Date of Birth

9 February 1891, Richmond, Surrey, England, UK

Date of Death

19 May 1958, Santa Barbara, California, USA (lung infection)

Born Richmond, Surrey, England on February 9, 1891. Height 5 feet 11 inches; dark brown hair and eyes; weight 158 pounds. Father: Charles Colman, not in the business. Educated at Littlehampton, Sussex, England. Hobbies: Tennis, motoring, reading and swiming. He was in the British Army during World War I. Two years on stage in England, UK

British leading man of primarily American films, one of the great stars of the Golden Age. Raised in Ealing, the son of a successful silk merchant, he attended boarding school in Sussex, where he first discovered amateur theatre. He intended to attend Cambridge and become an engineer, but his father's death cost him the financial support necessary. He joined the London Scottish Regionals and at the outbreak of World War I was sent to France. Seriously wounded at the battle of Messines--he was gassed--he was invalided out of service scarcely two months after shipping out for France. Upon his recovery he tried to enter the consular service, but a chance encounter got him a small role in a London play. He dropped other plans and concentrated on the theatre, and was rewarded with a succession of increasingly prominent parts. He made extra money appearing in a few minor films, and in 1920 set out for New York in hopes of finding greater fortune there than in war-depressed England. After two years of impoverishment he was cast in a Broadway hit, "La Tendresse". Director Henry King spotted him in the show and cast him as Lillian Gish's leading man in The White Sister (1923). His success in the film led to a contract with Samuel Goldwyn, and his career as a Hollywood leading man was underway. He became a vastly popular star of silent films, in romances as well as adventure films. The coming of sound made his extraordinarily beautiful speaking voice even more important to the film industry. He played sophisticated, thoughtful characters of integrity with enormous aplomb, and swashbuckled expertly when called to do so in films like The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). A decade later he received an Academy Award for his splendid portrayal of a tormented actor in A Double Life (1947). Much of his later career was devoted to "The Halls of Ivy", a radio show that later was transferred to television "The Halls of Ivy" (1954). He continued to work until nearly the end of his life, which came in 1958 after a brief lung illness. He was survived by his second wife, actress Benita Hume, and their daughter Juliet Benita Colman.

He made his film debut in an unreleased two-reel short made in 1919. Its title is unknown, and references to it as 'Live Wire, The (1917)' apparently erroneously connect it to a play of that title in which Colman appeared around the same time.

His recording of "A Christmas Carol", originally released in a Decca 78-RPM set in 1941, was the first recorded version to win wide acclaim. It appeared several times on LP, and has recently (October 2005) been released on CD by Deutsche Grammophon, along with its frequent companion piece on LP, "Mr. Pickwick's Christmas".

Fought with the British Army in World War I, and was wounded during the Battle of Ypres.

In his early film career he was panned by many critics for his overtheatrics (used in the stage work he was doing at the time) and his pronounced limp (from a bad war injury). He credited working with greats such as George Arliss for overcoming those obstacles.

When he made his mark in Hollywood as a handsome young silent actor, there were some who doubted he would translate well to "talkies." His subsequent success in radio (he made a multi-volume recording of the William Shakespeare sonnets, as well) proves them wrong with a vengeance.

Christopher Walken (whose given name is Ronald) was named for him.

He, along with wife Benita Hume, were frequent guests on Jack Benny's radio show. The Colmans were supposed to be next-door neighbors. After Colman won his Oscar, Jack borrowed it to take home only to be robbed and the Oscar taken. For several weeks the show story line was the recovery of the stolen Oscar.

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