Name
George Brent
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1904-03-15
Deathday
1979-05-26 (75 years old)
Place of Birth
Ballinasloe, County Galway, Ireland
Biography
George Brent (born George Brendan Nolan; 15 March 1904 – 26 May 1979) was an Irish-American stage, film, and television actor.
Brent was born in Ballinasloe, County Galway in 1904 to John J. and Mary (née McGuinness) Nolan. His mother was a native of Clonfad, Moore, County Roscommon.
Brent made his first film, Under Suspicion, in 1930. Over the next two years, he appeared in a number of minor films produced by Universal Studios and Fox, before being signed to contract by Warner Bros. in 1932. He remained at Warner Bros. for the next 20 years, carving out a successful career as a top-flight leading man during the late 1930s and 1940s.
Highly regarded by Bette Davis, he became her most frequent male co-star, appearing with her in 13 films, including Front Page Woman (1935), Special Agent (1935), The Golden Arrow (1936), Jezebel (1938), The Old Maid (1939), Dark Victory (1939), and The Great Lie (1941). Brent also played opposite Ruby Keeler in 42nd Street (1933), Greta Garbo in The Painted Veil (1934), Ginger Rogers in In Person (1935), Madeleine Carroll in The Case Against Mrs. Ames (1936), Jean Arthur in More Than a Secretary (1936), Myrna Loy in Stamboul Quest (1934) and The Rains Came (1939), Merle Oberon in 'Til We Meet Again (1940), Ann Sheridan in Honeymoon for Three (1941), Joan Fontaine in The Affairs of Susan (1945), Barbara Stanwyck in So Big! (1932), The Purchase Price (1932), Baby Face (1933), The Gay Sisters (1942), and My Reputation (1946), Claudette Colbert in Tomorrow Is Forever (1946), Dorothy McGuire in The Spiral Staircase (1946), Lucille Ball in Lover Come Back (1946), and Yvonne De Carlo in Slave Girl (1947).
Brent drifted into "B" pictures from the late 1940s and retired from film in 1953. He continued to appear on television until 1960, having appeared on the religion anthology series Crossroads. He was cast in the lead in the 1956 television series Wire Service. In 1978, he made one last film, the made-for-television production Born Again.
In 1960, Brent was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with two stars. He received a motion-pictures star located at 1709 Vine Street, and a second star located at 1612 Vine Street for his work in television.
Brent was married five times: Helen Louise Campbell (1925–1927), Ruth Chatterton (1932–1934), Constance Worth (1937), Ann Sheridan (1942–1943), and Janet Michaels (1947–1974). His final marriage to Janet Michaels, a former model and dress designer, lasted 27 years until her death in 1974. They had a son and a daughter.
Brent also carried on a lengthy relationship with his frequent Warner Bros. co-star, actress Bette Davis, who described her last meeting with Brent after many years of estrangement. He was suffering from advanced emphysema, and she expressed great sadness at his ill health and deterioration. George Brent died in 1979 in Solana Beach, California.
Known For
5.9
Ace reporter Curt Devlin and fellow reporter Ellen Garfield love one another, but Curt bel...
5.96
A Czech refugee uses women to advance his business interest....
6.2
A federal tax agent goes undercover as a reporter and, working with a mobster's pretty boo...
7.3
Tongues begin to wag when a lonely widow becomes romantically involved with a military man...
6.942
Socialite Judith Traherne lives a lavish but emotionally empty life. Riding horses is one ...
6.4
The wife of a doctor in China falls in love with a diplomat....
6.1
Indian aristocrat Rama Safti returns from medical training in the U.S. to give his life to...
