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Tom Conway
Tom Conway (born Thomas Charles Sanders; 15 September 1904 – 22 April 1967) was a British film, television, and radio actor. He is remembered for playing suave adventurer The Falcon in a series of 1940s films; and his appearances in three horror films produced by Val Lewton, Cat People (1942), I Walked with a Zombie (1943), and The Seventh Victim (1943). He was also known for playing several prominent fictional detectives on screen and radio, including Sherlock Holmes, The Saint, Bulldog Drummond, and Mark Saber.
Conway was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. His younger brother was actor George Sanders. The family moved from Russia to Britain when Tom was thirteen. He was educated at Brighton College then moved to Africa to find work. He returned to England, worked as a glass salesman, then became interested in acting.
He started by appearing in amateur theatre, then joined a repertory company for a year and a half. After this he appeared in touring productions of plays like Dangerous Corner, Private Lives, and By Candlelight, as well as acting on radio. Then Conway's brother George suggested Tom join him in Hollywood.
In May 1940 it was announced Tom had signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. During this time, he changed his last name from Sanders to Conway. He had small roles in Waterloo Bridge (1940), with only his voice heard, Sky Murder (1940) with Walter Pidgeon, and The Wild Man of Borneo (1941). He had a bigger part in The Trial of Mary Dugan (1941) with Robert Young, then was back to small parts in Free and Easy (1941), The Bad Man (1941) with Wallace Beery and Lionel Barrymore, The People vs. Dr. Kildare (1941) with Lew Ayres and Lionel Barrymore, and Lady Be Good (1941) with Eleanor Powell and Red Skelton.[citation needed]
Conway played villains in Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941) with Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan, Mr. and Mrs. North (1941) with Gracie Allen, and Rio Rita (1942) with Abbott and Costello. He was a murder suspect in Grand Central Murder (1942) with Van Heflin and had an uncredited bit in Mrs. Miniver (1942) with Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon.[citation needed]
At RKO Radio Pictures, Conway's brother George Sanders had starred in three popular "B" movies as The Falcon, eligible man-about-town and amateur detective, constantly being accused of crimes and using his wits to trap the guilty parties and clear his name. Sanders had tired of the role, so the pencil-mustached Conway took over as The Falcon's Brother (1942), co-starring with Sanders (Sanders's character was killed off, leaving his brother to assume the mantle of The Falcon). Producer Maurice Geraghty later revealed that RKO executives recruited Conway so they could induce Sanders to make one more Falcon picture, after which the series would end. "So it was astonishing to them when Tom Conway caught on right away and carried the series on -- even outgrossing the pictures George had made." RKO signed Tom Conway to a long-term contract.
Conway followed this success with an excellent role in Cat People (1942), the first of producer Val Lewton's well remembered horror cycle. He had the male lead in a second film for Lewton, I Walked with a Zombie (1942), now regarded as a horror classic. Conway was top-billed in Lewton's The Seventh Victim (1943) playing the same role, psychiatrist Dr. Louis Judd, from Cat People.[citation needed]
Between his Falcon and Val Lewton assignments, RKO starred Conway in B mysteries: A Night of Adventure (1944), Two O'Clock Courage (1945), and Criminal Court (1946).[citation needed]
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Tom Conway
Tom Conway (born Thomas Charles Sanders; 15 September 1904 – 22 April 1967) was a British film, television, and radio actor. He is remembered for playing suave adventurer The Falcon in a series of 1940s films; and his appearances in three horror films produced by Val Lewton, Cat People (1942), I Walked with a Zombie (1943), and The Seventh Victim (1943). He was also known for playing several prominent fictional detectives on screen and radio, including Sherlock Holmes, The Saint, Bulldog Drummond, and Mark Saber.
Conway was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. His younger brother was actor George Sanders. The family moved from Russia to Britain when Tom was thirteen. He was educated at Brighton College then moved to Africa to find work. He returned to England, worked as a glass salesman, then became interested in acting.
He started by appearing in amateur theatre, then joined a repertory company for a year and a half. After this he appeared in touring productions of plays like Dangerous Corner, Private Lives, and By Candlelight, as well as acting on radio. Then Conway's brother George suggested Tom join him in Hollywood.
In May 1940 it was announced Tom had signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. During this time, he changed his last name from Sanders to Conway. He had small roles in Waterloo Bridge (1940), with only his voice heard, Sky Murder (1940) with Walter Pidgeon, and The Wild Man of Borneo (1941). He had a bigger part in The Trial of Mary Dugan (1941) with Robert Young, then was back to small parts in Free and Easy (1941), The Bad Man (1941) with Wallace Beery and Lionel Barrymore, The People vs. Dr. Kildare (1941) with Lew Ayres and Lionel Barrymore, and Lady Be Good (1941) with Eleanor Powell and Red Skelton.[citation needed]
Conway played villains in Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941) with Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan, Mr. and Mrs. North (1941) with Gracie Allen, and Rio Rita (1942) with Abbott and Costello. He was a murder suspect in Grand Central Murder (1942) with Van Heflin and had an uncredited bit in Mrs. Miniver (1942) with Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon.[citation needed]
At RKO Radio Pictures, Conway's brother George Sanders had starred in three popular "B" movies as The Falcon, eligible man-about-town and amateur detective, constantly being accused of crimes and using his wits to trap the guilty parties and clear his name. Sanders had tired of the role, so the pencil-mustached Conway took over as The Falcon's Brother (1942), co-starring with Sanders (Sanders's character was killed off, leaving his brother to assume the mantle of The Falcon). Producer Maurice Geraghty later revealed that RKO executives recruited Conway so they could induce Sanders to make one more Falcon picture, after which the series would end. "So it was astonishing to them when Tom Conway caught on right away and carried the series on -- even outgrossing the pictures George had made." RKO signed Tom Conway to a long-term contract.
Conway followed this success with an excellent role in Cat People (1942), the first of producer Val Lewton's well remembered horror cycle. He had the male lead in a second film for Lewton, I Walked with a Zombie (1942), now regarded as a horror classic. Conway was top-billed in Lewton's The Seventh Victim (1943) playing the same role, psychiatrist Dr. Louis Judd, from Cat People.[citation needed]
Between his Falcon and Val Lewton assignments, RKO starred Conway in B mysteries: A Night of Adventure (1944), Two O'Clock Courage (1945), and Criminal Court (1946).[citation needed]
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