Hume Cronyn

Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. was a stage and screen actor of Canadian-American origin. He starred in over thirty-five movies, more than thirty television gigs and around thirty stage performances during his long and illustrious acting career, spanning more than six decades. Cronyn was born in London, Ontario, Canada, on 18th July, 1911. His father was a businessman while his mother was the heiress of a brewing company.

Cronyn was a boarder at the Elmwood School between 1917 and 1921. He later attended the Ridley College in St. Catharines and further went on to study in the McGill University, Montreal. He switched majors from pre-law to drama, and continued his acting studies after university at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He was an amateur featherweight boxer in his early years.

Cronyn was a versatile actor who debuted on Broadway as a janitor in Hipper's Holiday. In 1943, Cronyn made his Hollywood film debut by starring in Alfred Hitchcock's ‘Shadow of a Doubt’. He also appeared in Hitchcock’s 1944 film ‘Lifeboat’. Cronyn acted in the 1944 film ‘The Seventh Cross’, for which he received an Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category. He won the Tony Award for his role as Polonius in the 1964 play ‘Hamlet’, in which the title role was played by Richard Burton.

Cronyn was admitted to the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1979. In 1986 he received the Drama Desk Special Award and was also appointed the Officer of the Order of Canada on 11 July 1988. In 1990, he received the National Medal of Arts. He got the Emmy for a part in ‘Age Old Friends’, a TV movie.

Cronyn married actress Jessica Tandy Born on June 7, 1909, in Hackney, England, Jessie >> Read More... in 1942, with who he remained until her death in 1994. They have two children together- Tandy and Christopher. He appeared in many films alongside Tandy, including The Seventh Cross, The Green Years, ‘ Cocoon Cocoon is an Indian TV miniseries, available to st >> Read More... ’, Cocoon: The Returns, and ‘Camilla’. Cronyn died in 2003 from prostate cancer, at the ripe old age of 91.