# Ronald Colman theatre performances and filmography

Ronald Colman began his career as an actor on the stage following his service in the British Army during World War I. He made his film debut in an unreleased two-reeler titled The Live Wire (1917). After achieving minor success on the stage and in British films, he immigrated to the United States in 1920. There he continued his acting with only moderate success until he was offered the lead opposite Lillian Gish in The White Sister (1923). The film's popularity and critical acclaim led to Colman becoming a major star and also a romantic idol of the silent cinema. As a contract player for Samuel Goldwyn, Colman was cast (frequently on loan-out) as leading man to many of the top actress as the silent era. In five of his silents he formed a romantic team with Hungarian actress Vilma Bánky.
Colman made a successful transition to sound with his first talking feature, Bulldog Drummond (1929), followed by Raffles (1930) and The Unholy Garden (1931). After leaving Goldwyn in 1933, Colman continued his career as a free-lance performer and starred in a succession of critically acclaimed films (A Tale of Two Cities, Under Two Flags, Lost Horizon, The Prisoner of Zenda, If I Were King, and The Light That Failed). In 1948, Colman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Double Life.
The filmography below lists all of Colman's films and is sub-divided into four sections: His British silent films, his American silents, his sound films, and a listing of short films in which he appeared as himself. In addition to his film appearances, Colman's television credits are also listed, as well as his performances on the amateur and professional stage.

## Theatre Performances

| Season | Play Title | Theatre | Role | Notes |
| 1909 | Rich Miss Rustle | Victoria Hall, Ealing | Freddy Fitzfoodle | „An irresponsible opera comique“ by Herbert Scott |
| 1910 | Barbara | St. Saviour’s Parish Hall, Ealing | Finnicum | One-act play by Jerome K. Jerome |
| 1910 | Lights Out | St. Saviour’s Parish Hall, Ealing | Algernon Cuffe | One-act farce by Max Pemberton |
| 1910 | H.M.S. Pinafore | St. Martin’s Hall, Ealing | Bill Bobstay | West Middlesex Operatic Society |
| 1910 | Spoiling the Broth | Ealing Town Hall | David Wells | One-act play by Bertha N. Graham |
| 1911 | Jane | St. Martin’s Hall, West Acton | | A farce in three acts by Harry Nicholls and William Lestocq |
| 1911 | The Admirable Crichton | King’s Hall, Covent Garden | John Treherne | Bancroft Dramatic Club |
| 1912 | A Tight Corner | St. Mary’s Parish Room, Hayes | Samson Quayle | Three act farce by Sidney Bowkett |
| 1912 | Priscilla Runs Away | King’s Hall, Covent Garden | Prince Henry of Lucerne | By Elizabeth von Arnim; Bancroft Dramatic Club |
| 1912 | Mr. Steinman’s Corner | St. Saviour’s Parish Hall, Ealing | The Stockbroker | One-act play by Alfred Sutro |
| 1912 | The Dancing Girl | King’s Hall, Covent Garden | John Christison | By Henry Arthur Jones; Bancroft Dramatic Club |
| 1913 | The Passing of the Third Floor Back | King’s Hall, Covent Garden | Christopher Penny | By Jerome K. Jerome; Bancroft Dramatic Club |
| 1913 | The Private Secretary | St. Martin’s Hall, Acton | Douglas Cattermole | Mr. Vivian Parrott’s Amateur Dramatic Society |
| 1914 | Fanny's First Play | King’s Hall, Covent Garden | Count O’ Dowda | Bancroft Dramatic Club |
| 1914 | Sowing the Wind | King’s Hall, Covent Garden | Ned Annesley | Bancroft Dramatic Club |
| 1916 | The Maharani of Arakan | London Coliseum | Rahmat Sheikh | By George Calderon, adapted from Rabindranath Tagore |
| 1916 | The Misleading Lady | The Playhouse, London | Stephen Weatherbee | Three-act play by Charles Goddard and Paul Dickey |
| 1917 | Partnership | Court Theatre, London | Webber | Comedy by Elizabeth Baker; London Repertory Theatre |
| 1917 | Damaged Goods | St Martin’s Theatre | George Dupont, the patient | replaces Reginald Bach |
| 1918 | The Little Brother | Ambassadors Theatre, London | George Lubin | Play by Benedict James, adapted from Milton Goldsmith, Rabbi and Priest |
| 1918 | The Bubble | tour | David Goldsmith | comedy in three acts by Edward Locke |
| 1918 | The Live Wire | tour | Wilfred „Chips“ Carpenter | Spy play by Sydney Blow and Douglas Hoare; touring lead |
| 1919 | Skittles | tour | Lord Vivian Roftus | comedy by Lechmere Worrall and Arthur Rose |
| 1920 | The Great Day | Drury Lane Theatre, London | Frank Beresford | drama by Louis N. Parker and George R. Sims; touring lead |
| 1920 | The Dauntless Three | Globe Theatre, Atlantic City | Turkish Police Chief; Russian Spy | A Mystery Play by Horace Annesley Vachell and Walter Hackett |
| 1920 | The Green Goddess | Booth Theatre, Broadway, New York | Temple Priest | |
| 1921 | The Silver Fox | Shubert-Belasco Theatre, Washington D.C. | Captain Douglas Belgrave | Play by Ferenc Herczeg, adapted by Cosmo Hamilton |
| 1921 | The Nightcap | 39th Street Theatre, New York | Charles, the butler | Mystery comedy in three acts by Max Marcin and Guy Bolton |
| 1921 | East is West | tour | James Potter | Comedy in three acts by Samuel Shipman and John B. Hymer |
| 1922 | East of Suez | Woods’ Theatre, Atlantic City | Henry Anderson | A play in five scenes by W. Somerset Maugham |
| 1922 | La Tendresse | Empire Theatre, Broadway, New York | Alain Sergyll | Drama by Henry Bataille, adapted by Ruth Chatterton |

