Jeffrey Lynn

Birthday: 1909-02-16
Deathday: 1995-11-24
Birthplace: Auburn, Massachusetts, USA
Gender: Male
Owned By: Unowned

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jeffrey Lynn (born Ragnar Godfrey Lind; February 16, 1909 – November 24, 1995) was an American stage-screen actor and film producer who worked primarily through the Golden Age of Hollywood establishing himself as one of the premier talents of his time. Throughout his acting career, both on stage and in film, he was typecast as "the attractive, reliable love interest of the heroine," or "the tall, stalwart hero."

Born and raised in Massachusetts, he attended Bates College, before working as a teacher. He was tapped to act in his first film in 1938, which convinced him to move to Hollywood, California. His second film–Four Daughters (1938)–propelled him into national fame sparking three sequels: Daughters Courageous (1939), Four Wives (1939) and Four Mothers (1941) with Lynn reprising his role in each of them. He was at the center of the Gone with the Wind (1939) screening controversy; he was noted as the top contender to play Ashley Wilkes, however, the directer eventually chose Leslie Howard instead. Lynn was asked to join James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart in The Roaring Twenties (1939), a gangster noir that garnered him critical praise. His success continued with such films as The Fighting 69th (1940) in which he portrayed poet-soldier Joyce Kilmer opposite Cagney, It All Came True (1940), All This and Heaven Too (1940) and Million Dollar Baby (1941).

His movie career was put on hold for World War II draft, where he received a Bronze Star for his service as a in Italy and Austria as a combat intelligence captain. He returned to the screen in 1948 and was in the notably successful, A Letter to Three Wives (1949), which went on to be nominated of best picture in the 1950 prime time Academy Awards. A year later he joined that cast of Home Town Story (1951) billed alongside Marilyn Monroe. His later film career credits include: BUtterfield 8 (1960) along with Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey, and Tony Rome (1967) with Frank Sinatra.

Lynn also began to act on Broadway and was featured in such plays as Any Wednesday (1966) and Dinner at Eight (1967). Later on in his career he found mixed critical success television starring in hit shows such as Robert Montgomery Presents, Your Show of Shows, My Son Jeep (with young Martin Huston), and Lux Video Theatre.

He died in November 1995 in Burbank, California from natural causes and was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills. Actor Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum is named in honor of Jeffrey Lynn.

Credits

Year Title Character
1967-11-10 Tony Rome Adam Boyd
1961-10-04 The Spiral Staircase Doctor Parry
1960-11-04 BUtterfield 8 Bingham Smith
1957-11-24 Lost Lagoon Charlie Walker
1954-05-24 Doorway to Suspicion Paul Stapleton
1951-05-18 Home Town Story Blake Washburn
1951-03-05 Up Front Capt. Ralph Johnson
1950-05-01 Miracle in the Rain Art Hugenon
1950-02-02 Captain China Capt. George Brendensen
1949-11-05 Strange Bargain Sam Wilson
1949-01-20 A Letter to Three Wives Bradford 'Brad' Bishop
1948-12-24 Whiplash Dr. Arnold Vincent
1948-09-01 For the Love of Mary Phillip Manning
1948-02-17 Black Bart Lance Hardeen
1941-11-22 The Body Disappears Peter DeHaven
1941-10-04 Law of the Tropics Jim Conwoy
1941-06-28 Underground Kurt Franken
1941-05-31 Million Dollar Baby James Amory
1941-02-08 Flight from Destiny Michael Farroway
1941-01-04 Four Mothers Felix Deitz
1940-08-17 Money and the Woman Dave Bennett
1940-07-13 My Love Came Back Tony Baldwin
1940-07-05 All This, and Heaven Too Henry Martyn Field
1940-04-06 It All Came True Tommy Taylor
1940-01-27 The Fighting 69th Joyce Kilmer
1939-12-22 Four Wives Felix Dietz
1939-12-07 A Child Is Born Jed Sutton
1939-10-28 The Roaring Twenties Lloyd Hart
1939-09-30 Espionage Agent Lowell Warrington
1939-06-23 Daughters Courageous John S. 'Johnny' Heming
1939-02-25 Yes, My Darling Daughter Douglas Hall
1938-08-09 Four Daughters Felix Deitz
1938-07-09 Cowboy from Brooklyn Chronicle Reporter
1938-06-18 When Were You Born Davis
1938-05-28 Out Where the Stars Begin Makeup Artist