Robert Greig
| Robert Greig | |
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 publicity photo from Sullivan's Travels (1941) |
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| Born | December 27, 1879 Melbourne, Australia |
| Died | June 27, 1958 (aged 78) Los Angeles, California |
| Years active | 1928–1949 |
Robert Greig (27 December 1879 – 27 June 1958) was an Australian-American actor who appeared in over 100 films between 1930 and 1949, usually as the dutiful butler.
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[edit] Career
Greig was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1878, and made his Broadway debut in 1928[1] in an operetta, Countess Maritza.[2] His next production was the Marx Brothers' comedy, Animal Crackers,[3] in which he played the butler, "Hives", and he repeated his characterization when the play was filmed in 1930. Animal Crackers[4] became his film debut, and set the pattern for much of his career, as he was often cast as a butler or other servant.[5][6]
Although he did several other productions on Broadway, the last in 1938,[1] after his film debut Greig worked steadily in films.[5] He worked again with the Marx Brothers in 1932's Horse Feathers, in which he played a biology professor,[7] and was featured in the 1932 short Jitters the Butler. Notable films in which he broke out of butler-mode were Cockeyed Cavaliers (1934) starring Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey,[8] in which Greig played the "Duke of Weskit", and Algiers (1938),[9] in which he was "Giraux", the wealthy and gross protector of Hedy Lamarr.[6]
In the 1940s, Greig was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in six films written and directed by Sturges.[10] His performances in Sullivan's Travels, The Lady Eve and The Palm Beach Story, in which he played a member of the "Ale & Quail Club", were among his best.[6]
Greig's last film was Bride of Vengeance, a 1949 Paulette Goddard vehicle, in which he played the uncredited part of a "Councillor."[11]
[edit] Death
Greig died in Los Angeles, California on 27 June 1958 at the age of 78: he is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.[12]
[edit] Selected filmography
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[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Robert Greig at the Internet Broadway Database
- ^ Countess Maritza at the Internet Broadway Database
- ^ Animal Crackers at the Internet Broadway Database
- ^ Animal Crackers at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ a b Robert Greig at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ a b c Erickson, Hal Biography (Allmovie)
- ^ Horse Feathers at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Cockeyed Cavaliers at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Algiers at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Greig appeared in The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Great Moment, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock and Unfaithfully Yours. He also acted in I Married a Witch, which Sturges produced, and had appeared earlier in Easy Living, written by Sturges.
- ^ Bridge of Vengeance at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ "Robert Greig". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8042186. Retrieved October 17, 2010.
[edit] External links
- Robert Greig at the Internet Broadway Database
- Robert Greig at the Internet Movie Database
- Robert Greig at AllRovi
- Robert Greig at the TCM Movie Database
- Robert Greig at Find a Grave
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