John Gallaudet

John Gallaudet
Gallaudet in Quicksand (1950)
Born	John Beury Gallaudet August 23, 1903 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	November 5, 1983 (aged 80) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	John Beury Gallaudet
Alma mater	Williams College
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1925–1974
Spouse(s)	Wynne Gibson (m. 1927; div. 1930) Constance Helen MacKenzie (m. 1932)
Children	3

Gallaudet was born in Philadelphia and attended Williams College.^[2] He began his theatrical career on stage, appearing on Broadway in When You Smile (1925), Don Q., Jr. (1926), On the Spot (1930), The Gang's All Here (1931), Here Goes the Bride (1931), Lost Horizons (1934), and Good Men and True (1935). ^[3]

In 1936, Gallaudet was signed by Columbia Pictures as a character player. For the next three years he appeared in more than 30 Columbia features, usually playing newspapermen, radio broadcasters, or one of the hero's associates on either side of the law. His Columbia credit most familiar to today's audiences is the Bing Crosby musical Pennies from Heaven (1936); Gallaudet plays a condemned convict who, unable to deliver a vital message himself, entrusts Crosby with it just before his execution.

In the late 1930s, Columbia had to comply with the Cinematograph Films Act of 1927, which decreed that American studios could release their films in Canada only if they agreed to distribute Canadian-made films in return. Columbia sent many of its contract actors and crew members to Canada, where films were made in Canadian studios while Columbia supervised the quality control. John Gallaudet made the trek to Canada, where for the only time in his screen career he received starring roles. He played crime-busting reporter Jerry Tracey in the action-adventure films Manhattan Shakedown and Murder Is News (both 1937). Columbia didn't release Murder Is News until 1939, and Variety promptly complained about the small-studio production values: "Production skimps on sets, lighting, and other technical details that might have helped to lift it out of the 'C' class."^[4] Showmen's Trade Review gave John Gallaudet the benefit of the doubt: "Gallaudet does his best to be what a columnist should, but reporters may be mystified at the interpretation."^[5]

Gallaudet left Columbia in 1938 to begin a busy freelance career, working for Universal Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. After World War II, when the major studios decided to make fewer but more expensive pictures, many actors found themselves underemployed, John Gallaudet among them. He began accepting assignments for minor-league companies like Monogram Pictures and Eagle-Lion Films, in addition to his major-studio work.

Gallaudet became a familiar face on television, appearing in such popular programs as Dragnet, World of Giants, Johnny Midnight, and The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. In the 1959 TV Western Bat Masterson, he played General William Tecumseh Sherman, whose life was in danger while visiting Dodge City. Gallaudet became one of the resident judges on the Perry Mason series, and was one of the few jurists to be identified by name ("Judge Ben Penner"). He continued to work in motion pictures and television through 1974, notably in the 1967 feature In Cold Blood.

Career

Personal life

Selected filmography

Selected television credits

References

Bibliography

External links

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