Not so many people like black and white films or perhaps the Eastman colour films with popular stars like Audrey Hepburn, Lorry Johnson etc in them. But they have been an enduring mystery for me. The movies were made to match traditional sensibilities of the time and they're fast peek into the ethics, culture, and manners which were common at the time. Men were so simple, beautiful, polite and straight while ladies were always classily dressed, beautiful and with short pretty hair. For me, every black and white Hollywood silent or speaking star is an individual favourite but of the lot, Adolphe Menjou remains the pinnacle of the lot.
Adolphe Menjou: Personal Life
Adolphe Jean Menjou was born on Feb 18th, 1890. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to a French dad. His father, Jean Adolphe Menjou, married a local Irish lady from Galway called Nora Joyce. Nora was related to novelist/poet James Joyce who wrote Ulysses. Jean was an energetic man and worked are a restaurateur in his birth city of Commune D'Arbus, France before he immigrated to the US. In America too , he was able to be get hired quite quickly as a hotel manager. It was in the States that he saw the Joyce sistes who worked at the Hotel Duquene, Pittsburgh.
He fell madly in love with Nora who have one of the sisters and after a windstorm courtship, he married her and settled down. After marriage, his mum was a housewife. The marriage was an exceedingly happy one and Adolphe Menjou was born fairly quickly. After Adolphe was born, this father moved to Cleveland for better prospects. Jean was more fascinated by having his boy study and work at an illustrious job. He pushed his son into Culver Military Academy in Indiana followed by the Stiles University prep school and then Cornell University. Although, Adolphe got the very best of education, he was still basically enthusiastic about show business which his dad adamantly opposed. Opposing his father's demands, he modified his major and went in to liberal humanities. He was in a position to get a few tiny roles but in the early 1910s, he had to return back to the help his dad in the diner, Maison Menjou due to financial crisis.
Film History
Although, Adolphe Menjou stayed in New York City for some wierd reason, he never went into Broadway. He was able to get a few bit parts in movies right up to the year 1915. As he was struggling to get in to pictures, he worked as a laborer, waiter and even a haberdasher. When World War I rolled around, he enrolled and worked as a captain in the French Ambulance Corps. After the War, He was in a position to work in the movie industry as a production executive and a unit chief. But his real break came in 1921. In the year 1921, he was able to break into the top tier of Hollywood with The Faith Healer, which was quickly followed by Thru The Back Door.
He became so popular that he was able to earn strong connections in Hollywood and he earned a Paramount contract for the next a decade. He quickly earned himself the standing of being a women man and at last went on to make 1 or 2 hit flicks in the subsequent a decade. However , the stock market crash put a cap on all that. His fluency in different languages meant that he was in a position to pull in 2nd leads only for the next few years. He managed to get a Best Actor Award for The Front Page. After WWII however , he started to sag in popularity. Switching over to a speaking role also became a little bit complicated.
Personal Life
The twice divorced actor finally discovered contentment with actress Verree Teasdale. After a long battle with hepatitis, he eventually expired on October 29, 1963, at the age of 73.
Adolphe Menjou: Personal Life
Adolphe Jean Menjou was born on Feb 18th, 1890. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to a French dad. His father, Jean Adolphe Menjou, married a local Irish lady from Galway called Nora Joyce. Nora was related to novelist/poet James Joyce who wrote Ulysses. Jean was an energetic man and worked are a restaurateur in his birth city of Commune D'Arbus, France before he immigrated to the US. In America too , he was able to be get hired quite quickly as a hotel manager. It was in the States that he saw the Joyce sistes who worked at the Hotel Duquene, Pittsburgh.
He fell madly in love with Nora who have one of the sisters and after a windstorm courtship, he married her and settled down. After marriage, his mum was a housewife. The marriage was an exceedingly happy one and Adolphe Menjou was born fairly quickly. After Adolphe was born, this father moved to Cleveland for better prospects. Jean was more fascinated by having his boy study and work at an illustrious job. He pushed his son into Culver Military Academy in Indiana followed by the Stiles University prep school and then Cornell University. Although, Adolphe got the very best of education, he was still basically enthusiastic about show business which his dad adamantly opposed. Opposing his father's demands, he modified his major and went in to liberal humanities. He was in a position to get a few tiny roles but in the early 1910s, he had to return back to the help his dad in the diner, Maison Menjou due to financial crisis.
Film History
Although, Adolphe Menjou stayed in New York City for some wierd reason, he never went into Broadway. He was able to get a few bit parts in movies right up to the year 1915. As he was struggling to get in to pictures, he worked as a laborer, waiter and even a haberdasher. When World War I rolled around, he enrolled and worked as a captain in the French Ambulance Corps. After the War, He was in a position to work in the movie industry as a production executive and a unit chief. But his real break came in 1921. In the year 1921, he was able to break into the top tier of Hollywood with The Faith Healer, which was quickly followed by Thru The Back Door.
He became so popular that he was able to earn strong connections in Hollywood and he earned a Paramount contract for the next a decade. He quickly earned himself the standing of being a women man and at last went on to make 1 or 2 hit flicks in the subsequent a decade. However , the stock market crash put a cap on all that. His fluency in different languages meant that he was in a position to pull in 2nd leads only for the next few years. He managed to get a Best Actor Award for The Front Page. After WWII however , he started to sag in popularity. Switching over to a speaking role also became a little bit complicated.
Personal Life
The twice divorced actor finally discovered contentment with actress Verree Teasdale. After a long battle with hepatitis, he eventually expired on October 29, 1963, at the age of 73.
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If you want to discover more about Adolphe Menjou then stop by and check out Ralp Deluca's blog on vintage picture and concert posters.
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