- 1933 42nd Street as Pat Denning
- 2006 Jezebel: Legend of the South as Self (archive footage)
- 1938 Jezebel as Buck Cantrell
- 1944 Experiment Perilous as Dr. Huntington Bailey
- 1946 The Spiral Staircase as Professor Warren
- 1942 You Can't Escape Forever as Steve Mitchell
- 1933 Baby Face as Courtland Trenholm
- 1939 Dark Victory as Dr. Frederick Steele
- 1942 In This Our Life as Craig Fleming
- 1949 Illegal Entry as Chief Agent Dan Collins
- 1941 The Great Lie as Peter 'Pete' Van Allen
- 1935 The Right to Live as Colin Trent
- 1934 Stamboul Quest as Douglas Beall
- 1946 Temptation as Nigel Armine
- 1946 Tomorrow Is Forever as Lawrence Hamilton
- 1939 The Old Maid as Clem Spender
- 1931 The Lightning Warrior as Alan Scott
- 1952 The Last Page as John Harman
- 1934 The Painted Veil as Jack Townsend
- 1935 Special Agent as Bill Bradford
- 1940 The Fighting 69th as Wild Bill Donovan
- 1933 Female as Jim Thorne
- 1932 The Purchase Price as Jim Gilson
- 1942 The Gay Sisters as Charles Barclay
- 1938 Racket Busters as Denny Jordan
- 1947 Christmas Eve as Michael Brooks
- 1933 Lilly Turner as Bob Chandler
- 1932 They Call It Sin as Dr. Tony Travers
- 1948 Luxury Liner as Captain Jeremy Bradford
- 1952 Montana Belle as Tom Bradfield
- 1932 So Big! as Adult Roelf Pool
- 1931 Homicide Squad as Jimmy
- 1946 My Reputation as Major Scott Landis
- 1932 The Rich Are Always with Us as Julian Tierney
- 1941 Honeymoon for Three as Kenneth Bixby
- 1939 Wings of the Navy as Cass Harrington
- 1942 Silver Queen as James Kincaid
- 1951 FBI Girl as Jeff Donley
- 1938 Out Where the Stars Begin as Jared Whitney (archive footage)
- 1937 God's Country and the Woman as Steve Russett
- 1933 Luxury Liner as Dr. Karl Bernhard
- 1940 The Man Who Talked Too Much as Stephen Forbes
- 1939 The Rains Came as Tom Ransome
- 1932 Week-End Marriage as Peter Acton
- 1940 'Til We Meet Again as Dan Hardesty
- 1934 Desirable as McAllister
- 1937 Mountain Justice as Paul Cameron
- 1935 The Goose and the Gander as Bob McNear
- 1940 Adventure in Diamonds as Capt. Stephen Dennett
- 1949 Red Canyon as Matthew Bostel
- 1938 Swingtime in the Movies as Himself (uncredited)
- 1947 The Corpse Came C.O.D. as Joe Medford
- 1935 Front Page Woman as Curt Devlin
- 1937 Submarine D-1 as Lt. Commander Dan Matthews
- 1941 They Dare Not Love as Prince Kurt von Rotenberg
- 1938 Secrets of an Actress as Richard 'Dick' Orr
- 1945 The Affairs of Susan as Roger Berton
- 1935 In Person as Emory Muir
- 1935 Stranded as Mack Hale
- 1932 The Crash as Geoffrey Gault
- 1934 Housewife as William H. Reynolds
- 1932 Miss Pinkerton as Police Inspector Patten
- 1936 Give Me Your Heart as James 'Jim' Baker
- 1983 Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1936 More Than a Secretary as Fred Gilbert
- 1936 The Case Against Mrs. Ames as Matt Logan
- 1933 From Headquarters as Lt. Jim Stevens
- 1936 The Golden Arrow as Johnny Jones
- 1933 The Keyhole as Neil Davis
- 1947 Slave Girl as Matt Claibourne
- 1935 Living on Velvet as Terry Parker
- 1938 Gold Is Where You Find It as Jared Whitney
- 1936 Snowed Under as Alan Tanner
- 1937 The Go-Getter as Bill Austin
- 1946 Lover Come Back as Bill Williams
- 1940 South of Suez as John Gamble
- 1948 Angel on the Amazon as Jim Warburton
- 1978 Born Again as Judge Gerhard Gesell
- 1949 Bride for Sale as Paul Martin
- 1931 Ex-Bad Boy as Donald Swift
- 1939 Land of Liberty as Buck Cantrell (edited from 'Jezebel')
- 1931 Once a Sinner as James Brent
- 1949 The Kid from Cleveland as Mike Jackson
- 1947 Out of the Blue as Arthur Earthleigh
- 1953 Mexican Manhunt as David L. 'Dave' Brady
- 1936 Breakdowns of 1936 as Self
- 1941 International Lady as Tim Hanley
- 1994 Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill as Self (archive footage)
- 1942 Twin Beds as Mike Abbott
- 1931 Charlie Chan Carries On as Capt. Ronald Keane
- 1938 Breakdowns of 1938 as Buck Cantrell (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1935 Things You Never See on the Screen as Self
- 1935 A Dream Comes True as Himself (uncredited)
- 1937 Breakdowns of 1937 as Self
- 1940 Breakdowns of 1940 as Self
- 1944 Breakdowns of 1944 as Self
- 1931 Fair Warning as Les Haines
- 1956 Death of a Scoundrel as Man with Balloon at Party
- 1953 Tangier Incident as Steve Gordon
- 1930 Under Suspicion as Inspector Turner
- 1942 Breakdowns of 1942 as Self
- 1925 The Iron Horse as Worker (uncredited)
- 1959 Rawhide ( 1 episode ) as Jefferson Devereaux
- 1951 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars ( 1 episode ) as Sam Bentley
- 1954 Climax! ( 1 episode )
- 1956 Wire Service ( 35 episodes ) as Dean Evans
- 1951 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars ( 1 episode )
- 1960 The Chevy Mystery Show ( 1 episode ) as Fred Girard
- 1994 The World of Hammer ( 1 episode ) as Self (archive footage)
