Steven Geray

Happy birthday to actor Steven Geray – born November 10, 1904 in Ungvar, Austria-Hungary (now Uzhhorod, Ukraine). Although Steven Geray may not be widely remembered among casual film fans, he was a consistent presence in 1940s American cinema and early television, and a fixture of film noir, appearing in a total of 19 noir films.  Geray’s acting career began in the early 1930s in Hungary, where he appeared in movies and on stage with the Hungarian National Theater.  In the latter half of the decade, Geray had English-speaking roles in a handful of British comedies and musicals, including Dance Band (1935), The Student’s Romance (1935), A Star Fell from Heaven (1936), and Let’s Make a Night of It (1937).  As a member of the Folies Bergere, Geray’s stage act included satirical impersonations of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, much to the disdain of the German and Italian governments.  After he was assaulted for ignoring warnings to cease his act, Geray fled Europe and moved to Hollywood, where he eventually landed a small part in Dark Streets of Cairo (1940).  By 1942, Geray’s American film career hit its stride, and over the next two decades he appeared in nearly 100 movies. Geray’s heavy Hungarian accent made him a natural to play foreigners, but he was able to transcend the common typecasting of only spies and scientists, and played a wide variety of characters throughout his career. Geray was always cast in supporting parts, except in So Dark the Night (1946), a noir film in which he was top billed in the role of a French detective. His substantial film noir resume includes: The Shanghai Gesture (1941) (uncredited) with Gene Tierney, The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) with Peter Lorre, Cornered (1945) with Dick Powell, Spellbound (1945) with Gregory Peck, Deadline at Dawn (1946) with Susan Hayward, Gilda (1946) with Rita Hayworth, So Dark the Night (1946) with Micheline Cheirel, Blind Spot (1947) with Constance Dowling, The Unfaithful (1947) with Ann Sheridan, The Dark Past (1948) with William Holden, I Love Trouble (1948) with Franchot Tone, In a Lonely Place (1950) with Humphrey Bogart, A Lady Without Passport (1950) with Hedy Lamarr, Woman on the Run (1950) with Ann Sheridan, The House on Telegraph Hill (1951) with Richard Basehart, Night Without Sleep (1952) with Linda Darnell, Affair in Trinidad (1952) with Rita Hayworth, A Bullet for Joey (1955) with Edward G. Robinson, and New York Confidential (1955) with Broderick Crawford. In addition to film noir, Geray appeared in several notable films, including: Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief (1955), the Oscar-winning All About Eve (1950), and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) with Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. On television, Geray made numerous guest appearances on such shows as Lassie, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Wagon Train, Perry Mason, The Untouchables, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, I Dream of Jeannie, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  In the late 1960s, Geray directed local theater in Estes Park, Colorado, where he also owned and ran a bar. Geray died in 1973 at age 69.