## Filmography
### British silents

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Co-stars | Notes |
| 1917 | The Live Wire | The Young Man | George Dewhurst | Phyllis Titmuss | Two reels Never released; now lost |
| 1919 | The Toilers | Bob | George Dewhurst | Manora Thew | Two reels survive |
| 1919 | A Daughter of Eve | Bit Part | Walter West | Violet Hopson | Lost, Uncredited |
| 1919 | Sheba | Bit Part | Cecil M. Hepworth | Alma Taylor | Lost, Uncredited |
| 1919 | Snow in the Desert | Rupert Sylvester | Walter West | Violet Hopson | Lost |
| 1920 | A Son of David | Maurice Phillips | Hay Plumb | Poppy Wyndham | Lost |
| 1920 | Anna the Adventuress | Brendan | Cecil M. Hepworth | Alma Taylor | Lost |
| 1920 | The Black Spider | Vicomte de Beaurais | William J. Humphrey | Lydia Kyasht | Lost |

### American silents

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Co-stars | Notes |
| 1921 | Handcuffs or Kisses | Lodyard | George Archainbaud | Elaine Hammerstein, Julia Swayne Gordon | |
| 1923 | The White Sister | Capt. Giovanni Severini | Henry King | Lillian Gish | Extant |
| 1923 | The Eternal City | Extra | George Fitzmaurice | Barbara La Marr, Bert Lytell | Lost, Uncredited |
| 1924 | Twenty Dollars a Week | Chester Reeves | Hamon F. Weight | George Arliss | |
| 1924 | Tarnish | Emmet Carr | George Fitzmaurice | May McAvoy, Marie Prevost | (*Extant;..George Eastman House, Rochester, New York) |
| 1924 | Her Night of Romance | Paul Menford | Sidney Franklin | Constance Talmadge, Jean Hersholt | Extant |
| 1924 | Romola | Carlo Bucellini | Henry King | Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, William Powell | Extant |
| 1925 | A Thief in Paradise | Maurice Blake | George Fitzmaurice | Doris Kenyon, Aileen Pringle | Lost |
| 1925 | The Sporting Venus | Donald MacAllan | Marshall Neilan | Blanche Sweet, Lew Cody | Extant |
| 1925 | His Supreme Moment | John Douglas | George Fitzmaurice | Blanche Sweet, Belle Bennett, Ned Sparks | Technicolor sequences; Lost |
| 1925 | Her Sister from Paris | Joseph Weyringer | Sidney Franklin | Constance Talmadge | Extant |
| 1925 | The Dark Angel | Captain Alan Trent | George Fitzmaurice | Vilma Bánky, Wyndham Standing | |
| 1925 | Stella Dallas | Stephen Dallas | Henry King | Belle Bennett, Alice Joyce, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Lois Moran, Jean Hersholt | Extant |
| 1925 | Lady Windermere's Fan | Lord Darlington | Ernst Lubitsch | May McAvoy, Bert Lytell | Extant |
| 1926 | Kiki | Victor Renal | Clarence Brown | Norma Talmadge, Gertrude Astor | Extant |
| 1926 | Beau Geste | Michael "Beau" Geste | Herbert Brenon | Neil Hamilton, Ralph Forbes, Noah Beery, Alice Joyce, Mary Brian, William Powell | Extant |
| 1926 | The Winning of Barbara Worth | Willard Holmes | Henry King | Vilma Bánky, Gary Cooper | Extant |
| 1927 | The Night of Love | Montero | George Fitzmaurice | Vilma Bánky, Montagu Love | |
| 1927 | The Magic Flame | Tito the Clown / The Count | Henry King | Vilma Bánky, Gustav von Seyffertitz | Survives incomplete |
| 1928 | Two Lovers | Mark Van Rycke | Fred Niblo | Vilma Bánky, Noah Beery | Survives incomplete |
| 1929 | The Rescue | Tom Lingard | Herbert Brenon | Lili Damita | Survives incomplete |

