Eugene Borden

Eugene Borden
Borden in the 1958 film, The Fly
Born	Élysée Eugène Prieur-Bardin (1897-03-21)March 21, 1897 Paris, France
Died	July 21, 1971(1971-07-21) (aged 74) Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1919–66

Eugene Borden (March 21, 1897 – July 2, 1971) was an American character actor of both the silent and sound film eras. Born in France, he immigrated to the United States as a teenager, and entered the film industry a short time later. During his prolific career he appeared in over 150 films, as well as shorts, serials, and numerous television shows.

Born Élysée Eugène Prieur-Bardin in Paris, France on March 21, 1897, he immigrated to the United States in 1914 at the age of 17. By 1917 he had entered the film industry, appearing in a featured role in Christy Cabanne's The Slacker. Over the next 43 years, Borden appeared in 160 feature films, usually in uncredited roles, many of which were as characters do menial labor, such as headwaiters, porters, pursers and coachmen.

During his long career in films, Borden appeared in many notable movies. During the silent era, he appeared in such notable productions as: George D. Baker's Revelation (1918);Blue Blood (1925), directed by Scott R. Dunlap; and the original film version of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1928), directed by Malcolm St. Clair. During this time, Borden also appeared in two successful Broadway plays: The Better 'Ole, a musical comedy which ran for over 350 performances in 1918-19; and 1922's musical comedy, The French Maid, with music by George Gershwin and Gus Edwards.

Borden smoothly made the transition to sound films, appearing in numerous notable films, in some of which he had significant roles. Notable films of the 1930s in which he appeared include: 1934's Marie Galante, directed by Henry King and starring Spencer Tracy; the 1936 comedy Wife vs. Secretary, starring Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and Myrna Loy, and featuring Jimmy Stewart in one of his first film appearances;Café Metropole, a 1937 romantic comedy starring Tyrone Power, Loretta Young, and Adolphe Menjou; the 1938 Sonja Henie vehicle, Happy Landing, which also stars Don Ameche; and the 1939 version of The Three Musketeers, starring Don Ameche and the Ritz Brothers. Borden continued his prolific ways in the 1940s, appearing in dozens of films, some of which included: the classic The Mark of Zorro (1940), starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, and Basil Rathbone, in which Borden had a featured role; the 1942 screwball comedy The Lady is Willing, starring Fred MacMurray and Marlene Dietrich;The Song of Bernadette (1945), starring Jennifer Jones and an all-star cast; as the Quartermaster in the Bogart and Bacall classic To Have and Have Not; in the classic The Razor's Edge (1946), starring Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney;Rita Hayworth's tour de force, Gilda in 1946; as Michel, the owner of the French restaurant, in The Bishop's Wife, starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven; and the 1949 classic musical On the Town, starring Gene Kelly (who also directed), Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett, and Ann Miller.