George Zucco

George Zucco
George Zucco
	The Black Raven (1943)
Born	11 January 1886; Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK
Died	27 May 1960 (aged 74); Hollywood, California, US
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1907–1951
Spouse	Stella Francis (m. 1930)
Children	1

George Zucco (11 January 1886 – 27 May 1960) was a British character actor who appeared in plays and 96 films, mostly American-made, during a career spanning over two decades, from the 1920s to 1951.^[1] In his films, he often played a suave villain, a member of nobility, or a mad doctor.^[2]

Early life and family

George Desylla Zucco was born in Manchester, Lancashire, on 11 January 1886.^[1]^[3] His mother Marian (née Rintoul) ran a dressmaking business. His father, George De Sylla Zucco, was a Greek merchant from Corfu who became a naturalised British subject in 1865.^[4]^[2]^[5]

Zucco debuted on the Canadian stage in 1908 in a stock theater company.^[6]

He returned to the UK and served as a lieutenant in the British Army's West Yorkshire Regiment during the First World War.^[7] He lost the use of two fingers when he was shot in the right arm in France. When the war ended, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and later taught there.^[6]

He became a leading stage actor of the 1920s, and made his film debut as Eugène Godefroy Cavaignac in The Dreyfus Case (1931), a British film dramatising the Dreyfus Affair.

Career

Zucco returned to the United States in 1935 to play Benjamin Disraeli in Victoria Regina,^[8] and appeared with Gary Cooper and George Raft in Souls at Sea (1937).

He played Professor Moriarty in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939), opposite Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. Zucco earned a reputation as a bespectacled, nefarious character in films such as After the Thin Man, Fast Company, Arrest Bulldog Drummond, Charlie Chan in Honolulu, The Cat and the Canary, and My Favorite Blonde.

During the 1940s, he took every role he was offered, landing himself in B-films and Universal horror films, including The Mummy's Hand (1940), The Mummy's Tomb (1942), The Mad Monster (1942), The Mad Ghoul (1943), Dead Men Walk (1943), The Mummy's Ghost (1944), House of Frankenstein (1944), and Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948). He was reunited with Basil Rathbone in another Sherlock Holmes adventure, Sherlock Holmes in Washington, this time playing not Moriarty, but a Nazi spy.

Last years and death

After playing a bit part in David and Bathsheba (1951), Zucco undertook a role in The Desert Fox, but suffered a stroke one day on the set, and never significantly recovered (he was replaced by Cedric Hardwicke). He suffered from stroke-induced dementia for the rest of his life, and he died on 27 May 1960 from pneumonia in a nursing facility in Hollywood, aged 74.^[1]

Personal life

He and his wife, Stella Francis, had a daughter, Frances (1931–1962), who died of throat cancer at age 30, and a grandson, George Zucco (né Canto). Stella Zucco died from natural causes on May 11, 1999, aged 99, in Woodland Hills, California.^[9]