### Sound films

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Co-stars | Notes |
| 1929 | Bulldog Drummond | Capt. Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond | F. Richard Jones | Claud Allister, Joan Bennett, Montagu Love | Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actor |
| 1929 | Condemned | Michel | Wesley Ruggles | Ann Harding, Louis Wolheim, Dudley Digges | Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actor |
| 1930 | Raffles | Raffles | George Fitzmaurice Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast | Kay Francis, Frederick Kerr, Bramwell Fletcher, Frances Dade | |
| 1930 | The Devil to Pay! | Willie Hale | George Fitzmaurice | Loretta Young, Frederick Kerr, Myrna Loy | |
| 1931 | The Unholy Garden | Barrington Hunt | George Fitzmaurice | Fay Wray, Warren Hymer | |
| 1931 | Arrowsmith | Dr. Martin Arrowsmith | John Ford | Helen Hayes, Richard Bennett, Myrna Loy | |
| 1932 | Cynara | Jim Warlock | King Vidor | Kay Francis, Phyllis Barry, Henry Stephenson | |
| 1933 | The Masquerader | Sir John Chilcote / John Loder | Richard Wallace | Elissa Landi | |
| 1934 | Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back | Capt. Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond | Roy Del Ruth | Loretta Young, Warner Oland, Charles Butterworth, Una Merkel, C. Aubrey Smith | |
| 1935 | Clive of India | Robert Clive | Richard Boleslawski | Loretta Young, Colin Clive | |
| 1935 | The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo | Paul Gaillard | Stephen Roberts | Joan Bennett, Nigel Bruce, Colin Clive | |
| 1935 | A Tale of Two Cities | Sydney Carton | Jack Conway | Elizabeth Allan, Edna May Oliver, Reginald Owen, Basil Rathbone, Blanche Yurka | |
| 1936 | Under Two Flags | Sgt. Victor | Frank Lloyd | Claudette Colbert, Victor McLaglen, Rosalind Russell | |
| 1937 | Lost Horizon | Robert Conway | Frank Capra | Jane Wyatt, Edward Everett Horton, Thomas Mitchell, Margo, Isabel Jewell, H. B. Warner, Sam Jaffe | Seven minutes of film missing, though the soundtrack is intact. |
| 1937 | The Prisoner of Zenda | Maj. Rudolf Rassendyll / King Rudolf V | John Cromwell | Madeleine Carroll, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., C. Aubrey Smith, Raymond Massey, Mary Astor | Presented in sepiatone |
| 1938 | If I Were King | François Villon | Frank Lloyd | Frances Dee, Basil Rathbone | |
| 1939 | The Light That Failed | Dick Heldar | William Wellman | Walter Huston, Ida Lupino | |
| 1940 | Lucky Partners | David Grant | Lewis Milestone | Ginger Rogers, Jack Carson | |
| 1941 | My Life with Caroline | Anthony Mason | Lewis Milestone | Anna Lee, Charles Winninger | |
| 1942 | The Talk of the Town | Professor Michael Lightcap | George Stevens | Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Edgar Buchanan, Glenda Farrell | |
| 1942 | Random Harvest | Charles Rainier | Mervyn LeRoy | Greer Garson, Philip Dorn, Susan Peters | Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor |
| 1944 | Kismet | Hafiz | William Dieterle | Marlene Dietrich, James Craig, Edward Arnold, Joy Ann Page | Technicolor |
| 1947 | The Late George Apley | George Apley | Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Peggy Cummins, Edna Best | |
| 1947 | A Double Life | Anthony John | George Cukor | Signe Hasso, Edmond O'Brien, Shelley Winters | Academy Award for Best Actor Golden Globe Award for Best Actor |
| 1950 | Champagne for Caesar | Beauregard Bottomley | Richard Whorf | Celeste Holm, Vincent Price, Barbara Britton, Art Linkletter | |
| 1956 | Around the World in 80 Days | Great Indian Peninsular Railway Official | Michael Anderson | David Niven, Cantinflas, Shirley MacLaine, Robert Newton | Todd-AO EastmanColor |
| 1957 | The Story of Mankind | The Spirit of Man | Irwin Allen | Vincent Price, Cedric Hardwicke | Technicolor, (final film role) |

