yellow is a color you figure on in a murder, and nobody figures it better than Kyle Sackett.
[to Frank]
Arthur Keats: That was Sackett's trump card. Once he tricked you into signing that complaint against her, he knew no power on earth could keep you
[to Cora]
Arthur Keats: from turning on him.
[back to Frank]
Arthur Keats: That way he gets you both.
Cora Smith: If you knew all that, why didn't you stop me from confessing?
Arthur Keats: Oh, I tried. I tried, but nobody could've stopped you. However, now that you've got it off your chest...
[moving to door, opening it]
Arthur Keats: Kennedy?
Ezra Liam Kennedy: Yes, sir?
[enters]
Arthur Keats: [closes door] That confession Mrs. Smith signed. What did you do with it?
Ezra Liam Kennedy: I gave it to Jimmy White to lock up in your safe like you told me to.
Arthur Keats: [opening door] That's all.
[Kennedy leaves, he closes door]
Cora Smith: You mean he's not from the D.A.'s office?
Frank Chambers: He's a plainclothes dick if I ever saw one.
Arthur Keats: He used to be a dick, but he's not a dick anymore. He works for me no

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Best Supporting Actor Oscar 1944






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Hume Cronyn Facts
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)).

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.

Attended Ridley College, St. Catharines, Ontario

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Canadian Hall of Fame

Also on the Canadian Walk of Fame


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