George Brent
Acting
Born: March 15, 1904 · Ballinasloe, County Galway, Ireland
Died: May 26, 1979 (aged 75)
Highest Rated
Biography
George Brent (born George Brendan Nolan; 15 March 1904 – 26 May 1979) was an Irish-American stage, film, and television actor. Brent was born in Ballinasloe, County Galway in 1904 to John J. and Mary (née McGuinness) Nolan. His mother was a native of Clonfad, Moore, County Roscommon. Brent made his first film, Under Suspicion, in 1930. Over the next two years, he appeared in a number of minor films produced by Universal Studios and Fox, before being signed to contract by Warner Bros. in 1932. He remained at Warner Bros. for the next 20 years, carving out a successful career as a top-flight leading man during the late 1930s and 1940s. Highly regarded by Bette Davis, he became her most frequent male co-star, appearing with her in 13 films, including Front Page Woman (1935), Special Agent (1935), The Golden Arrow (1936), Jezebel (1938), The Old Maid (1939), Dark Victory (1939), and The Great Lie (1941). Brent also played opposite Ruby Keeler in 42nd Street (1933), Greta Garbo in The Painted Veil (1934), Ginger Rogers in In Person (1935), Madeleine Carroll in The Case Against Mrs. Ames (1936), Jean Arthur in More Than a Secretary (1936), Myrna Loy in Stamboul Quest (1934) and The Rains Came (1939), Merle Oberon in 'Til We Meet Again (1940), Ann Sheridan in Honeymoon for Three (1941), Joan Fontaine in The Affairs of Susan (1945), Barbara Stanwyck in So Big! (1932), The Purchase Price (1932), Baby Face (1933), The Gay Sisters (1942), and My Reputation (1946), Claudette Colbert in Tomorrow Is Forever (1946), Dorothy McGuire in The Spiral Staircase (1946), Lucille Ball in Lover Come Back (1946), and Yvonne De Carlo in Slave Girl (1947). Brent drifted into "B" pictures from the late 1940s and retired from film in 1953. He continued to appear on television until 1960, having appeared on the religion anthology series Crossroads. He was cast in the lead in the 1956 television series Wire Service. In 1978, he made one last film, the made-for-television production Born Again. In 1960, Brent was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with two stars. He received a motion-pictures star located at 1709 Vine Street, and a second star located at 1612 Vine Street for his work in television. Brent was married five times: Helen Louise Campbell (1925–1927), Ruth Chatterton (1932–1934), Constance Worth (1937), Ann Sheridan (1942–1943), and Janet Michaels (1947–1974). His final marriage to Janet Michaels, a former model and dress designer, lasted 27 years until her death in 1974. They had a son and a daughter. Brent also carried on a lengthy relationship with his frequent Warner Bros. co-star, actress Bette Davis, who described her last meeting with Brent after many years of estrangement. He was suffering from advanced emphysema, and she expressed great sadness at his ill health and deterioration. George Brent died in 1979 in Solana Beach, California.
