# Pedro de Cordoba

Pedro de Cordoba (September 28, 1881 – September 16, 1950) was an American actor.

## Biography

De Cordoba was born in New York City to parents who were French and Cuban in origin. He was a classically trained theatre actor who confessed he did not enjoy appearing in silent films nearly as much as he liked working on stage, but his career during the silent film era was extensive.
In 1913 he was a member of the resident summer stock cast at Elitch Theatre in Denver, Colorado.
His first film was Cecil B. DeMille's version of Carmen (1915), and he soon became a regular leading man in Hollywood. His Broadway career cast him with such stage actresses as Jane Cowl and Katharine Cornell.
In the sound era, his deeply resonant speaking voice made him perfectly suited to talking pictures and was active as a character actor in Hollywood, from the mid-1930s through to the end of his life. He was most often cast as aristocratic, or clerical characters of Hispanic origin, as in The Keys of the Kingdom (1944), because of his last name as well as his royal bearing. On rare occasions, he would be cast in the role of a villain. His "living skeleton" sideshow character hides fugitive Robert Cummings (and Priscilla Lane) in his carnival wagon overnight in the Alfred Hitchcock film Saboteur (1942).
He was a devout Catholic and served for a time as president of the Catholic Actors Guild of America. The last film in which he appeared, a political drama set in an unnamed South American dictatorship, Crisis (1950), was released shortly after his death.

