Richard Hart (actor)
| Richard Hart | |
|---|---|
in Desire Me (1947)
|
|
| Born |
Richard Comstock Hart April 14, 1915 Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Died | January 2, 1951 (aged 35) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1943-1951 |
| Spouse(s) | Eugenia Getchell (1938-42) (1 son Christopher) Louise Valery (1945-1951) (his death) 2 daughters Hillary and Sheila |
| Partner(s) | Phyllis Eileen Buswell (1 son; Richard Lee Hart) Felicia Montealegre (his death) |
| Children |
Christopher Rawson Hillary Hart Sheila Hart Richard Lee Hart |
Richard Comstock Hart (April 14, 1915 – January 2, 1951) was an American actor, who appeared in film and TV productions, but was most active on stage.
Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Hart is the son and grandson of Henry Clay Hart and Richard Borden Comstock, leading Rhode Island lawyers. He went to Moses Brown School and Brown University, where he was an all-American soccer player.
Hart first worked as a journalist and at the Gorham Silver Company before becoming seriously interested in acting through a summer theater in Tiverton, Rhode Island.
Early in his career, "Hart earned as he learned by appearing in radio soap operas."
After he gained early experience with the Providence Players, Hart's big break came when, as resident juvenile in a summer theater at the Brattle Playhouse in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he played John the witch boy, the lead role in a new play trying out there, Dark of the Moon. The Shuberts took it to Broadway (1945), keeping little of the original company except Carol Stone (Barbara Allen) and Hart, who went on to win a Theatre World Award for his debut. A Broadway run of 318 performances then led to a national tour and a contract for Hart with Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
After some work in film, Hart left MGM to go back to the stage. Back on Broadway he appeared in a flop, Leaf and Bough (1949), then took over for Sam Wanamaker in Goodbye, My Fancy (1948-1949) and had a hit as the original Uncle Desmonde in The Happy Time (1950-1951) opposite Claude Dauphin and Eva Gabor.
He also appeared in Pillar to Post (1943-1944).
Hart appeared in four films, three for MGM. Hart's first two were as a leading man: Green Dolphin Street (1947), where he was loved by two sisters, played by Lana Turner and Donna Reed, and Desire Me (1947), as the villain who takes Greer Garson away from Robert Mitchum. Hart's final two films were supporting roles: B.F.'s Daughter (1948), as the jilted first love of the title character, played by Barbara Stanwyck, and Reign of Terror (1949), a Walter Wanger production (released by Eagle-Lion) directed by Anthony Mann.
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