Tyrone Power Matinee Idol Collection (Cafe Metropole/Girls Dormitory/Johnny Apollo/Daytime Wife/Luck of the Irish/Ill Never Forget You/That Wonderful Urge/Love Is News/This Above All/Second Honeymoon)
Tyrone Power Collection (Blood and Sand / Son of Fury / The Black Rose / Prince of Foxes / The Captain from Castile)
(Tyrone Power Collection (Blood and Sand / Son of Fury / T...)
Tyrone Power Collection (Blood and Sand / Son of Fury / The Black Rose / Prince of Foxes / The Captain from Castile): Tyrone Power, Rita Hayworth, Linda Darnell, Orson Welles, Gene Tierney: Movies & TV
Johnny Apollo DVD (1940) Tyrone Power, Dorothy Lamour / Day-Time Wife (1939) Tyrone Power / Double Feature Movie
(Johnny Apollo DVD (1940) Tyrone Power, Dorothy Lamour / D...)
Johnny Apollo DVD (1940) Tyrone Power, Dorothy Lamour / Day-Time Wife (1939) Tyrone Power / Double Feature Movie: Dorothy Lamour, Edward Aenold Tyrone Power: Movies & TV
Tyrone Edmund Power III was an American film, stage and radio actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan, Prince of Foxes, Witness For The Prosecution, The Black Rose, and Captain from Castile. Power's own favorite film among those that he starred in was Nightmare Alley.
Background
Power was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1914, son of Helen Emma "Patia" (née Reaume) and the English-born American stage and screen actor Tyrone Power, Sr., often known by his first name 'Fred'. Power was descended from a long theatrical line going back to his great-grandfather, the actor and comedian Tyrone Power (1795–1841). Tyrone Power's sister, Ann Power was born in 1915, after the family moved to California. His father's ancestry included Irish, English, Scottish, Italian, German, and French Huguenots (the latter through his paternal grandmother's Lavenu and Blossett ancestors). His mother was Roman Catholic, and her ancestry included the French-Canadian Reaume family and Germans from Alsace-Lorraine.
Through his paternal great-grandmother, Anne Gilbert, Power was related to the actor Laurence Olivier; through his paternal grandmother, stage actress Ethel Lavenu, he was related by marriage to author Evelyn Waugh; and through his father's first cousin, Norah Emily Gorman Power, he was related to the theatrical director Sir (William) Tyrone Guthrie, founder of the Stratford Festival (now the Stratford Shakespeare Festival) in Canada and the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Education
Power went to Cincinnati-area Catholic schools and graduated from Purcell High School in 1931. Upon his graduation, he opted to join his father to learn what he could about acting from one of the stage's most respected actors.
Career
Power joined his father for the summer of 1931, after being separated from him for some years due to his parents' divorce. His father suffered a heart attack in December 1931, dying in his son's arms, while preparing to perform in The Miracle Man. Tyrone Power, Jr., as he was then known, decided to continue his pursuit of an acting career. He went door to door, trying to find work as an actor, and, while many contacts knew his father well, they offered praise for his father but no work for his son. He appeared in a bit part in 1932 in Tom Brown of Culver, a movie starring actor Tom Brown. Power's experience in that movie didn’t open any other doors, however, and, except for what amounted to little more than a job as an extra in Flirtation Walk, he found himself frozen out of the movies but making some appearances in community theater. Discouraged, he took the advice of a friend, Arthur Caesar, to go to New York to gain experience as a stage actor.
Power went to Hollywood in 1936. The director Henry King was impressed with his looks and poise, and he insisted that Power be tested for the lead role in Lloyd's of London, a role thought already to belong to Don Ameche. Despite his own reservations, Darryl F. Zanuck decided to give Power the role, once King and Fox editor Barbara McLean convinced him that Power had a greater screen presence than Ameche. Power was billed fourth in the movie but he had by far the most screen time of any actor. He walked into the premiere of the movie an unknown and he walked out a star, which he remained the rest of his career.
Power racked up hit after hit from 1936 until 1943, when his career was interrupted by military service. In these years he starred in romantic comedies such as Thin Ice and Day-Time Wife, in dramas such as Suez, Blood and Sand, Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake, The Rains Came and In Old Chicago; in musicals Alexander's Ragtime Band, Second Fiddle, and Rose of Washington Square; in the westerns Jesse James (1939) and Brigham Young; in the war films A Yank in the R.A.F. and This Above All; and the swashbucklers The Mark of Zorro and The Black Swan. Jesse James was a very big hit at the box office, but it did receive some criticism for fictionalizing and glamorizing the famous outlaw. The movie was shot in and around Pineville, Missouri, and was Power's first location shoot and his first Technicolor movie. (Before his career was over, he had filmed a total of 16 movies in color, including the movie he was filming when he died.) He was loaned out once, to MGM for Marie Antoinette (1938). Darryl F. Zanuck was angry that MGM used Fox's biggest star in what was, despite billing, a supporting role, and he vowed to never again loan him out, though Power's services were requested for the role of Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind; Joe Bonaparte in Golden Boy; Paris in King's Row; roles in several films produced by Harry Cohn; and to play Irving Thalberg in a planned production by Norma Shearer of The Last Tycoon.
