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Walter Pidgeon
Birthday:
23 September 1897
Birth Name:
Walter Davis Pigeon
Height:
189 cm
Biography
[on Greer Garson] A great lady, I think. We never had a bad word between us.
[on Greer Garson] A great lady, I think. We never had a bad word between us.
Maybe it was better never to become red hot. I'd seen performers like that and they never lasted long. Maybe a long glow is the best way. At Metro I was never considered big enough to squire around Norma Shearer or Joan Crawford or Greta Garbo. Well, I outlasted them all at MGM, didn't I? It takes a lot of work to appear easy going and I tried to avoid being...
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Maybe it was better never to become red hot. I'd seen performers like that and they never lasted long. Maybe a long glow is the best way. At Metro I was never considered big enough to squire around Norma Shearer or Joan Crawford or Greta Garbo. Well, I outlasted them all at MGM, didn't I? It takes a lot of work to appear easy going and I tried to avoid being stuffy.
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I was called to [Louis B. Mayer]'s office to discuss a long-term contract he wanted me to sign. He told me he had been impressed by my work at other studios and that he felt I would be an asset to MGM. He peered at me over his glasses and suggested I tell him about myself. I started by saying I came from New Brunswick. "That's in Canada", I added. "I know wh...
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I was called to [Louis B. Mayer]'s office to discuss a long-term contract he wanted me to sign. He told me he had been impressed by my work at other studios and that he felt I would be an asset to MGM. He peered at me over his glasses and suggested I tell him about myself. I started by saying I came from New Brunswick. "That's in Canada", I added. "I know where New Brunswick is", said Mayer rather snippy. "Where in New Brunswick were you born?" "Saint John", I replied. Mayer jumped to his feet and thumped on his desk. "Young man", he shouted, "you can't influence me with lies like that. Who told you to say you came from Saint John?" Finally I quietened him down and convinced him I really was from Saint John. I had to tell him where half-a-dozen streets and buildings were that he remembered. But I left his office with a contract for much more money than I expected and we were friends until the day he died.
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I didn't demand any vetoes over the films I didn't like, as they do today. I asked nicely and discovered a secret that has stayed with me for my entire career -- that a request spoken softly usually brings results and demands rarely do.
I didn't demand any vetoes over the films I didn't like, as they do today. I asked nicely and discovered a secret that has stayed with me for my entire career -- that a request spoken softly usually brings results and demands rarely do.
I was like a kept woman during my twenty-one years at MGM.
I was like a kept woman during my twenty-one years at MGM.
[on Hollywood] It was like an expensive, beautifully-run fan club. You didn't need to carry money. Your face was your credit card--all over the world.
[on Hollywood] It was like an expensive, beautifully-run fan club. You didn't need to carry money. Your face was your credit card--all over the world.
Walter Pidgeon
Walter Pidgeon, a handsome, tall and dark-haired man, began his career studying voice at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He then did theater, mainly stage musicals. He went to Hollywood in the early 1920s, where he made silent films, including Mannequin (1926) and Sumuru (1927). When talkies arrived, Pidgeon made some musicals, but he never received top billing or recognition in these. In 1937 MGM put him under contract, but only in supporting roles and "the other man" roles, such as in Saratoga (1937) opposite Jean Harlow and Clark Gable and in The Girl of the Golden West (1938) opposite Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. Although these two films were big successes, Pidgeon was overlooked for his contributions to them. MGM lent him out to Fox, where he finally had top billing, in How Green Was My Valley (1941). When he returned to MGM the studio tried to give him bigger roles, and he was cast opposite his frequent co-star Greer Garson. However, Garson seemed to come up on top in Blossoms in the Dust (1941) and Mrs. Miniver (1942), although Pidgeon did receive an Academy Award nomination for his role in the latter film.Pidgeon remained with MGM through the mid-'50s, making films like Dream Wife (1953) and Hit the Deck (1955) with Jane Powell and old pal Gene Raymond. In 1956 Pidgeon left the movies to do some work in the theater, but he returned to film in 1961.Pidgeon retired from acting in 1977. He suffered from several strokes that eventually led to his death in 1984.
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