Oscar Actors: Arliss, George–Background, Career, Awards

George Arliss Career Summary:

George Arliss (born Augustus George Andrews, April 10, 1868–Feb 5, 1946) was an English actor, playwright, and filmmaker who found success in the U.S.

He was the first British actor to win an Oscar, which he received for his performance as Victorian-era British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli in Disraeli (1929), as well as the earliest-born actor to win the honor.

He was born in London and commonly listed as “George Augustus Andrews.” His relatives referred to him as Uncle Gus. Arliss was educated at Harrow.

He started work in the publishing office of his father (William Joseph Arliss Andrews), but left it at age 18 to go on the stage.  He began his acting career in the British provinces in 1887.

By 1900, he was playing London’s West End in supporting roles. He embarked for a tour of America in 1901 in Mrs. Patrick Campbell’s troupe, intending to remain in the United States only for the length of the tour. Arliss stayed for twenty years, making his Broadway debut in Magda (1902).

Producer George Tyler commissioned Louis Napoleon Parker in 1911 to write a play tailored for Arliss, and the actor toured in Disraeli for five years, eventually becoming closely identified with the 19th century British prime minister.

He began his film career with The Devil (1921), followed by Disraeli and four other silent films.

At present, only The Devil, Disraeli, $20 a Week, and The Green Goddess (1923), based on the hit stage play in which he had starred, have survived.

He remade both The Green Goddess and Disraeli in sound in 1929 (and won the Best Actor Oscar for Disraeli), converting successfully, at age 61, from a star of the legitimate theatre, and then silent films, to sound films.

Arliss made 10 sound films for Warner Bros. under a contract that gave him unusual amount of creative control.  His casting of actors and rewriting of scripts were granted him by the studio.

The Man Who Played God (1932) offered Bette Davis her first lead role. She always credited Arliss for personally insisting upon her as his leading lady and giving her a chance to show her abilities. The two also co-starred in The Working Man in 1933.

Arliss built a production unit at Warners’ in front of and behind the cameras. Maude T. Howell, his stage manager, became assistant producer, one of the few female film execs in Hollywood at that time.

After his first three films, Arliss approved John Adolfi, a Warners director open to collaboration, to direct each of his films. Adolfi soon was regarded as a successful director of the critically and financially acclaimed Arliss films.

Arliss preferred to use the same reliable actors, Ivan Simpson (also sculptor) and Charles Evans, from film to film.

Arliss had an eye for discovering unknown talent, James Cagney, Randolph Scott and Dick Powell.

Despite his extensive involvement in the planning and production of his films, Arliss claimed credit only for acting.

Working closely with Warners’ chief, Darryl F. Zanuck, Arliss left the studio when Zanuck resigned in April 1933. (Arliss’s fave director John Adolfi also died suddenly in May.) Zanuck quickly signed Arliss to make new films at the fledgling studio, 20th Century Pictures, prompting Warners’ to complain that Zanuck had “stolen” their star.

Historical Biopics

Arliss is remembered primarily for his historical biopics, such as Disraeli, Alexander Hamilton, Voltaire, The House of Rothschild, The Iron Duke, and Cardinal Richelieu.

However, he also made domestic comedies, The Millionaire, A Successful Calamity, The Working Man, and The Last Gentleman.

He often appeared with his wife Florence Arliss (1870–1950), to whom he was married from September 14, 1899 until his death. Florence (or “Flo”) starred both on stage and in films, silent and sound, with her husband and almost always played his spouse.

However, that did not prevent Arliss from using another actress when Flo was not right for a role. Also, Flo turned down roles that George wanted her to play in some films.

In 1934, British filmgoers named Arliss their favorite male star.

Arliss was 70 when he completed the British-made Doctor Syn in 1937. He and Flo returned to America later that year to visit old friends, famed astronomer Edwin Hubble in California.

Producer-director Cecil B. DeMille arranged for the Arlisses to re-enact their roles in Disraeli on Lux Radio Theatre, DeMille’s popular radio show, in January 1938. The occasion was heralded as “a new page in radio history.”

George and Flo subsequently appeared on Lux in radio adaptations of The Man Who Played God in March 1938 and in Cardinal Richelieu in January 1939, which was apparently their final dramatic appearance anywhere.

Back in London in April 1939, the onset of the Second World War prevented their return to America during Arliss’s remaining years.

The only taint of scandal involved charges by the British Government in September 1941 that Arliss had not complied with recent requirement to report bank accounts he maintained in the U.S. and Canada (similar charges were also brought against actor-playwright Noël Coward). Both men claimed ignorance of the new law, but they were fined and humiliated by the experience.

Arliss settled at Pangbourne in Berkshire. Film producer Darryl F. Zanuck tried to interest Arliss in returning to Hollywood to star in The Pied Piper in 1942. Braving the Luftwaffe’s Blitz on London throughout the war, Arliss remained in his native city.

He died in Maida Hill in London of bronchial ailment on Feb 5, 1946, aged 77.

An honorary Master of Arts degree he received from Columbia University in 1919.

In 1927, Arliss’s autobiography “Up the Years” from Bloomsbury was published.

Arliss was a prominent anti-vivisectionist who founded the National Anti-Vivisection Society of Chicago. He was president of the Episcopal Actors’ Guild of America from 1921 to 1938.

He was a strict vegetarian, famously stating that “I eat nothing I can pat.”

He walked four miles each day and took interest in aerobics.

Arliss has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6648-1/2 Hollywood Boulevard. He is also a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Filmography: about 25 features

1921 The Devil Dr. Muller
1921 Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli
1922 The Man Who Played God Montgomery Royle
1922 The Ruling Passion James Alden
1922 The Starland Review Himself archive
1923 The Green Goddess Rajah of Rukh
1924 Twenty Dollars a Week John Reeves
1929 Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, Best Actor Oscar
1930 The Green Goddess Raja of Rukh, Oscar Nominated Best Actor
1930 Old English Sylvanus Heythorp
1931 Alexander Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton
1931 The Millionaire James Alden
1932 A Successful Calamity Henry Wilton
1932 The Man Who Played God Montgomery Royle (The Silent Voice in UK.)
1933 Voltaire Voltaire
1933 The Working Man John Reeves
1933 The King’s Vacation Phillip, the King
1934 The Iron Duke Duke of Wellington
1934 The Last Gentleman Cabot Barr
1934 The House of Rothschild Mayer Rothschild / Nathan Rothschild Finale filmed in Technicolor
1935 The Tunnel Prime Minister UK Released as Transatlantic Tunnel in US
1935 Cardinal Richelieu Cardinal Richelieu
1935 The Guv’nor The Guv’nor Released as Mister Hobo in the United States
1936 His Lordship Richard Fraser/Lorimer, Lord Duncaster (aka Man of Affair)
1936 East Meets West Sultan of Rungay
1937 Doctor Syn, Dr. Syn
1939 Land of Liberty, archive footage
1943 The Voice That Thrilled World, Himself, segment Disraeli, archive footage, uncredited