Known for
The Spiral Staircase
1946
Jezebel
1938
42nd Street
1933
Dark Victory
1939
Baby Face
1933
The Iron Horse
1925
In This Our Life
1942
The Old Maid
1939
The Great Lie
1941
Rawhide
1959
Tomorrow Is Forever
1946
The Painted Veil
1934
Photos (4)
Movies (91)
Baby Face
Courtland Trenholm
The Fighting 69th
Wild Bill Donovan
Jezebel
Buck Cantrell
Dark Victory
Dr. Frederick Steele
42nd Street
Pat Denning
Housewife
William H. Reynolds
The Painted Veil
Jack Townsend
The Great Lie
Peter 'Pete' Van Allen
The Old Maid
Clem Spender
In This Our Life
Craig Fleming
Special Agent
Bill Bradford
The Spiral Staircase
Professor Warren
Under Suspicion
Inspector Turner
The Rains Came
Tom Ransome
'Til We Meet Again
Dan Hardesty
Slave Girl
Matt Claibourne
Tomorrow Is Forever
Lawrence Hamilton
The Iron Horse
Worker (uncredited)
Gold Is Where You Find It
Jared Whitney
Front Page Woman
Curt Devlin
International Lady
Tim Hanley
Death of a Scoundrel
Man with Balloon at Party
Bride for Sale
Paul Martin
The Go-Getter
Bill Austin
The Purchase Price
Jim Gilson
Twin Beds
Mike Abbott
My Reputation
Major Scott Landis
Miss Pinkerton
Police Inspector Patten
In Person
Emory Muir
Stranded
Mack Hale
Red Canyon
Matthew Bostel
Experiment Perilous
Dr. Huntington Bailey
Montana Belle
Tom Bradfield
Christmas Eve
Michael Brooks
Mountain Justice
Paul Cameron
Luxury Liner
Dr. Karl Bernhard
God's Country and the Woman
Steve Russett
Female
Jim Thorne
Submarine D-1
Lt. Commander Dan Matthews
Racket Busters
Denny Jordan
Desirable
McAllister
The Golden Arrow
Johnny Jones
They Call It Sin
Dr. Tony Travers
The Last Page
John Harman
Luxury Liner
Captain Jeremy Bradford
Wings of the Navy
Cass Harrington
Land of Liberty
Buck Cantrell (edited from 'Jezebel')
The Affairs of Susan
Roger Berton
Snowed Under
Alan Tanner
Breakdowns of 1938
Buck Cantrell (archive footage) (uncredited)
Ex-Bad Boy
Donald Swift
So Big!
Adult Roelf Pool
Lover Come Back
Bill Williams
The Rich Are Always with Us
Julian Tierney
The Gay Sisters
Charles Barclay
They Dare Not Love
Prince Kurt von Rotenberg
You Can't Escape Forever
Steve Mitchell
FBI Girl
Jeff Donley
Angel on the Amazon
Jim Warburton
Temptation
Nigel Armine
Out of the Blue
Arthur Earthleigh
Tangier Incident
Steve Gordon
Stamboul Quest
Douglas Beall
The Man Who Talked Too Much
Stephen Forbes
Mexican Manhunt
David L. 'Dave' Brady
Lilly Turner
Bob Chandler
Once a Sinner
James Brent
The Crash
Geoffrey Gault
Honeymoon for Three
Kenneth Bixby
The Keyhole
Neil Davis
Silver Queen
James Kincaid
More Than a Secretary
Fred Gilbert
Illegal Entry
Chief Agent Dan Collins
The Goose and the Gander
Bob McNear
Born Again
Judge Gerhard Gesell
Give Me Your Heart
James 'Jim' Baker
Week-End Marriage
Peter Acton
The Corpse Came C.O.D.
Joe Medford
From Headquarters
Lt. Jim Stevens
The Case Against Mrs. Ames
Matt Logan
The Right to Live
Colin Trent
South of Suez
John Gamble
The Kid from Cleveland
Mike Jackson
Living on Velvet
Terry Parker
Charlie Chan Carries On
Capt. Ronald Keane
Fair Warning
Les Haines
Adventure in Diamonds
Capt. Stephen Dennett
Homicide Squad
Jimmy
Out Where the Stars Begin
Jared Whitney (archive footage)
The Lightning Warrior
Alan Scott
Secrets of an Actress
Richard 'Dick' Orr
TV Shows (6)
Self / Appearances (12)
The World of Hammer
Self (archive footage) · 1 eps
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Breakdowns of 1942
Self
Breakdowns of 1937
Self
Breakdowns of 1944
Self
Swingtime in the Movies
Himself (uncredited)
Things You Never See on the Screen
Self
Breakdowns of 1936
Self
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
Self (archive footage)
A Dream Comes True
Himself (uncredited)
Jezebel: Legend of the South
Self (archive footage)
Breakdowns of 1940
Self