Remembering Tyrone Power

<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXweJjlXonNW2cECl-HluuZ1cWhcWDlRu8f3boo41LW-mwSkr514Qt6h7tTAY5bQlALuu23iEMJi8EHNBOShDTUfNBmIyQpd-kxOgunrxn7twg2ElwKQX_c5anMnE2R9twKragVGxoDb0/s1600/tyrone-power-by-le-art-works+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXweJjlXonNW2cECl-HluuZ1cWhcWDlRu8f3boo41LW-mwSkr514Qt6h7tTAY5bQlALuu23iEMJi8EHNBOShDTUfNBmIyQpd-kxOgunrxn7twg2ElwKQX_c5anMnE2R9twKragVGxoDb0/s400/tyrone-power-by-le-art-works+2.jpg" width="333" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">“There he was, dark-looking with black hair and eyebrows, and no man had a right to be that handsome.” So aviator Bob Buck remembered first meeting Tyrone Power. Buck, enlisted by his boss Howard Hughes, the owner of TWA, to pilot Power on a tour of South America, Africa and Europe, would spend three months with the actor and a small retinue on a trip that was set to begin in September 1947. The group would travel in Power’s plane, <i>The Geek</i>, named after a character in his latest film, <i>Nightmare Alley</i>.  At the time, at age 33, Tyrone Power was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, an adored “matinee idol,” but his straightforward, unassuming manner instantly disarmed the skeptical Buck.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK1rbMbKxsFoBHTx0efNQ_2WL10CCkOIgVbFXQUm1sDoheqRDpDI6Qeh9WerUhx8DBBkcqRWRVFawhhprfL09FEBw6eurvC_56KFHI5xR13_ZxfU9ppDyKBjOSqcKwA5_7qgLotZA9Y4U/s1600/Tyrone+Power+father+and+son.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK1rbMbKxsFoBHTx0efNQ_2WL10CCkOIgVbFXQUm1sDoheqRDpDI6Qeh9WerUhx8DBBkcqRWRVFawhhprfL09FEBw6eurvC_56KFHI5xR13_ZxfU9ppDyKBjOSqcKwA5_7qgLotZA9Y4U/s200/Tyrone+Power+father+and+son.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tyrone Power, father and son</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: right;"></div><span style="font-size: small;">Born in Cincinnati in 1914, Tyrone Power descended from a long line of performing artists. His father, born Frederick Tyrone Power in England and billed as Tyrone Power, was a Shakespearean actor and <i>his</i>father was concert pianist Harold Power, son of celebrated Irish actor Tyrone Power. Tyrone Edmund Power was born May 5, 1914 to his 45-year-old father and his second wife, Emma (known as Patia Power). Young Tyrone and his sister, Anne, were the esteemed actor’s only children. Power, Sr., and <span style="font-size: small;">Patia</span>, who had shared the stage with him from time to time, divorced in 1920. The actor soon remarried and continued his stage and movie career while his ex-wife cared for the children and worked as a voice and drama coach.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was at age 17 when he was just out of high school that the younger Tyrone Power was able to spend some months with his father. Encouraged by his parents, he had begun acting early in life and that summer of 1931 his father took him to Chicago where he was appearing in a production of <i>The Merchant of Venice</i>. Young Tyrone was given a small part in the play. The two later returned to Hollywood where the elder Power began work on a film. Several weeks into production he suffered a massive heart attack at the Hollywood Athletic Club and there he died in the arms of his son.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_4Csuj9X0TO0hKio7tE5h1wcCtYK04w7Y1QeFWfgpcc9NH2uKO1eRkqp0ue3DljtehJ00FoxOZieG00K6-0AP3d2Nug24IdoFt5akmd9H8B-RRCnbGTFZHmX4dcV1NfwbntlhVDd8SA/s1600/st+joan+on+stage+in+youth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_4Csuj9X0TO0hKio7tE5h1wcCtYK04w7Y1QeFWfgpcc9NH2uKO1eRkqp0ue3DljtehJ00FoxOZieG00K6-0AP3d2Nug24IdoFt5akmd9H8B-RRCnbGTFZHmX4dcV1NfwbntlhVDd8SA/s320/st+joan+on+stage+in+youth.jpg" width="290" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tyrone Power on stage in <i>St. Joan</i>, 1936</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">By 1935, Tyrone Power, Jr., as he was then known, had made his way to Broadway and been taken under the wing of stage icon Katharine Cornell. He had a small role in <i>Flowers in the Forest</i> (1935), a play the actress produced, and <i>Romeo and Juliet </i>(1935 – 1936), in which Cornell and Maurice Evans starred. When he appeared in a supporting role in <i>St. Joan</i> (1936), starring Cornell, Power was approached by talent scouts from 20^th Century Fox and offered a screen test; Katharine Cornell told the young actor he was ready for Hollywood. