Raymond Massey
  • Raymond Massey
  • Raymond Massey
  • Raymond Massey
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Career Highlights

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Awards
Best Actor in a Leading Role Academy Awards [1941] (Won/Nominated: Nominated)
Star on the Walk of Fame Walk of Fame
 

Raymond Massey Biography
Educated at Toronto University & Balliol College, Oxford, he joined the Canadian Field Artillery in World War I, served in France & was wounded. His first appearance was in a stage production in Siberia, during its occupation by American Forces in 1918. Raymond returned to Canada & the farm implement business after the war, but footlights proved a greater allure than ploughshares. He appeared at the Everyman Theatre, London in "In the Zone" in 1922 and from then his acting career never looked back. As adept in front of arc lights as the footlights, he was signed up for a 5 year contract by Alexander Korda. Major Massey was invalided from the Canadian Army in 1943. Raymond is devoted to his American wife Dorothy, to whom he refers all queries and problems. He has an ardent radio following in the States and has now become an American citizen. This is natural as his forebears were American for generations. A bad traveller, Raymond hates the sea and aeroplanes. A good sportsman, he excels at golf and fishing, A scholar, he loves good literature. A modest man, he regards himself as supremely uninteresting.
 

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Snapshot
    Name Raymond Massey
    (Raymond Hart Massey)
    Height 6' 1"  (185 cm)
    Build Slim
    Eye Color Brown - Dark
    Hair Color Brown - Dark
    Date of Birth April 30, 1896
    Birthplace Toronto, Ontario
    Star Sign Taurus
    Died July 29, 1983 (Aged 87)
    Location of Death Los Angeles, California
    Cause of Death pneumonia
    Nationality Canadian
    Ethnicity White
    University Toronto University
    Balliol College, Oxford
    Occupation Actor
    Celebrity Index Ra
    Claim to Fame Usually played stern or evil characters in the 1930`s-1950`s

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Trivia

Biography

Friends and Family
Douglas Fairbanks Jr [Friend] :: David Niven [Friend] :: Vincent Massey [Brother] :: Raymond Massey (II) [Grandfather] :: Daniel Massey [Father] :: Anna Massey [Father]

Trivia and Quotes

Trivia
  • Massey`s divorce from his ex-wife Adrienne Allen was the inspiration for the 1949 film Adam`s Rib (1949). Each was represented by one half of a famous husband-and-wife team of divorce lawyers, Dorothy Whitney and her husband William Dwight Whitney. After the trial was over, the Whitneys divorced. The ex-Mrs. Whitney married Massey, and the ex-Mrs. Massey married the ex-Mrs. Whitney`s ex-husband.
  • Played Abraham Lincoln four times on TV and in the movies as well as in the stage play "Abe Lincoln in Illinois.".
  • During the 1964 presidential race, he endorsed Republican candidate Barry Goldwater.
  • Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 554-555. New York: Charles Scribner`s Sons, 1998.
  • Died the same day as his The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) and A Matter of Life and Death (1946) co-star David Niven.
  • Spoke the lines given to Abraham Lincoln in the staged dramatic reading of Stephen Vincent Benet`s "John Brown`s Body", in which he also spoke John Brown`s lines.
  • There was much dissatisfaction among the public when it was learned that Massey, a Canadian with clear diction and a fine speaking voice, had been selected to play Abraham Lincoln in the stage production of "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" - until he received rave reviews for his performance. His subsequent reprise of the role in the 1940 film version (Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)) earned him an Oscar nomination.
  • Portrayed Abraham Lincoln yet again in the 1950s "Du Pont Show of the Month" television drama "The Day That Lincoln Was Shot", opposite Lillian Gish as Mary Todd Lincoln.
  • Portrayed Abraham Lincoln in both Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940) and How the West Was Won (1962).
  • Massey said that the British thought he was American and the Americans thought that he was British. He was actually Canadian. But his mother and paternal grandmother were both Americans and his branch of the Massey family migrated from England to Canada via the United States.
  • Scion of the Massey family whose farm implement manufacturing business merged with the Harris company in 1891 to form Massey-Harris. Then in 1953, it merged with the Ferguson company to become Massey-Harris-Ferguson, shortened to Massey-Ferguson in 1957. Massey-Ferguson, now an AGCO (formerly Varity) subsidiary, is the largest selling farm tractor brand in the world. Vincent and Raymond Massey were the last Masseys to have a direct role in the company. Each elected to pursue other careers.
  • He is buried in the Ludington family plot in Beaverdale Cemetary, in the suburb of Hampden area, which is in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.
  • Although born a Canadian and serving in the Canadian Army in both world wars, he later became an American citizen.
  • Younger brother of Canadian politician Vincent Massey (1887-1967), who was the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada (1952-59).
  • Father of Anna Massey, Daniel Massey and Geoffrey Massey. Grandfather of the producer Raymond Massey and Alice Massey.
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