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MELVYN DOUGLAS
o NE of the two sons of Edouard Hesselberg, Russian-born, internationally known concert pianist and composer, and of Lena Shackelford, of Kentucky, Melvyn Douglas was born on April 5, in Macon, Ga. He at¬ tended grade school in Nashville, Tenn., and preparatory schools in Lincoln, Neb., and Toronto, Canada. His parents wanted him to study law. He wanted to be a poet. So he compromised by becoming an actor.
It was while he was at school in Lincoln that he obtained his first taste for dra¬ matics, playing leading roles in school plays.
He served in the medical corps during the war and almost decided to turn doctor. But after the Armistice an actor named William Owen, convinced that Melvyn had talent, took him on a tour of the Middle West with a repertory troupe.
Dropped Hesselberg
It was then that Melvyn decided that the name Hesselberg would never do for theater marquees. His mother, of Scotch and English descent, had told him in his childhood exciting stories of her ancestor, that swashbuckling Highlander, the Black Douglas. While Melvyn had been in Toronto, he tried to join the Canadian Scottish but was turned down on account of his age. Now he decided to adopt that Scotch name and became a Douglas himself.
His stock experience included two seasons with Jessie Bonstelle, in Detroit, Sioux City, la., Evansville, Ind., Madison, Wis., where he owned and managed his own company.
Played Gangster Role
In January, 1928, he reached Broadway in the role of Ace Wilfong, the gangster, tn "A Free Soul," later played by Clark Gable on the screen. A series of important plays followed.
One of them, "Tonight or Never," was a lucky production for him for the star was Helen Gahagan, whom he married on his birthday in 1931. They now have two chil¬ dren, Peter Gahagan Douglas and Mary Helen Douglas. The role also brought him to the attention of Hollywood, where he was called to play in the screen version opposite Gloria Swanson.
His next pictures were "Prestige," "The Wiser Sex," "The Broken Wing" and "As
You Desire Me," opposite Greta Garbo. He made one picture, "Dangerous Corner," be¬ tween a series of plays on Broadway, which included "No More Ladies" and "Mother Lode." "She Married Her Boss," "Annie Oakley," "Mary Burns," "Fugitive" and "The Lone Wolf Returns" were his next pictures before he returned to Broadway to do "Tap¬ estry in Gray."
Father in "Courageous"
Among his most recent pictures are "And So They Were Married," "The Gorgeous Hussy," with Joan Crawford; "Theodora Goes Wild," "Women of Glamour," "Captains Courage¬ ous," "I Met Him In Paris" "The Angel," "The Toy Wife," "Fast Company," "That Certain Age," "The Shining Hour," "There's That Woman Again," "Tell No Tales" and opposite Greta Garbo in "Ninotchka."
Douglas is six feet one and one-half inches tall, weighs 180 pounds, has brown hair and hazel eyes. His favorite actress was the late Eleanora Duse, but he's also an enthusi¬ astic lover of slapstick comedy. Also, while he's invariably to be found at the symphony and the opera, he can obtain equal enjoy¬ ment from Esquire or the New Yorker. Tennis is his favorite sport, travel his favorite re¬ laxation.
In 1939 the actor was appointed a Califor¬ nia State Commissioner of Relief.
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