Sonny Tufts
| Sonny Tufts | |
|---|---|
Tufts ca. 1955
|
|
| Born |
Bowen Charlton Tufts III July 16, 1911 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | June 4, 1970 (aged 58) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Pneumonia |
| Resting place | Munroe Cemetery |
| Education | Phillips Exeter Academy |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
| Occupation | Actor, opera singer |
| Years active | 1943–1968 |
| Spouse(s) | Barbara Dare (m. 1938; div. 1953) |
| Relatives | Charles Tufts (great uncle) |
Bowen Charlton "Sonny" Tufts III (July 16, 1911 – June 4, 1970) was an American stage, film and television actor and opera singer.
Bowen Charlton Tufts III (some sources give "Charleston") (nicknamed "Sonny") was born in Boston, Massachusetts into a prominent banking family. The Tufts family patriarch, Peter Tufts, sailed to America from Wilby, Norfolk, England in 1638. His great uncle was businessman and philanthropist Charles Tufts, for whom Tufts University is named.
Tufts attended the Phillips Exeter Academy and later broke with the family banking tradition by studying opera at Yale University, where he was an editor of campus humor magazine The Yale Record. He was also a member of the Skull and Bones society and played for the Yale football team. Tufts also performed in a musical group, the Whiffenpoofs, and toured with the group in Europe. While touring in Naples, Tufts decided to study opera. He studied opera in Paris for a year and in the United States for three.
After graduating from Yale in 1935, Tufts auditioned with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City but eventually worked on the Broadway stage. He appeared in the stage show Who's Who and Sing for Your Supper. Tufts then began singing in hotels and nightclubs. A Yale classmate of Tufts' later convinced him to move to Hollywood to begin a career as an actor. Upon arriving in Hollywood, Tufts' friend, hotel manager Jack Donnelly, accompanied Tufts to Paramount Pictures and introduced him to a casting director Joe Egli. Egli shot a screen test with Tufts who was then signed to Paramount. His first role was as Kansas, an affable Marine and love interest of Paulette Goddard in the 1943 World War II romantic drama So Proudly We Hail!. The film was a critical and box office hit, largely due to the three female leads: Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard and Veronica Lake. Tufts' performance was praised by critics and the role served as a launching pad for Tufts' career. After the release of the film, Tufts received 1700 fan letters a week and was named "The Find of 1943." The following year, Tufts was cast opposite Olivia de Havilland in the comedy Government Girl. That same year, he was voted the number one "Star of Tomorrow" by exhibitors.
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