## Selected filmography

| Year | Film | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1915 | The Little White Violet | Phillip Randall | | Silent; Short |
| 1915 | Jeanne of the Woods | Hugh Travers N.W.M.P. | | Silent; Short |
| 1915 | Carmen | Escamillo | Cecil B. DeMille | Silent |
| 1915 | Temptation | Julian | Cecil B. DeMille | Silent |
| 1916 | Maria Rosa | Ramon | Cecil B. DeMille | Silent |
| 1916 | Just a Song at Twilight | Carlysle Turner | | Silent |
| 1917 | Sapho | Flamant | Hugh Ford | Silent |
| 1917 | One Law for Both | Count de Fernac | Ivan Abramson | Silent |
| 1917 | Barbary Sheep | Benchaalal | Maurice Tourneur | Silent |
| 1917 | Runaway Romany | Zinga | George W. Lederer | Silent |
| 1918 | A Daughter of the Old South | Pedro de Alvarez | Émile Chautard | Silent |
| 1919 | The New Moon | Prince Michail Koloyar | Chester Withey | Silent |
| 1919 | The Dark Mirror | Mario | | Silent |
| 1920 | The World and His Wife | Don Severo | Robert G. Vignola | Silent |
| 1920 | The Sin That Was His | Father Aubert | Hobart Henley | Silent |
| 1921 | The Inner Chamber | Dr. George Danilo | Edward José | Silent |
| 1922 | The Young Diana | Dr. Dimitrius | Robert G. Vignola | Silent |
| 1922 | When Knighthood Was in Flower | Duke of Buckingham | Robert G. Vignola | Silent |
| 1923 | Enemies of Women | Atilio Castro | Alan Crosland | Silent |
| 1923 | Fires of Fate | Prince Ibrahim | | Silent |
| 1923 | The Purple Highway | Joe Renard | Henry Kolker | Silent |
| 1923 | I Will Repay | Paul Deroulede | Henry Kolker | Silent |
| 1924 | The Desert Sheik | Prince Ibrahim | Tom Terriss | Silent |
| 1924 | The Bandolero | Dorando | Tom Terriss | Silent |
| 1925 | The New Commandment | Picard | Howard Higgin | Silent |
| 1929 | Hunt the Tiger | | | short |
| 1935 | The Crusades | Karakush | Cecil B. DeMille | |
| 1935 | Condemned to Live | Dr. Anders Bizet | Frank R. Strayer | |
| 1935 | Captain Blood | Don Diego | Michael Curtiz | |
| 1935 | Professional Soldier | Stefan Bernaido | Tay Garnett | |
| 1936 | Rose of the Rancho | Gomez | Marion Gering | |
| 1936 | Robin Hood of El Dorado | Hacendado Wanting to Cooperate | William A. Wellman | uncredited |
| 1936 | Moonlight Murder | Swami | Edwin L. Marin | |
| 1936 | Frankie and Johnny | Undetermined Supporting Role | Chester Erskine John H. Auer | uncredited |
| 1936 | Trouble for Two | Sergei | J. Walter Ruben | |
| 1936 | The Devil-Doll | Charles Matin | Tod Browning | |
| 1936 | Anthony Adverse | Brother Francois | Mervyn LeRoy | |
| 1936 | His Brother's Wife | Dr. Capolo | W. S. Van Dyke | |
| 1936 | Ramona | Father Salvierderra | Henry King | |
| 1936 | The Garden of Allah | Gardener | Richard Boleslawski | uncredited |
| 1937 | Maid of Salem | Mr. Morse | Frank Lloyd | |
| 1937 | Girl Loves Boy | Signor Montefiori | W. Duncan Mansfield | |
| 1937 | Damaged Goods | Dr. Edward B. Walker | Phil Goldstone | |
| 1937 | The Firefly | Spanish General | Robert Z. Leonard | uncredited |
| 1938 | International Settlement | Maurice Zabello | Eugene Forde | |
| 1938 | Gold Diggers in Paris | Mons. Cambret | Busby Berkeley | uncredited |
| 1938 | Keep Smiling | J. Howard Travers | Monty Banks | |
| 1938 | Storm Over Bengal | Abdul Mir | Sidney Salkow | |
| 1938 | Dramatic School | LeMaistre in "Joan of Arc" | Robert B. Sinclair | uncredited |
| 1938 | Heart of the North | Father Claverly | Lewis Seiler | |
| 1939 | Devil's Island | Marcal | William Clemens | |
| 1939 | Winner Take All | Pantrelli | Otto Brower | |
| 1939 | Juarez | Riva Palacio | William Dieterle | |
| 1939 | Man of Conquest | Oolooteka | George Nicholls Jr. | |
| 1939 | Chasing Danger | Gurra Din | Ricardo Cortez | |
| 1939 | Five Came Back | Latin Ambassador | John Farrow | uncredited |
| 1939 | Range War | Padre Jose | Lesley Selander | |
| 1939 | Law of the Pampas | Jose Valdez | Nate Watt | |
| 1939 | Charlie Chan in City in Darkness | Antoine | Herbert I. Leeds | |
| 1939 | Escape to Paradise | Don Miguel | Erle C. Kenton | |
| 1939 | The Light That Failed | Monsieur Binat | William A. Wellman | |