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">She was right. Power’s brief appearance in his first film for Fox, <i>Girls' Dormitory </i>(1936) prompted a deluge of fan letters. Legend has it that powerful Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper stayed to watch a second showing of the film just to check the credits for the name of the handsome young actor she’d spied in a brief role toward the end of the film.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was with his third outing for Fox in 1936 that Tyrone Power became a star. Child actor Freddie Bartholomew, who played protagonist Jonathan Blake as a youth, was top-billed in <i>Lloyd's of London</i>. Fourth-billed Tyrone Power, who had far more screen time than anyone in the film, portrayed Blake as an adult. Only 22 at the time, but handsome, charismatic and self-possessed, Pow<span style="font-size: small;">er</span> walked away with the film. He would share top billing on his next assignment, <i>In Old Chicago</i> (1937), with Alice Faye and Don Ameche. Following the film’s great popular success, Fox would re-team him with Faye and Ameche in <i>Alexander’s Ragtime Band </i>(1938). Later in 1938, on loan to MGM, he appeared opposite Norma Shearer in the costume melodrama <i>Marie Antoinette</i>. Tyrone Power was now a firmly established leading man.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtmep3whm1fqqlKGQBgXghjpyE_2u5f_tF1uZd1Xh0XFoOMLBq0nP4QbBLLYJdTGFDiPjSWbBUbB4IQFz3Un5MW1ujAv1OB12KPR34sJtXR_cOVYMMF8yIWkfKwE93zKeQMfj3PLbthaY/s1600/marie+antoinette+on+the+set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtmep3whm1fqqlKGQBgXghjpyE_2u5f_tF1uZd1Xh0XFoOMLBq0nP4QbBLLYJdTGFDiPjSWbBUbB4IQFz3Un5MW1ujAv1OB12KPR34sJtXR_cOVYMMF8yIWkfKwE93zKeQMfj3PLbthaY/s400/marie+antoinette+on+the+set.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tyrone Power on the set of <i>Marie Antoinette </i>(1938) with Norma Shearer</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1939 would prove to be a watershed year for the 25 year old actor. He would portray the outlaw <i>Jesse James</i>in one of only two Technicolor pictures Fox produced that year, and he would star in the studio’s spectacular <i>The Rains Came</i>. Nominated for six Academy Awards, it would win, in that year of the <i>Gone with the Wind</i> sweep, only one, for Best Effects, Special Effects. Power’s leading lady Myrna Loy remembered him as one of the nicest human beings she’d ever known. She would recall much later, “I’m sorry to report that we weren’t lovers, but close to it. I loved him, but he was married to that damn Frenchwoman.” That Frenchwoman was Annabella, the actress Power met a year earlier on <i>Suez </i>(1938) and married in 1939. Also in 1939, in an annual nationwide newspaper poll, Tyrone Power was voted “King of Hollywood.” </span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXOJaZ967e9p4hgWrLy19cmMUZmzi_LrZ1vbiFbL1P8VArqwjYnVTzeZUr7-lEVchcDp_xghFNu0BOlpySBt1onsiuk8NM_P2bPaxUdQkfd84VLcJCuFLZGQvSzGz29DEh1govRGmu4y8/s1600/1939+King+of+Hollywood+with+J+MacDonald+Queen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXOJaZ967e9p4hgWrLy19cmMUZmzi_LrZ1vbiFbL1P8VArqwjYnVTzeZUr7-lEVchcDp_xghFNu0BOlpySBt1onsiuk8NM_P2bPaxUdQkfd84VLcJCuFLZGQvSzGz29DEh1govRGmu4y8/s320/1939+King+of+Hollywood+with+J+MacDonald+Queen.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tyrone Power, 1939's "King of Hollywood," with Ed Sullivan and "Queen" Jeanette MacDonald</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Power next appeared as what has to have been one of the most attractive criminals in Hollywood history in <i>Johnny Apollo </i>(1940) opposite Dorothy Lamour. His first swashbuckler would follow, <i>The Mark of Zorro </i>(1940). Among his best known films, it features one of his most memorable performances. Tyrone Power and Basil Rathbone had reputations as two of the best fencers in film and they would dramatically cross swords in <i>The Mark of Zorro</i>:</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tQlcSzNsTPg" width="420"></iframe> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dec. 2012 update: sadly, this <span style="font-size: x-small;">(c<span style="font-size: x-small;">olorized)</span> YouTube clip was recently blocked</span></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Before joining the U.S. Marines and departing for World War II, Power would star in one of his favorites, the vivid Technicolor <i>Blood and Sand </i>(1941). Directed by Rouben Mamoulian, it is the story of a brilliant bullfighter undone by temptation and jealousy. Power was apparently entranced by co-star Rita Hayworth, one of his two leading ladies (the other was Linda Darnell), and his stand-in reportedly noticed that the actor could not take his eyes from her throughout filming.