Filmography

Dreyfus (1931) as Cavaignac (film debut)
There Goes the Bride (1932) as Prosecutor (uncredited)
The Midshipmaid (1932) as Lord Dore
The Good Companions (1933) as Fauntley
The Roof (1933) as James Renton
The Man from Toronto (1933) as Squire
Autumn Crocus (1934) as Reverend Mayne
Something Always Happens (1934) as Proprietor of the Maison de Paris (uncredited)
The Lady Is Willing (1934) as Man from Reclamation Agent (uncredited)
What Happened Then? (1934) as Inspector Hull
What's in a Name? (1934) as Foot
Road House (1934) as Hotel Manager (uncredited)
Abdul the Damned (1935) as Officer of the Firing Squad
It's a Bet (1935) as Convict (uncredited)
The Common Round (1936, Short) as Dr. Pyke
The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936) as The Colonel's Butler
Sinner Take All (1936) as Bascomb
After the Thin Man (1936) as Dr. Kammer
Parnell (1937) as Sir Charles Russell
Saratoga (1937) as Dr. Harmsworth Bierd
London by Night (1937) as Inspector Jefferson
Souls at Sea (1937) as Barton Woodley
The Firefly (1937) as Secret Service Chief
Madame X (1937) as Dr. LaFarge
The Bride Wore Red (1937) as Count Armalia
Conquest (1937) as Sen. Malachowski (uncredited)
Rosalie (1937) as General Maroff
Arsène Lupin Returns (1938) as Prefect of Police
Three Comrades (1938) as Dr. Plauten (uncredited)
Lord Jeff (1938) as James 'Jim' Hampstead
Fast Company (1938) as Otto Brockler
Marie Antoinette (1938) as Governor of Conciergerie (uncredited)
Vacation from Love (1938) as Dr. Waxton
Suez (1938) as Prime Minister
Arrest Bulldog Drummond (1938) as Rolf Alferson
Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938) as Dr. Cardigan
Captain Fury (1939) as Arnold Trist
The Magnificent Fraud (1939) as Dr. Luis Virgo
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) as Professor Moriarty
Here I Am a Stranger (1939) as James K. Spaulding
The Cat and the Canary (1939) as Lawyer Crosby
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) as Procurator
New Moon (1940) as Vicomte Ribaud
The Mummy's Hand (1940) as Andoheb
Arise, My Love (1940) as Prison Governor
Dark Streets of Cairo (1940) as Abbadi
The Monster and the Girl (1941) as Dr. Parry
Topper Returns (1941) as Dr. Jeris
A Woman's Face (1941) as Defense Attorney
International Lady (1941) as Webster
Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring (1941) as Dr. Edwin L. Jannery
My Favorite Blonde (1942) as Dr. Hugo Streger
The Mad Monster (1942) as Dr. Cameron
Halfway to Shanghai (1942) as Peter van Hoost
Dr. Renault's Secret (1942) as Dr. Robert Renault
The Mummy's Tomb (1942) as Andoheb
The Black Swan (1942) as Lord Denby
Dead Men Walk (1943) as Dr. Lloyd Clayton/Dr. Elwyn Clayton
Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943) as Stanley
The Black Raven (1943) as Amos Bradford aka The Raven
Holy Matrimony (1943) as Mr. Crepitude
The Mad Ghoul (1943) as Dr. Alfred Morris
Never a Dull Moment (1943) as Tony Rocco
Voodoo Man (1944) as Nicholas
The Mummy's Ghost (1944) as High Priest
Return of the Ape Man (1944) as Ape Man (in some stills; it is not certain that he appears in any footage, however)
The Seventh Cross (1944) as Fahrenburg
Shadows in the Night (1944) as Frank Swift
House of Frankenstein (1944) as Professor Bruno Lampini
Fog Island (1945) as Leo Grainger
Having Wonderful Crime (1945) as King aka The Great Movel
Sudan (1945) as Horadef
Midnight Manhunt (1945) as Jelke
Week-End at the Waldorf (1945) as Bey of Aribajan
Confidential Agent (1945) as Detective Geddes
Hold That Blonde (1945) as Dr. Pavel Storasky
The Flying Serpent (1946) as Prof. Andrew Forbes
Scared to Death (1947) as Dr. Joseph Van Ee
The Imperfect Lady (1947) as Mr. Mallam
Moss Rose (1947) as Craxton - the butler
Lured (1947) as Officer H. R. Barrett
Desire Me (1947) as Father Donnard
Where There's Life (1947) as Paul Stertorius
Captain from Castile (1947) as Marquis De Carvajal
Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948) as Palanth - The High Priest
Who Killed Doc Robbin (1948) as Doc Hugo Robbin
The Pirate (1948) as The Viceroy
Secret Service Investigator (1948) as Otto Dagoff
Joan of Arc (1948) as Constable of Clervaux
The Secret Garden (1949) as Dr. Fortescue
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) as The Judge
Madame Bovary (1949) as DuBocage
Harbor of Lost Men (1950) as H.G. Danziger
Let's Dance (1950) as Judge Mackenzie
Flame of Stamboul (1951) as The Voice
The First Legion (1951) as Father Robert Stuart
David and Bathsheba (1951) as Egyptian Ambassador (final film) (uncredited)