James Craig

Info

Role

Actor | Writer

Date of birth

02/04/1912

Date of death

06/27/1985

Place of birth

Nashville, Tennessee, USA

James Craig

Biography

Tall, rugged James Craig's career as an MGM contract player blossomed in the 1940s. This was due in large part to his strong physical and vocal resemblance to the studio's top leading man, Clark Gable (who was -- by the time Craig was signed to MGM -- serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces). The Rice Institute graduate had studied to be a physician until a sojourn in the movie capital persuaded him to try his luck as an actor. He was tutored by thespian Cyril Delevanti in 1934 and began in the industry as an extra. Having lived for some time in Texas, he had the perfect drawl just tailor-made for a western hero. James Henry Meador consequently transformed himself into James Craig when it looked like he might be given a role in the melodrama Craig's Wife (1936). As it turned out, he was mainly cast in low-budget second-feature westerns for the first two years of his Hollywood tenure. Craig's breakthrough arrived courtesy of a loan-out to RKO where he was co-starred opposite Ginger Rogers in Kitty Foyle (1940). He had some critical success as farmer Jabez Stone in The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) and scored high-profile parts in a couple of other A-grade features: the caliph in Kismet (1944), and as Halverson in Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945). However, before long, Mr. Gable returned from the war and it was back to low budget horse operas for Craig. After working in episodic television for several years in the 1960s, he called it quits and turned his talents towards a lucrative career in real estate.

Filmography

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Movies

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Acting
Role: 'Honest' Harry Kritzer
Acting
Role: Maj. Gen. Knapp
Acting
Role: Jabez Stone
Kitty Foyle
Kitty Foyle
6.9
6.9
Acting
Role: Mark
Side Street
Side Street
7.1
7.1
Acting
Role: Georgie Garsell
Black Friday
Black Friday
6.3
6.3
Acting
Role: Reporter Ernest Gives Notes To (uncredited)
Acting
Role: Tom Spangler
Acting
Role: Nels Halverson
Acting
Role: Watkins
Seven Sinners
Seven Sinners
6.5
6.5
Acting
Role: Ensign
Acting
Role: Dr. Haines
Kismet
Kismet
6.0
6.0
Acting
Role: Caliph
The Cyclops
The Cyclops
4.5
4.5
Acting
Role: Russ Bradford
Acting
Role: Frank Westlake
Acting
Role: Lloyd X. Hunter
Acting
Role: Steward (uncredited)
Acting
Role: Brady (uncredited)
Bigfoot
Bigfoot
2.7
2.7
Acting
Role: Cyrus
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