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuzbQco9Akv9TdQSGrf1xExN0HwEtfMeKOLrA0GiSKbd9FGZFFO6XTQlgQrTTZn5aladvdnWvBuPGHiZnwnKIaD8kP-FMkiWY86ou-Q-4hf3GT8pa2mdpLDTkjEkz-yFz0xDuVvgMFtZI/s1600/Blood+and+Sand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuzbQco9Akv9TdQSGrf1xExN0HwEtfMeKOLrA0GiSKbd9FGZFFO6XTQlgQrTTZn5aladvdnWvBuPGHiZnwnKIaD8kP-FMkiWY86ou-Q-4hf3GT8pa2mdpLDTkjEkz-yFz0xDuVvgMFtZI/s320/Blood+and+Sand.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rita Hayworth and Tyrone Power in <i>Blood and Sand </i>(1941)</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Also prior to entering the service, Power completed<i>A Yank in the R.A.F. </i>(1941), a war-time romance that paired him with Fox’s other superstar, Betty Grable. He also <span style="font-size: small;">appeared in</span> <i>The Black Swan </i>(1942), a Technicolor swashbuckler in which Maureen O’Hara, as an aristocratic young beauty, plays hard-to-get with Power’s character, a dashing reformed pirate. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNVtLCIpQkuWHCUYKPR6S2irPE_YXJjSXAwpg0dXhOXXjuTjCXm85akUOJLkYUWbMGtpkydSpOFKt8g01f-Ck_H9FGo2kxntJtr6FYMqbIgJOCZeYm7rBehtG6vU8F0cGIlBGqLSSYCvw/s1600/tp+usmc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNVtLCIpQkuWHCUYKPR6S2irPE_YXJjSXAwpg0dXhOXXjuTjCXm85akUOJLkYUWbMGtpkydSpOFKt8g01f-Ck_H9FGo2kxntJtr6FYMqbIgJOCZeYm7rBehtG6vU8F0cGIlBGqLSSYCvw/s320/tp+usmc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tyrone Power, U.S. Marine Corps</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"></div><span style="font-size: small;">Tyrone Power was about to turn 28 when he joined the USMC. He had developed an interest in flying through director Henry King and flew in the Pacific during the war, carrying supplies into Iwo Jima and flying the injured out, often under heavy enemy fire. When he returned to Hollywood just a few years later, he seemed to have aged. Though still very handsome, he appeared weary.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Power returned to the screen in the Edmund Goulding-directed production of Somerset Maugham’s <i>The Razor’s Edge</i> in 1946. Myrna Loy later remarked on the spiritual quality she saw in Power’s eyes. As Larry Darrell, a war veteran on a quest for enlighten<span style="font-size: small;">ment and meaning</span> in <i>The Razor’s Edge</i>, she believed he was perfectly cast, “That was Ty,” she said. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSpDyhZkJC2Mk4k1NhhiKUEcfZl3OQg9ERzRYd6wYN8TuGF2XSM44jVW3VQUw290BVaLo-Y6omTvrva0AA2ty3Iu9E0W_qgcIgEXFQjgSkjghGooqbwNi8mBtO_eTfNoNsrefHoaxsOA0/s1600/Nightmare+Alley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSpDyhZkJC2Mk4k1NhhiKUEcfZl3OQg9ERzRYd6wYN8TuGF2XSM44jVW3VQUw290BVaLo-Y6omTvrva0AA2ty3Iu9E0W_qgcIgEXFQjgSkjghGooqbwNi8mBtO_eTfNoNsrefHoaxsOA0/s320/Nightmare+Alley.jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Nightmare Alley </i>(1947)</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"></div><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Nightmare Alley </i>(1947) was a film Power battled with Fox chief Darryl Zanuck to make. Zanuck, protective of Power as a valuable studio asset, feared that casting him as a dark character in a downbeat film would damage his box office appeal. But Power was frustrated with the endless string of heroes he invariably played and longed to break type. As sleazy carnival huckster Stan Carlisle, Power is fascinating - and convincing<span style="font-size: small;">.</span> But Zanuck had no confidence in the film and it was given little promotion. Though it quickly faded from view it developed a solid reputation and following over the years. <i>Captain from Castile </i>(1947), Power’s first post-war swashbuckler, would not be his last. At the time the picture was filming in Mexico, he was in the midst of a high-profile romance with Lana Turner. She flew south of the border to be with him on Christmas 1946 and would remember their New Year’s Eve together as the happiest night of her life. Her daughter Cheryl Crane recalled that one of her own earliest memories was of sitting on Power’s lap in the family den. “I was only about three years old, but I remember his face.” Lana would forever refer to Power as the love of her life and recall, “No man except possibly Tyrone Power took the time to find out that I was a human being, not just a pretty, shapely little thing.