Gregory William Mank - Laird Cregar: A Hollywood Tragedy

Portrait, circa 1941.

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina

Also by Gregory William Mank and from McFarland

The Very Witching Time of Night: Dark Alleys of Classic Horror Cinema (2014)

Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff: The Expanded Story of a Haunting Collaboration, with a Complete Filmography of Their Films Together (2009; paperback 2017)

Women in Horror Films, 1930s (1999; paperback 2005)

Women in Horror Films, 1940s (1999; paperback 2005)

Hollywood Cauldron: Thirteen Horror Films from the Genres Golden Age (1994; paperback 2001)

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e-ISBN: 978-1-4766-2844-8

2018 Gregory William Mank. All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Front cover: Laird Cregar as Jack the Ripper in The Lodger, 1944

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com

For my Dad, the late William C. Mank
who watched The Lodger with me when I was seven years old.

For the late Elizabeth Cregar Hayman
who so deeply loved her Uncle Sam.

For David Frankham
who, inspired by Laird Cregars performance as
The Lodger over 70 years ago, became an excellent actor.

For Ned Comstock, curator of USCs Performing Arts Library
whos provided such great help with my research over
the past 30 years, especially on this book.

And, as always for Barbara.

Although Laird Cregar died more than 70 years ago, I was determined that this long-in-the-works biography would depend on as many primary sources as possible. Many people, some no longer living, and many archives, some no longer in existence, have dynamically assisted.

Thanks, first of all, to Elizabeth Cregar Hayman, Laird Cregars niece, who lived with him in Los Angeles when she was seven and eight years old and whose affectionate, insightful memories of her Uncle Sam proved invaluable. Betsey died in 2015 and I wish it had been possible to present this book to her with my most sincere gratitude.

DeWitt Bodeen, the writer of the 1942 classic Cat People and film historian extraordinaire, was a personal friend of Cregar, and, fortunately, a personal friend to me as well. Over the years, DeWitt had provided me with many stories and between-the-lines information about Cregar and the often sinister Hollywood of the World War II years. DeWitt died in 1988; its hard to believe that almost 30 years have passed.

David Frankham, prolific actor and author of the superb memoir Which One Is David?, became an actor after being inspired by Cregars portrayal in The Lodger. David arrived in Hollywood in the mid1950s and collected many Cregar stories that he generously shared with me. His encouragement and friendship are much appreciated.

Julie Graham, Performing Arts curator at UCLA, made available Laird Cregars legal file from 20th CenturyFox, an extraordinary source of information. Fox has reclaimed its papers from UCLA and I was fortunate to have had them to analyze when this window of opportunity existed.

Ned Comstock, Performing Arts curator at USC, Los Angeles, was, as always, a tremendous resource, providing all variety of information, as well as access to USCs John Brahm ArchiveBrahm having directed Cregars two best-remembered films, The Lodger and Hangover Square.

Kristine Krueger, of the National Film Information Service, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, made available much important material, notably information from the Censorship Files (critical to analyze in the case of such sex-horror films as The Lodger and Hangover Square). She also found Gladys Halls unpublished draft of the longest and (despite many fabrications) most candid interview Cregar ever gave.

The late Ellen Bailey, Pasadena Playhouse alumna and the Playhouses Archive curator, cordially gave me entree to the archives, making it possible to document Cregars various stage performances there before he made his mark in Hollywood.

R. David Schaaf, Philadelphia architect and historian, and my second cousin, located many sites associated with the Cregar family history in that city and accompanied me to them, notably on a high-spirited and multi-stop pilgrimage in November 2014.

G.D. Hamann of Filming Today Press produces a wonderful series of books on classic Hollywood stars, character actors and directors, providing a compilation of newspaper stories, interviews and film reviews from the period the subject of each book was active. The book he assembled on Cregar was of enormous help.

Over the past 40 years, various people who knew Laird Cregar gave me interviews. In addition to those already cited here: the late Charles Bennett, the late Henry Brandon, the late Fritz Feld, the late Undeen Darnell Hunter, the late Roger Kinzel, Faye Marlowe, the late Peggy Moran, the late Alan Napier, Peggy Stewart and Ned Wynn.

The Billy Rose Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, New York City, as always, has been a great source for material. A startling recent discovery, however: When I revisited the library in June 2016 to review the Cregar clippings file, as I had years before, the staff informed me that the entire file has been stolen.

Scott Gallinghouse and Frank Dello Stritto contributed valuable information from census files and various online newspaper archives; so did my son Christopher Mank, a Baltimore County research librarian.

Eileen Wolfberg, who diligently proofread this manuscript, and her husband Tom Jackson, both offered encouragement and good fellowship.

Thanks also to:

Ron Adams, Robert Connors, Dr. James T. Coughlin, David Del Valle, Jonathan Dixon, Scott Eyman, Denise Fetterley, Bruce Forsberg, Suzanne Foster (Winchester College, England), Martin Grams, Charles and Sherry Heard, Roger Hurlburt, the late Josephine Hutchinson, Cassandra Keith (the Episcopal Academy, Philadelphia), the late Kay Linaker, Tim and Donna Lucas, Leonard Maltin, Mark Martucci, Gavin Murrell (Montgomery Management, West Hollywood, California), Constantine Nasr, Bill Nelson, Doug and Kelley Norwine, James Robert Parish, Gary Don Rhodes, David J. Skal, Karl Thiede, Tom Weaver and Scott Wilson.

My appreciation is extended as well to the staffs of Eddie Brandts Saturday Matinee, Celebrity Collectibles, Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) and the Woodlands (Philadelphia).

All source information as to interviews, cited books, newspapers and magazines, etc., can be found in the chapter endnotes.

There are several sources who provided important information regarding various topics, ranging from Cregars sexuality to the costs, profits and losses on his films. These people have requested their contributions not be specified as to source, and I have respected their wishes.

Finally, my most personal and loving thanks to my wife Barbara, who shared with me so many of the research adventures that led to this book, and did so very much to make the book take final form. Weve been a team in every way for over 45 years. I could never do it without you.