| 1940 | My Favorite Wife | Dr. Kohlmar | Garson Kanin | |
| 1940 | Earthbound | Minister | Irving Pichel | |
| 1940 | The Ghost Breakers | Havez | George Marshall | |
| 1940 | The Sea Hawk | Capt. Mendoza | Michael Curtiz | |
| 1940 | South of Pago Pago | Chief | Alfred E. Green | |
| 1940 | Before I Hang | Victor Sondini | Nick Grinde (ad Nick Grindé) | |
| 1940 | The Mark of Zorro | Don Miguel | Rouben Mamoulian | |
| 1940 | The Phantom Submarine | Henri Jerome | Charles Barton | |
| 1941 | Romance of the Rio Grande | Don Fernando de Vega | Herbert I. Leeds | |
| 1941 | Blood and Sand | Don Jose Alvarez | Rouben Mamoulian | |
| 1941 | Million Dollar Baby | Verali, Orchestra Conductor | Curtis Bernhardt | uncredited |
| 1941 | Aloma of the South Seas | Raaiti | Alfred Santell | |
| 1941 | The Corsican Brothers | Count Gravini | Gregory Ratoff | |
| 1941 | Paris Calling | Speaker | Edwin L. Marin | uncredited |
| 1942 | Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake | Feenou | John Cromwell | |
| 1942 | Shut My Big Mouth | Don Carlos Montoya | Charles Barton | |
| 1942 | Saboteur | Circus Troupe | Alfred Hitchcock | |
| 1942 | The Falcon Takes Over | | Irving Reis | |
| 1943 | Tarzan Triumphs | Patriarch | Wilhelm Thiele | |
| 1943 | White Savage | Candlemaker | Arthur Lubin | |
| 1943 | Background to Danger | Old Turk | Raoul Walsh | uncredited |
| 1943 | For Whom the Bell Tolls | Colonel Miranda | Sam Wood | |
| 1943 | The Song of Bernadette | Dr. LeCramps | Henry King | |
| 1944 | Uncertain Glory | Executioner | Raoul Walsh | uncredited |
| 1944 | Once Upon a Time | Lepidopterist | Alexander Hall | uncredited |
| 1944 | The Falcon in Mexico | Don Carlos Ybarra | William Berke | |
| 1944 | Kismet | Meuzin | William Dieterle | uncredited |
| 1944 | The Keys of the Kingdom | Father Gomez | John M. Stahl | scenes deleted |
| 1944 | Tahiti Nights | Tonga | Will Jason | uncredited |
| 1945 | The Picture of Dorian Gray | Blue Gate Fields Pianist | Albert Lewin | uncredited |
| 1945 | In Old New Mexico | Father Angelo | Phil Rosen | |
| 1945 | Club Havana | Charles, Headwaiter | Edgar G. Ulmer | |
| 1945 | They Were Expendable | Priest | John Ford | scenes deleted |
| 1945 | San Antonio | Ricardo Torreon | David Butler Robert Florey (uncredited) Raoul Walsh (uncredited) | |
| 1945 | Adventure | Felipe | Victor Fleming | |
| 1946 | Night in Paradise | Magus | Arthur Lubin | uncredited |
| 1946 | Cuban Pete | Perez | Jean Yarbrough | |
| 1946 | A Scandal in Paris | Priest | Douglas Sirk | |
| 1946 | Swamp Fire | Tim Rousseau | William H. Pine | |
| 1946 | Two Years Before the Mast | Don Sebastian | John Farrow | uncredited |
| 1946 | The Beast with Five Fingers | Horatio | Robert Florey | |
| 1947 | Carnival in Costa Rica | Papa Castro | Gregory Ratoff | |
| 1947 | Robin Hood of Monterey | Don Carlos Belmonte | Christy Cabanne | |
| 1947 | Green Dolphin Street | Priest | Victor Saville | uncredited |
| 1948 | The Time of Your Life | Arab Philosopher | H. C. Potter | |
| 1948 | Mexican Hayride | Señor Martinez | Charles Barton | |
| 1948 | Adventures of Don Juan | Pachecho | Vincent Sherman | uncredited |
| 1949 | Daughter of the West | Chief Wykomas | Harold Daniels | |
| 1949 | Omoo-Omoo, the Shark God | Chief Tari | Leon Leonard | |
| 1949 | The Daring Caballero | Padre Leonardo | Wallace Fox | |
| 1949 | Joe Palooka in the Counterpunch | Museum Caretaker | | uncredited |
| 1949 | Samson and Delilah | Bar Simon | Cecil B. DeMille | |
| 1950 | Comanche Territory | Quisima | George Sherman | |
| 1950 | The Lawless | Mr. Garcia | Joseph Losey | |
| 1950 | Crisis | Father Del Puento | Richard Brooks | uncredited |
| 1951 | Oh! Susanna | Pactola | Joseph Kane | uncredited |
| 1951 | Cuban Fireball | Don Perez | William Beaudine | |
| 1951 | When the Redskins Rode | Chief Shingiss | Lew Landers | final film role |

## Radio appearances

| Year | Program | Episode/source |
| 1937 | Lux Radio Theatre | Madame Butterfly |
| 1946 | Hollywood Star Time | The Song of Bernadette |