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Tp3b051HUwzEq1dBFZV0cbqF5ZcAEReT131dbviwziAhIhj3yylvwChHweYfRqnJVH01Cejs5gV76WjEtilex_yqHxJuZfm5aOsCS1nPfU-F2nDfiFvwwydLXhSiR_94wB1ec55R_PE/s1600/Lana+and+Ty.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Tp3b051HUwzEq1dBFZV0cbqF5ZcAEReT131dbviwziAhIhj3yylvwChHweYfRqnJVH01Cejs5gV76WjEtilex_yqHxJuZfm5aOsCS1nPfU-F2nDfiFvwwydLXhSiR_94wB1ec55R_PE/s320/Lana+and+Ty.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1946: Lana Turner and Tyrone Power in Mexico</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">It was while involved with Lana and following the completion of his first three post-war films that Power readied for his trip across the Atlantic with pilot Bob Buck and crew. As the group prepared to depart on September 1, 1947, Turner took Buck aside and told him, “I love that guy, be sure you bring him back to me.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><span style="font-size: small;">Though Buck was originally drafted to pilot <i>The Geek</i>, Power confided early on that he would like to do most of the flying himself. Buck quickly learned that the actor “flew like an old pro” and relaxed into backing him up as co-pilot. Wherever <i>The Geek </i>landed, they were mobbed and sometimes pursued. Even landing in a jungle in Liberia and greeted by only two natives, one of the two pointed to Tyrone Power and said, “I know him.” When they arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, Power’s group was welcomed by a crowd so large and enthusiastic that their driver commented, “they didn’t do this for the king and queen.” According to Buck, Power believed that people weren’t reacting to him but to the characters he played and their own romantic fantasies. Buck felt this perspective “kept his head size normal.”<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>Buck formed a life-long friendship with Power and saw in him an all-American guy and natural athlete who could also talk religion, philosophy, art and literature. He had a photographic memory – which Buck witnessed first-hand when he watched the actor scan a script and then discuss it in great detail. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Once <i>The Geek</i> made its way to Europe, the group spent some time in Rome. It was there that Power encountered Linda Christian, a young starlet he would marry the following year. They would have two daughters before divorcing in the mid-‘50s.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09KfzQcfkv6FLCtyriH_odROKe9WdQ76Fhi4Tbr_Lrdxhd1fyvh67JFTJ2bTQXj9AxS-EVW0IVIOBzwn3Zu8HYWh3u2CdLJufDtbSDahrHLxIed0otwomBrrAFhKZrfxDPtAo_Zx1mtA/s1600/dark+is+light+enough+1955.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09KfzQcfkv6FLCtyriH_odROKe9WdQ76Fhi4Tbr_Lrdxhd1fyvh67JFTJ2bTQXj9AxS-EVW0IVIOBzwn3Zu8HYWh3u2CdLJufDtbSDahrHLxIed0otwomBrrAFhKZrfxDPtAo_Zx1mtA/s320/dark+is+light+enough+1955.jpg" width="235" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Dark is Light Enough</i> on Broadway, 1955</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">Back in Hollywood, Power’s career would continue with a mix of swashbucklers, adventures, light fare and big budget A-films.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In 1951 Power went on the London stage for a six month engagement of a Joshua Logan-directed production of <i>Mr. Roberts</i>. It was a sold-out run and <i>Variety </i>characterized his performance in the title role as a “warm, colorful and meaningful interpretation.” He toured the U.S. very successfully in <i>John Brown’s Body</i> and took it to Broadway in 1953 with Raymond Massey and Judith Anderson. He returned to Broadway in 1955 with <i>The Dark is Light Enough</i>, starring with Katharine Cornell (a young Christopher Plummer would win a Theatre World Award for his supporting performance in the play). Power’s final Broadway appearance came in <i>Back to Methuselah </i>in 1958 with Faye Emerson.