Laird Cregar

Laird Cregar
as Natalio Curro in the trailer for Blood and Sand (1941)
Born	Samuel Laird Cregar (1913-07-28)July 28, 1913 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	December 9, 1944(1944-12-09) (aged 31) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Heart attack
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Education	Winchester College Episcopal Academy
Years active	1938–44

Samuel Laird Cregar (July 28, 1913 – December 9, 1944), professionally known as Laird Cregar, was an American stage and film actor. Cregar was best known for his villainous performances in films such as I Wake Up Screaming and The Lodger.

Cregar's screen career began in 1940 working as an extra in films. By 1941, he had signed a film contract with 20th Century Fox. Cregar quickly rose to stardom, appearing in a variety of genres from screwball comedy to horror. He was a popular actor until his death in 1944 at the age of 31.

Cregar was born in Philadelphia, the youngest of six sons of Edward Matthews Cregar, a cricketer and member of a team called the Gentlemen of Philadelphia. They toured internationally in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Laird's mother was the former Elizabeth Smith.

When Cregar was eight he was sent to England to be educated at Winchester College. He first appeared on stage when he was eight, when he played a page boy with the Stratford-upon-Avon theatrical troupe, and he acted in several other productions at Stratford. "From that time on, all I've ever wanted to do is go on stage", he said later.

Cregar's father died and his family returned to the US. He graduated from the Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia when he was 14. He wanted to act and decided he was too young to go to college, so he convinced the Hedgerow Players, an amateur company in Germantown, Pennsylvania, that he was an actor, and he spent several years with them. He also acted with other stock companies in Philadelphia and wrote some plays which were performed by amateur groups.

In 1936, Cregar won a scholarship to California's Pasadena Playhouse. He spent two years there, acting and studying; he said Thomas Browne Henry of the Playhouse told him "not to lose a pound of weight, but instead to develop a thin man's personality." He returned to Pennsylvania to appear in Federal Theatre projects. He went back to the Pasadena Playhouse for some months, then made his professional debut with the West Coast production of The Great American Family. When that ended he was unable to find a job for six months, and was forced to sleep in a friend's car in their garden.