In 1940 the direction of Power's career took a dramatic turn when his movie The Mark of Zorro was released. Power played the role of Don Diego Vega/Zorro, fop by day, bandit hero by night. The role had been made famous by Douglas Fairbanks in the 1920 movie of the same title. The film was a hit, and 20th Century Fox often cast Power in other swashbucklers in the years that followed. Power was a talented swordsman in real life, and the dueling scene in The Mark of Zorro is highly regarded. The great Hollywood swordsman, Basil Rathbone, who starred with him in The Mark of Zorro, commented, "Power was the most agile man with a sword I’ve ever faced before a camera. Tyrone could have fenced Errol Flynn into a cocked hat."
Power's career was interrupted in 1943 by military service. He reported to the United States Marine Corps for training in late 1942 but was sent back, at the request of 20th Century-Fox, to complete one more film, Crash Dive, a patriotic war movie released in 1943. He was credited in the movie as Tyrone Power, U.S.M.C.R., and the movie served as a recruiting film.
In August 1942, Power enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He attended boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, then Officer's Candidate School at Marine Corps Base Quantico, where he has commissioned a Second Lieutenant on June 2, 1943. As he had already logged 180 solo hours as a pilot before enlisting, he was able to do a short, intense flight training program at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. The pass earned him his wings and a promotion to First Lieutenant. The Marine Corps considered Power over the age limit for active combat flying; Power volunteered for piloting cargo planes that Power felt would get him into active combat zones.
In July 1944, Power was assigned to Marine Transport Squadron (VMR)-352 as an R5C (Navy version of Army Curtiss Commando C-46) transport co-pilot at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. The squadron moved to Marine Corps Air Station El Centro in California in December 1944. Power was later reassigned to VMR-353, joining them on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands in February 1945. From there, he flew missions carrying cargo in and wounded Marines out during the Battles of Iwo Jima (Feb-Mar 1945) and Okinawa (Apr-Jun 1945).
For his services in the Pacific War, Power was awarded the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronze stars, and the World War II Victory Medal.
Power returned to the United States in November 1945 and was released from active duty in January 1946. He was promoted to the rank of Captain in the reserves on May 8, 1951. He remained in the reserves the rest of his life and reached the rank of major in 1957.
In the June 2001 Marine Air Transporter newsletter, Jerry Taylor, a retired Marine Corps flight instructor, recalled training Power as a Marine pilot, saying, "He was an excellent student, never forgot a procedure I showed him or anything I told him." Others who served with him have also commented on how well Power was respected by those with whom he served. When Power died suddenly at age 44, he was buried with full military honors.
Power was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with his costume roles, and he struggled between being a star and becoming a great actor. He was forced to take on assignments that did not appeal to him, such movies as American Guerrilla in the Philippines (1950) and Pony Soldier (1952). In 1950 he traveled to England to play the title role in Mister Roberts on stage at the London Coliseum, bringing in sellout crowds for twenty-three weeks. Another disappointing role for Power, Diplomatic Courier (1952) is a cold war drama, directed by Henry Hathaway, but received very modest reviews. It took its place among several other American spy movies, released previously, with similar material.
Untamed (1955) was Tyrone Power's last movie made under his contract with 20th Century-Fox. The same year saw the release of The Long Gray Line, a successful John Ford film for Columbia Pictures. In 1956, the year Columbia released The Eddy Duchin Story, another great success for the star, he returned to England to play the rake Dick Dudgeon in a revival of Shaw's The Devil's Disciple for one week at the Opera House in Manchester, and nineteen weeks at the Winter Garden, London.
Power's old boss, Darryl F. Zanuck, persuaded him to play the lead role in The Sun Also Rises (1957), adapted from the Hemingway novel, with Ava Gardner and Errol Flynn. This was his final film with Fox. Released that same year were Seven Waves Away (US: Abandon Ship), shot in Great Britain, and John Ford's Rising of the Moon (narrator only), which was filmed in Ireland, both for Copa Productions.
For Power's last completed film role he was cast against type as the accused murderer Leonard Vole in the first film version of Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution (1957), directed by Billy Wilder. The critic for The National Post, Robert Fulford, commented on Power's "superb performance" as "the seedy, stop-at-nothing exploiter of women". The movie was well received and success at the box office. Power returned to the stage in March 1958 to play the lead in Arnold Moss's adaptation of Shaw's 1921 play, Back to Methuselah.
