George Bancroft is an American film actor whose career spanned over thirty years from 1925 to 1956. Bancroft has starred in many acclaimed motion pictures alongside major screen stars throughout his Hollywood years.
Biography
George Bancroft was born on September 30, 1882 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Educated at the Top Institute in Port Deposit, Maryland. He entered the United States Naval Academy, but never graduated.
Marine career
George Bancroft's naval career began long before his studies. When the young man was only 14 years old, he was already working on merchant marine vessels: he started as a cabin boy on the USS Constellation, later worked as a sailor on the USS Essex and other merchant ships of the West Indies. During the Battle of Manila Bay (1898) he was a gunner on the USS Baltimore.
In 1900 he joined the battleship USS Oregon. During stops, he dived under the ship's hull and checked the degree of damage to the bottom of the rocky shores of China. Subsequently, the command appointed him a cadet to study at the United States Naval Academy.
However, the young cadet considered that studying to be a naval officer was too boring for him and left the Academy for a future theatrical career.
Acting career and creativity
By 1901, Bancroft was already touring with plays and had regular youth roles in musical groups. But the young actor wanted more and began to participate in vaudeville, in which he put makeup on his face and pretended to be popular characters. On Broadway, Bancroft appeared in the well-known musical comedies of the time, Cinders (1923) and The Rise of Rosie O'Reilly (1923).
For the first time on the screen of cinema, George appeared in 1921 in the film "The End of the Journey". The actor played his first leading role in 1925 in the film "Pony Express". In 1926, Bancroft was cast in a supporting but highly significant role in the widescreen epic naval film The Old Iron Sides, opposite Wallace Bury and Charles Farrell.
After that, George played in several historical films dedicated to the underground world and produced by the film company Paramount Pictures, such as "Underworld von Sternberg" (1927) and "Docks of New York" (1928). In 1929, after working on the film Lightning Strike, Bancroft was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.
He became famous when in 1929 he starred in the film "The Wolf of Wall Street", which was released shortly before the collapse of Wall Street itself. He starred with all the Paramount Pictures stars in the Paramount Pictures at the Parade revue (1930).
In 1933 he played in the notorious film Blood Money directed by Rowland Brown. For a long time, critics and censors did not want to give permission to rent the film, as they feared that the film would incite law-abiding citizens to commit crimes. In the scene when Bancroft's character was about to be shot, he refused to fall to the floor after the sound of the shot, saying that "One bullet cannot stop Bancroft!"
By 1934, he gradually became a supporting actor. Although he occasionally still appeared in classics such as Mr. Deids Goes to Town (1936) with Gary Cooper, Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, Every Sunrise I Die (1939) with James Cagney and George Raft and Stagecoach with John Wayne.
Filmography
During his thirty-year career, George Bancroft has starred in more than 30 films:
- "The End of the Journey" (1921) - in the role of a steelmaker.
- The Prodigal Judge (1922) - as Cavendish.
- Slave (1923) - as Lemma Tolliver.
- Teeth (1924) as Dan Angus.
- "Coach Deadwood" (1924) - as Tex Wilson in the game.
- Code of the West (1925) - as Enoch Thurman.
- Rainbow Trail (1925) - as Jake Willets.
- Pony Express (1925) - as Jack Slade.
- The Magnificent Road (1925) - as Buck Lockwell.
- Enchanted Hill (1926) - as Ira Todd.
- Seahorses (1926) as Cochran.
- Escape (1926) - as Lesher Skidmore.
- Old Iron Sides (1926) - as a gunner.
- White Gold (1927) as Sam Randall.
- Too Many Crooks (1927) - as Bert Boxman.
- "Another World" (1927) - in the role of "bull" weed.
- Say It Sweeney (1927) as Cannibal Casey.
- Rough Riders (1927) - as Happy Joe.
- Showdown (1928) - in the role of Cardan.
- Drag Net (1928) as Nulan with two guns.
- Docks of New York (1928) as Bill Roberts.
- The Wolf of Wall Street (1929) as The Wolf.
- Thunderbolt (1929) as Thunderbolt Jim Lang.
- Mighty (1929) as Blake Grison.
- Paramount Pictures at the Parade (1930).
- Ladies Love Brutes (1930) as Joe Forziati.
- Abandoned (1930) as Bill Rafferty.
- Scandalous Leaf (1931) as Mark Flint.
- The Rich Man's Madness (1931) as Brock Trumble.
- Peace and Flesh (1932) as Kilenko.
- Lady and Gent (1932) as Bailey the Deer.
- Blood Money (1933) as Bill Bailey.
- Elmer and Elsie (1934) as Elmer Beebe.
- Infernal Ship Morgan (1936) as Captain Ira "Infernal Ship" Morgan.
- Mr. Deids Goes to Town (1936) as McWade.
- Wedding Present (1936) as Pete Stagg.
- The Doctor's Diary (1937) as Dr. Clem Driscoll.
- John Mead's Woman (1937) as Tim Matthews.
- The Rocketeers in Exile (1937) as William Waldo.
- Underwater Patrol (1938) as Captain Leeds.
- Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) as MacKeefer.
- Stagecoach (1939) as Marshal Curley Wilcox.
- Every Sunrise I Die (1939) as John Armstrong.
- Spy Agent (1939) as Dudley Garrett.
- Rulers of the Sea (1939) as Captain Oliver.
- Green Hell (1940) as Tex Morgan.
- Young Tom Edison (1940) as Samuel "Sam" Edison.
- When Dalton Rode (1940) as Caleb Winters.
- Northwest Mounted Police (1940) as Jacques Corbeau.
- Little Men (1940) as Major Bardle.
- Texas (1941) as Windy Miller.
- Beagle Sounds (1942) as Russell Russell.
- Sinkopa (1942) as Steve Porter.
- Whistle at Dixie (1942) as Sheriff Claude Stagg (last role in the film).
The last years of life and death
In 1942 he left the profession of an actor, left Hollywood and became a rancher.
He died on October 2, 1956 at the age of 74 in Santa Monica, California, USA. He was buried in that city at Woodleton Memorial Cemetery.