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">His last finished film would be Billy Wilder’s <i>Witness for the Prosecution</i> (1957) with Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich. In it, Power,<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>cast against type as an accused killer, delivers one of his most acclaimed performances. Billy Wilder reported that co-star Marlene Dietrich developed an enormous crush on Power during filming and remarked, “Everybody had a crush on Ty…it was impossible to be impervious to that kind of charm.”</span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC7HZEoayTYkpTBXHBdSKU-Y49nyDar4Mr-FramzdInVCPdg7N4TQ98Ab78mM3w0lEWNpfC_P88cbZrDgPPiZ8F1dVte5YyIK25kNBIa57Cv-VPTqyVSTrw7KOcfbmgwZUa0VrQITHOIM/s1600/witness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC7HZEoayTYkpTBXHBdSKU-Y49nyDar4Mr-FramzdInVCPdg7N4TQ98Ab78mM3w0lEWNpfC_P88cbZrDgPPiZ8F1dVte5YyIK25kNBIa57Cv-VPTqyVSTrw7KOcfbmgwZUa0VrQITHOIM/s320/witness.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, <i>Witness for the Prosecution </i>(1957)</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In 1958, 44-year-old Tyrone Power married 26-year-old Debbie Minardos. They traveled to Spain in September where he was to film the King Vidor epic <i>Solomon and Sheba. </i>On November 15, Power collapsed on the set during an arduous swordfight scene with George Sanders and suffered a massive heart attack; he died on the way to the hospital. It had been ice-cold on the set that day and <span style="font-size: small;">he was a heavy smoker.</span> Power’s wife gave birth to their son, Tyrone Power IV, in January 1959. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">“His voice was beautiful to listen to, deep, clear and strong,” Bob Buck wrote; his dark, long-lashed eyes radiated warmth and a soulful quality. He performed with sensitivity and conviction and he brought to the screen a certain nobility and tempered reserve. He was Fox’s top leading man for more than 15 years and though his late career had its ups and downs, his last films were some of his greatest successes. He has been called “illegally handsome” and perhaps his looks, coupled with a powerful onscreen <span style="font-size: small;">charisma, </span>blinded both studio and audience to his <span style="font-size: small;">actual talent and </span>capacity to be something more than a leading man.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Today, August 25, Turner Classic Movies honors Tyrone Power with a full 24 hours of his films as part of its annual <i>Summer Under the Stars </i>celebration in August. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/p/tyrone-power-on-tcm-summer-under-stars.html" style="color: #cc0000;" target="_blank">Click here</a> for the schedule of films. </span> <a href="http://scribehardonfilm.wordpress.com/2012/08/25/2012-tcm-suts-blogathon-day-25-tyrone-power/" style="color: #cc0000;" target="_blank">Click here</a> for more on Michael and Jill’s <i>Summer Under the Stars </i>blogathon.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nBRm_lySskPivZT6Ppo09JBTYurHAkwmg7I9oxj3k5Idw5OicWSFfS9BfQBNv5yZ_vbsNN2Rmk7PHdYwPoG6hykP7pL6ojGkpPJbUmPH0AuLJ_MEDEJhcNCLTlrLMQX9IrJqHcBCcSo/s1600/TP+by+Trevor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nBRm_lySskPivZT6Ppo09JBTYurHAkwmg7I9oxj3k5Idw5OicWSFfS9BfQBNv5yZ_vbsNN2Rmk7PHdYwPoG6hykP7pL6ojGkpPJbUmPH0AuLJ_MEDEJhcNCLTlrLMQX9IrJqHcBCcSo/s400/TP+by+Trevor.jpg" width="311" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portrait of Tyrone Power by Claire Trevor, 1958</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u>Notes</u>:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>North Star Over My Shoulder: A Flying Life</i> by Bob Buck, Simon & Schuster (2002)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Being and Becoming</i>by Myrna Loy and James Kotsilibas-Davis, Alfred A. Knopf (1987)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder</i> by Ed Sikov, Hyperion (1998)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Lana: the Memories, the Myths, the Movies</i> by Cheryl Crane, Running Press (2008)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Website: <a href="http://www.tyrone-power.com/" style="color: #cc0000;">www.tyrone-power.com</a></span></div>

Summer Under the Stars TCM The Lady Eve (author) Tyrone Power Remembering Tyrone Power

“There he was, dark-looking with black hair and eyebrows, and no man had a right to be that handsome.” So aviator Bob Buck remembered first ...

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