In September 1958, Power and his wife Deborah went to Madrid and Valdespartera, Spain, to film the epic Solomon and Sheba, to be directed by King Vidor, co-starring Gina Lollobrigida. Power had filmed about 75 percent of his scenes when he was stricken by a massive heart attack while filming a dueling scene with his frequent co-star and friend, George Sanders. He was driven to the hotel Castellana Hilton at 12:45 a.m. while still dressed as King Solomon. He fainted at the reception of the hotel, and a doctor named Torroba arrived and ordered him immediately to the hospital. The doctors tried for an hour to revive Power, to no avail. Doctor Juan Olaguíbel diagnosed Power's death as a "fulminant Angina pectoris": the blood choking the aorta, impeding breathing. He died in Madrid on November 15, 1958, aged 44.
Achievements
For Power's contribution to motion pictures, in 1960, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, that can be found at 6747 Hollywood Blvd. On the 50th anniversary of his death, Power was honored by American Cinematheque with a weekend of films and remembrances by co-stars and family, and memorabilia display. The event was held at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles from November 14–16, 2008.
Power is shown on the cover of The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the third row.
Member of Screen Actors Guild, Actors Equity Association, American Federal Radio Artists. Awards: Old Gold Popularity Award, 1937, 38. Club: Players (New York).
Served in the United States Marine Corps World World War World War II.
Connections
Power was one of Hollywood's most eligible bachelors until he married French actress Annabella (born Suzanne Georgette Charpentier) on April 23, 1939. They had met on the 20th Century Fox lot around the time they starred together in the movie Suez. Tyrone Power adopted Annabella's daughter, Anne before leaving for service. In an A&E biography, Annabella said that Zanuck "could not stop Tyrone's love for me or my love for Tyrone." J. Watson Webb, a close friend, and an editor at 20th Century Fox maintained in the A&E Biography that one of the reasons the marriage fell apart was Annabella's inability to give Power a son. Webb said that there was no bitterness between the couple. In a March 1947 issue of Photoplay, Power was interviewed and said that he wanted a home and children, especially a son to carry on his acting legacy.
Annabella shed some light on the situation in an interview that she did for Movieland magazine in 1948. She said, "Our troubles began because the war started earlier for me, a French-born woman than it did for Americans." She explained that the war clouds over Europe made her unhappy and irritable, and to get her mind off her troubles, she began accepting stage work, which often took her away from home. "It is always difficult to put one's finger exactly on the place and time where a marriage starts to break up," she said "but I think it began then. We were terribly sad about it, both of us, but we knew we were drifting apart. I didn’t think then – and I don’t think now that it was his fault or mine." The couple tried to make their marriage work when Power returned from military service, but they were unable to do so. They were legally separated in the fall of 1946; however, the divorce was finalized in early 1949.
Following his separation from Annabella, Power entered into a love affair with Lana Turner that lasted for a couple of years. In her 1982 autobiography, Turner claimed that she became pregnant with Power's child in 1948, but chose to have an abortion.
On September 1, 1947, Power set out on a goodwill trip around the world, piloting his own plane, "The Geek". He flew with Bob Buck, an experienced pilot and war veteran. Buck stated in his autobiography that Power had a photographic mind, was an excellent pilot, and genuinely liked people. They flew with a crew to various locations in Europe and South Africa, often mobbed by fans when they hit the ground. However, in 1948 when "The Geek" reached Rome, Power met and fell in love with Linda Christian. Turner claimed that the story of her dining out with Power's friend Frank Sinatra was leaked to Power and that Power became very upset that she was "dating" another man in his absence. Turner also claimed that it could not have been a coincidence that Linda Christian was at the same hotel as Tyrone Power and implied that Christian had obtained Power's itinerary from 20th Century Fox.
Power and Christian were married on January 27, 1949, in the Church of Santa Francesca, with an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 screaming fans outside. Christian miscarried three times before giving birth to a baby girl, Romina Francesca Power, on October 2, 1951. A second daughter, Taryn Stephanie Power, was born on September 13, 1953. Around the time of Taryn's birth, the marriage was becoming rocky. In her autobiography, Christian blamed the breakup of her marriage on her husband's extramarital affairs but acknowledged that she had had an affair with Edmund Purdom, which created great tension between Christian and her husband. They divorced in 1955.
After his divorce from Christian, Power had a long-lasting love affair with Mai Zetterling, who he had met on the set of Abandon Ship. At the time, he vowed that he would never marry again because he had been twice burned financially by his previous marriages. He also entered into an affair with a British actress, Thelma Ruby. However, in 1957, he met Deborah Ann Minardos. They were married on May 7, 1958, and she became pregnant soon after with the son he had always wanted.
