Stewart Granger was born James Lablache Stewart in London, the great
grandson of the opera singer Luigi Lablache. He attended Epsom College but
left after deciding not to pursue a medical degree. He decided to try
acting and attended Webber-Douglas School of Dramatic Art, London. By
1935, he made his stage debut in "The Cardinal" at the Little Theatre
Hull. He was with the Birmingham Repertory Company between 1936 and
1937 and, in 1938, he made his debut in the West End, London in "The
Sun Never Sets". He joined the Old Vic company in 1939, appearing in
'Tony Draws a Horse' at the Criterion and 'A House in the Square' at
the St Martins. He had been gradually rising through the ranks of better
stage roles when World War II began, and he joined the British Army in
1940. However, he developed an ulcer (1942) which brought his
release from military service.
With a dearth of leading men for British movies he quickly landed his
first film opportunity
Der Herr in Grau (1943) for
Gainsborough Pictures. This was the first installment of the company's
successful series of romance films. Not to be confused with American
actor James Stewart, James
Lablanche Stewart became Stewart Granger (though he was "Jimmy" to his
off-screen friends). But the film work was unsatisfying. He was forever
cast as the dashing hero type, while fellow up-and-coming actor
James Mason always garnered the more
substantial Gainsborough part. When Mason got the nod from Hollywood,
Granger inherited better parts and, in some star company in one case,
the sophisticated
Caesar und Cleopatra (1945)
with Claude Rains and
Vivien Leigh and a very young bit player
already being noticed,
Jean Simmons. Granger's lead roles
to the end of the decade were substantial, but Simmons was unwittingly
moving on into British film history with small but memorable roles for
David Lean,
Michael Powell, and, in a big
way, Laurence Olivier, as "Ophelia" in
his historic Hamlet (1948) for which she
received an Oscar nomination. Granger and she were brought together as
co-stars in the comedy
Adam und Evelyne (1949). This
time around, the chemistry off-camera was there as well, and they
became engaged. About the same time, Granger's hope of interesting
Hollywood was realized for him and his bride-to-be. He married Simmons and
signed with MGM in 1950. Once in Hollywood, he was getting star billing
leads in romantic roles that the audiences loved, but he found them
still unsatisfying. He also found himself heir apparent to
Errol Flynn as a swashbuckler in two
popular films: the remake of
Der Gefangene von Zenda (1952)
and Scaramouche - Der Mann mit der Maske (1952). He and
Simmons were paired in
Die Thronfolgerin (1953), where Granger had
the romantic lead, but Simmons was the focus of the movie.
Through the 50s, the films of each might have fairly equal production
values, but as the fortunes of Hollywood go, Simmons was the more
memorable star in films that were more popular-some very big hits, the
later Elmer Gantry - Gott ist im Geschäft (1960) and
Spartacus (1960). That sort of
undeclared competition for a married Hollywood couple was poison to the
marriage. In 1960, they divorced. Granger did a lot of work in Germany,
along with some in Italy and Spain in the 60s. Interestingly, in the
same period Simmons was finding the same lack of challenging roles in
the US. In the 70s and 80s, Granger was relegated to small screen
subsistence with regular TV roles along with a few movies and a stint
on the New York stage. And ironically, Simmons was in the same boat
during that period. Granger's typecasting was nothing new, but
certainly his often scathing criticism of Hollywood and its denizens
that came out in his autobiography "Sparks Fly Upward" was
understandable and rang true with so many other stories dealing with
illusive stardom. Though he was candid in his disgust with his whole
career - and admittedly he did not have the depth for the range of
roles allotted to bigger named actors - nonetheless he always turned in
solid performances in the roles that became his legacy.
