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Raymond Massey

Raymond Massey

Highest Rated: 100% The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)

Lowest Rated: 56% Santa Fe Trail (1940)

Birthday: Aug 30, 1896

Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Exceptionally tall, with distinctive, unconventional features and a commanding presence, actor Raymond Massey built an impressive career out of playing reassuring authority figures and scheming villains equally well. The Canadian-born actor first honed his craft on the stages of the U.K. for nearly 10 years before venturing across the Atlantic to appear on Broadway as "Hamlet" and in early sound pictures like "The Speckled Band" (1931), in the role of Sherlock Holmes. Massey demonstrated his versatility with venomous characters in films like "The Prisoner of Zenda" (1937) juxtaposed against his career-defining portrayal of the 16th U.S. president in "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" (1940), based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play written with him in mind. Massey became the stuff of Hollywood legend when the aftermath of his divorce from actress Adrianne Allen inspired the beloved Tracy-Hepburn comedy "Adam's Rib" (1949). As an actor, Massey continually impressed with is ability to make difficult characters sympathetic in such films as "The Fountainhead" (1949), opposite Gary Cooper, and as James Dean's emotionally unavailable father in "East of Eden" (1955). A younger generation of fans came to appreciate his later work as Richard Chamberlain's authoritative mentor Dr. Gillespie on "Dr. Kildare" (NBC, 1961-66). Even as his half-century career neared its end, Massey continued to make memorable contributions to such big-budget Hollywood offerings as the Western "Mackenna's Gold" (1969). One of the first and best examples of a "working actor" in film, Massey never failed to elevate the integrity of any project.

Highest rated movies

100% 80% The Prisoner of Zenda
97% 93% A Matter of Life and Death
97% 70% The Old Dark House
91% 55% Things to Come
90% 75% The Scarlet Pimpernel
88% 74% How the West Was Won
88% 76% 49th Parallel
86% 90% East of Eden

Filmography

Movies

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet All My Darling Daughters' Anniversary Matthew Cunningham (Character) - 1973
No Score Yet No Score Yet All My Darling Daughters Matthew Cunningham (Character) - 1972
No Score Yet 50% The President's Plane Is Missing Secretary Of State Freeman Sharkey (Character) - 1971
88% 74% How the West Was Won Abraham Lincoln (Character) - 1962
No Score Yet No Score Yet Jacqueline Kennedy's Asian Journey Narrator - 1962
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Fiercest Heart Willem Prinsloo (Character) - 1961
No Score Yet 84% The Great Impostor Abbott Donner (Character) - 1960
83% 46% The Naked and the Dead Gen. Cummings (Character) - 1958
No Score Yet 33% Omar Khayyam The Shah (Character) - 1957
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Naked Eye Unknown (Character) - 1956
No Score Yet 57% Prince of Players Junius Brutus Booth (Character) - 1955
No Score Yet No Score Yet Seven Angry Men John Brown (Character) - 1955
No Score Yet 45% Battle Cry Maj. Gen. Snipes (Character) - 1955
86% 90% East of Eden Adam Trask (Character) - 1955
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Queen's Guards Capt. Fellowes (Character) - 1955
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Desert Song Sheik Yousseff (Character) - 1953
No Score Yet 41% Carson City A.J. "Big" Jack Davis (Character) - 1952
60% 34% David and Bathsheba Nathan (Character) - 1951
No Score Yet No Score Yet Swirl of Glory Jacob Stint (Character) - 1951
No Score Yet 62% Come Fill the Cup John Ives (Character) - 1951
No Score Yet No Score Yet Sugarfoot Jacob Stint (Character) - 1951
No Score Yet 28% Chain Lightning Leland Willis (Character) - 1950
No Score Yet No Score Yet Barricade Boss Kruger (Character) - 1950
No Score Yet 55% Dallas Will Marlow (Character) - 1950
No Score Yet 20% Roseanna McCoy Old Randall McCoy (Character) - 1949
83% 74% The Fountainhead Gail Wynand (Character) - 1949
83% 77% Possessed Dean Graham (Character) - 1947
67% 45% Mourning Becomes Electra Ezra Mannon (Character) - 1947
97% 93% A Matter of Life and Death Abraham Farlan (Character) - 1946
No Score Yet 50% God Is My Co-Pilot Maj. Gen. Claire L. Chennault (Character) - 1945
No Score Yet 67% Hotel Berlin Arnim von Dahnwitz (Character) - 1945
86% 92% Arsenic and Old Lace Jonathan Brewster (Character) - 1944
86% 83% The Woman in the Window Frank Lalor, District Attorney (Character) - 1944
No Score Yet 72% Action in the North Atlantic Capt. Steve Jarvis (Character) - 1943
67% 70% Desperate Journey Major Otto Baumeister (Character) - 1942
80% 57% Reap the Wild Wind King Cutler (Character) - 1942
No Score Yet 42% Dangerously They Live Dr. Ingersoll (Character) - 1941
88% 76% 49th Parallel Andy Brock (Character) - 1941
75% 70% Abe Lincoln in Illinois Abe Lincoln (Character) - 1940
56% 50% Santa Fe Trail John Brown (Character) - 1940
No Score Yet No Score Yet Black Limelight Peter Charrington (Character) - 1939
83% 56% The Drum Prince Ghul (Character) - 1938
No Score Yet 68% The Hurricane DeLaage (Character) - 1937
100% 80% The Prisoner of Zenda Black Michael (Character) - 1937
No Score Yet No Score Yet Under the Red Robe Cardinal Richelieu (Character) - 1937
No Score Yet 51% Fire Over England King Philip II of Spain (Character) - 1937
No Score Yet No Score Yet Dreaming Lips Miguel del Vayo (Character) - 1937
91% 55% Things to Come John Cabal/Oswald Cabal (Character) - 1936
90% 75% The Scarlet Pimpernel Chauvelin (Character) - 1935
97% 70% The Old Dark House Philip Waverton (Character) - 1932
No Score Yet 20% The Speckled Band Sherlock Holmes (Character) - 1931

TV

Credit
No Score Yet 100% Night Gallery Unknown (Character),
Unknown (Guest Star)
1971-1972
10% No Score Yet The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. Unknown (Guest Star) 1966
No Score Yet No Score Yet Dr. Kildare Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Character) 1961-1966
No Score Yet No Score Yet What's My Line? Guest 1962
No Score Yet No Score Yet Wagon Train Montezuma IX (Guest Star) 1960
No Score Yet No Score Yet Zane Grey Theatre Unknown (Character) 1960
No Score Yet 87% Alfred Hitchcock Presents Sam Pine (Character) 1959
No Score Yet No Score Yet Climax! Unknown (Character),
Writer
1956
No Score Yet No Score Yet The 20th Century-Fox Hour Unknown (Character) 1955