Years active (secured) 1929-1958 Name Lowell Gilmore | Role Film actor | |
Born December 20, 1906 ( 1906-12-20 ) Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. Died January 31, 1960, Hollywood, California, United States Resting place Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery, North Hollywood Movies The Picture of Dorian Gray, King Solomon's Mines, The Black Arrow, The Secret Garden, Walk a Crooked Mile Similar People Albert Lewin, Andrew Marton, Gordon Douglas, Mitchell Leisen, Fred M Wilcox | ||
Lowell Gilmore (20 December 1906 - 31 January 1960) was an American stage, film and television actor.
Life and career
Lowell Gilmore first worked as a stage manager on the 1929 Broadway play The First Mrs. Fraser, but got his chance as an actor when he replaced actor Eric Elliott in the play. This was the start to a successful Broadway career in the 1930s with plays like The Wind and the Rain (1934), The Taming of the Shrew (1935) and Leave Her to Heaven (1940). He made his film debut in Jacques Tourneur's war drama Days of Glory (1944) with Gregory Peck, where he was featured in an extensive role as Peck's second-in-command. His second film role was perhaps his most notable: As painter Basil Hallward in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), the film adaption of Oscar Wilde's literature classic. Another notable role was the District Commissioner in the Oscar-winning adventure film King Solomon's Mines (1950) with Deborah Kerr.
Although Gilmore was born in the United States, the "suave-looking, wavy-haired supporting actor" often portrayed British characters like doctors, officers and aristrocrats. His roles were often dapper and sometimes also cads and villains. One of his best roles was probably as the Duke of Gloucester (the future Richard III) in The Black Arrow (1948), where he played him as a semi-sympathetic and charming, semi-villainous character. While his film roles got somewhat smaller in the 1950s, he played in numerous television series like Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Jack Benny Program. Gilmore also appeared as Pontius Pilate in the television series The Living Christ Series (1951) and the film Day of Triumph (1954). He played his last role in 1958 and died two years later at the age of 53 years.