### Short film appearances as himself

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1925 | Screen Snapshots | Colman appears with Blanche Sweet and director George Fitzmaurice. |
| 1928 | Movie Industry Commercial | Colman appears with California governor Clement C. Young. Filmed in Technicolor. |
| 1937 | Screen Snapshots #9 | A behind the scenes look during the shooting of Lost Horizon. |
| 1942 | It Happened One Noon | Colman, Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, and director George Stevens promote the British film The Invaders (1942). |
| 1942 | Hearst Metrotone News | Colman is seen en route to Washington, D.C., to appear in the "Stars Over America" war campaign. |
| 1949 | 21st Academy Awards footage | Colman presents the Academy Award for Best Actress to Jane Wyman for her performance in Johnny Belinda. |
| 1952 | 24th Academy Awards footage | Filmed in color. |
| 1952 | Hearst Metrotone News | Colman presents the Academy Award for Best Actress to Vivien Leigh for her performance in A Streetcar Named Desire. |
| 1953 | 25th Academy Award footage | 16mm kinescope. |
| 1953 | Hearst Metrotone News | At the Academy Awards Colman announces Shirley Booth as the Best Actress winner for her performance in Come Back, Little Sheba. |
| 1953 | The Globe Playhouse | Colman narrates this documentary short. |

## Television

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Co-stars | Network |
| 1952 | Four Star Playhouse Episode: "The Lost Silk Hat" | Gentleman Caller | Robert Florey | Richard Whorf | CBS |
| 1953 | The 25th Annual Academy Awards | Himself Presenter: Best Actress | Bill Bennington | Bob Hope and Conrad Nagel (MCs), Shirley Booth (Best Actress Award winner) | NBC |
| 1953 | Four Star Playhouse Episode: "The Man Who Walked Out on Himself" | John Cameron | Robert Florey | Francis Pierlot | CBS |
| 1953 | Four Star Playhouse Episode: "Ladies in His Mind" | Dr. Matthew Bosnaquent | Robert Florey | Benita Hume, Patricia Morison, Hillary Brooke | CBS |
| 1954 | Four Star Playhouse Episode: "A String of Beads" | Somerset Maugham | William Cameron Menzies | Angela Lansbury, George Macready, Nigel Bruce | CBS |
| 1954–55 | The Halls of Ivy (39 episodes) | Dr. William Todd Hunter | Norman Z. McLeod William Cameron Menzies William D. Russell | Benita Hume, Mary Wickes, Ray Collins, Arthur Q. Bryan | CBS |
| 1956 | Studio 57 Episode: "Perfect Likeness" | Painter | Don Weis | Kim Hunter | Syndicated |
| 1956 | The Jack Benny Program Episode: "The Mistaken Dinner Invitation" | Himself | Ralph Levy | Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Benita Hume, Don Wilson, Benita Hume | CBS |
| 1957 | General Electric Theater Episode: "The Chess Game" | Mr. Graham | Herschel Daughtery | Clifford Tatum | CBS |