Porter Hall
Clifford Porter Hall ( born September 19, 1888 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, † October 6, 1953 in Los Angeles, California ) was an American actor.
Life
Porter Hall was born in Ohio and toured first with theater productions by the United States. Since the 1920s, Hall was active on Broadway. It was not until 1931, the 43 -year-old made his first film appearance in the comedy Secrets of a Secretary with Claudette Colbert. His breakthrough came four years later with the crime comedy The Thin Man. Over the next two decades followed 80 films that made him a well-known character actor. Hall played mostly rational, stingy or rude personalities, sometimes even the movie villains. One of his most famous roles as Granville Sawyer in the Christmas film The Miracle of Manhattan combines all the same features. This Hall was described by friends as outgoing, friendly and decent personality. Another contradiction to his true personality is also Halls representation of a cold-hearted atheists in the path to happiness for which he was highly praised by critics. In actual life for he was a deacon.
The rather lanky actor with the small chin and piercing eyes turned with many famous directors several films, including Billy Wilder, at the Hall in Double Indemnity ( 1944) and reporter of Satan (1951 ) participated. Preston Sturges Hall was also in his comedies Sullivan's Travels (1941 ) and sensation in Morgan 's Creek (1944 ) play. Other directors with whom Hall turned, Frank Capra ( Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) were, for example, Howard Hawks ( His Girl Friday ) and Cecil B. DeMille ( The Unvanquished ).
Hall died in the middle of his film career from a heart attack. His last film Return to Treasure Iceland was published after his death. With his wife, Geraldine, he had been married since 1927, it was his only marriage. They had two children named David and Sarah. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood. Director Russ Meyer named a character in his cult movie Valley of the Dolls (1970 ) by Hall.