Raymond Massey

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada’s largest city, on August 30, 1896, Raymond Hart Massey was the son of a wealthy tractor company owner. After studying at the University of Toronto, World War I broke out, so he decided to enlist in the Canadian Army, and went to the European front. When he was sent with his unit to Siberia, he discovered his acting ability by participating in shows organized to entertain the troops.

After being wounded in combat, Raymond Massey was repatriated, and he devoted himself at first to the family tractor business. But he had been left with the desire to try his luck as an actor, so in a few months he decided to leave everything to dedicate himself to his vocation. He obtained a contract to represent the work “In the Zone”, in 1922, on the London stage, where he drew the attention of one of the most important producers operating in British cinema, Alexander Korda .

He made his film debut in High Treason and The Crooked Billet , two silent films in which he was not even credited. In 1931 he became the first talking film Sherlock Holmes, starring in The Speckled Band . After The House of Shadows and The Scarlet Pimpernel , Massey starred in a legendary British film, The Afterlife , considered one of the first milestones in cinematic science fiction. The script by the great HG Wells narrated what was happening in a city from the mid-20th century to the year 2036, and Massey played the central character, John Cabal, and also his descendant.

Massey was a stupendous adventure movie villain, in titles like Under the Scarlet Cloak , where he was Cardinal Richelieu. He soon moved to Hollywood, where he made such titles as The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) , where he played Black Michael, the sinister individual who planned to usurp his brother’s throne. He was given a small role by John Ford in Hurricane Over the Island .

Although he was born in Canada, his mother was American, and he ended up acquiring that same nationality. He stood out playing historical figures in the United States, such as the abolitionist John Brown, whom he gave life to twice, in Camino de Santa Fe and Seven Ungry Men . He was also President Lincoln several times, in the movies Lincoln in Illinois and How the West Was Won , and in three television productions.

Throughout a brilliant and fruitful career, Massey has played memorable supporting roles in numerous films. He was a Machiavellian Nazi in Desperate Journey , captain of a freight ship in Action in the North Atlantic , district attorney in La mujer del cuadro , owner of a newspaper in El manantial –in one of his best jobs– or preacher in El oro from Mackenna .

However, two titles stand out in his filmography. In the field of comedy, he offered a hilarious composition of a murderer, who has been given the appearance of Boris Karloff by a surgeon , in Frank Capra ‘s round Arsenic Out of Pity . Raymond Massey’s most memorable role is undoubtedly the repressive father of James Dean ‘s character , in East of Eden , by Elia Kazan . The film became a symbol of a generation that challenged the values ​​of their parents.

Divorced from his first wife, Margery Fremantle, with whom he had a son, he was later joined by actresses Adrianne Allen –with whom he had two other offspring– and Dorothy Whitney, who accompanied him until the end. His children Daniel and Anna Massey are also dedicated to acting. Raymond Massey died on July 29, 1983, the same day as actor David Niven , who had been his co-star in The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) and Life or Death .