# Robert Strange (actor)

Robert George Strange (November 26, 1881 – February 22, 1952) was an American actor during the first half of the 20th century, performing in theater and film. His Broadway career spanned 20 years, from 1913 through 1933, and included appearances in over 30 plays. He then appeared in film throughout the 1930s and 40s, in such roles as Waxey Armitage in Special Agent (1935), Dr. Hubert Foote in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939), Art in High Sierra (1941) and John Malcolm in Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941).

## Early life and career

Strange was born in New York City, the elder of two sons born to William Crawford Strange and Mary Young. He attended Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School and Columbia University, where he played football. He also set a bicycle-racing record at age seventeen and spent eight seasons as goaltender for the New York Athletic Club hockey team, helping the squad win two championships.
Strange started a real estate career, but was drawn to acting, performing with various companies, including one headed by Blanche Bates. He became a member of Washington Square Players, while remaining employed as supervisor of a diamond-cutting factory, before appearing in a string of Broadway plays from 1913 to 1933 (and occasionally thereafter), including The Famous Mrs. Fair, which ran for nearly a year.

## Later career

From 1931, after the introduction of sound films, he was "in constant demand" for character roles by the film studios. Some of his best known film roles were Waxey Armitage in Special Agent (1935), Dr. Hubert Foote in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939), Art in High Sierra (1941) and John Malcolm in Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941).
In the fall of 1940, having relocated to the San Fernando Valley, Strange and his wife, herself a veteran stage and radio actress, joined the faculty of the Leslie Academy of the Dance, directing its newly instituted drama program. An outgrowth of this development was their little theatre troupe, the Strange Show Shop. One notable alumnus of both the school and the troupe emerged the following summer, when 16-year-old Farley Granger delivered his "monologue satire" as part of an event staged to benefit the Van Nuys contingent of the Women's Ambulance and Defense Corps. As of October 1942, Granger was still being described as a "pupil of Mr. and Mrs. Strange."

## Personal life and death

Strange was married on at least three occasions, the first two marriages ending in divorce. All three spouses were fellow performers. The first, Florence Edith Stockwell (1905–1915), was an accomplished contralto soloist who would fall victim to a fatal car crash just two years after their divorce. The second, from 1920 until 1929, was fellow thespian Diantha Pattison, with whom Strange collaborated extensively in 1922, when they joined Detroit's Woodward Players, performing a new play each week for seven months. In 1929, the couple's widely publicized divorce on grounds of adultery was uncontested and promptly granted to Pattison following "15 minutes of spicy testimony." Strange's final and most successful marriage, from October 1938 until his death, was to actress Ruth Dean Rickaby.
On February 22, 1952, Strange died at the Motion Picture Country Hospital in Los Angeles, California. Survived by his wife, his cremated remains were interred at the Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery.

## Stage credits

Plays :
| Year | Play | Role | Theater | Notes |
| 1913 | Children of Tomorrow | | Harris Theatre | December 1, 1913 – December 1913 |
| 1915 | The Attick | Rev. Jonas Boutwell | Bandbox Theatre | October 4, 1915 – May 20, 1916 |
| 1915 | The Age of Reason | | Bandbox Theatre | October 4, 1915 – May 20, 1916 |
| 1916 | The Seagull | Dr. Dorn | Bandbox Theatre | May 20, 1916 – May 31, 1916 |
| 1916 | Literature | | Comedy Theatre | August 30, 1916 – ? |
| 1917 | The Scrap of Paper | | Criterion Theatre | September 17, 1917 – November 1917 |
| 1917 | In the Zone | | Comedy Theatre | October 31, 1917 – Apr 27, 1918 |
| 1918 | Youth | | Comedy Theatre | February 3, 1966 – March 13, 1966 |
| 1918 | Mrs Warren's Profession | Sir George Crofts | Comedy Theatre | March 11, 1918 – November 11, 1918 |
| 1918 | Nothing But Lies | | Longacre Theatre | October 8, 1918 – February 1919 |
| 1919 | I Love You | | Booth Theatre, 48th Street Theatre | April 22, 1919 – ?, June 2, 1919 – ? |
| 1919 | First Is Last | Harvey | Maxine Elliott's Theatre | September 11, 1919 – November 1919 |
| 1919 | The Famous Mrs. Fair | E. Dudley Gillette | Henry Miller's Theatre | December 22, 1919 – October 17, 1920 |
| 1921 | Nobody's Money | Carl Russell | Longacre Theatre | August 17, 1921 – September 1921 |
| 1921 | Wait Til We're Married | James Twells | Playhouse Theatre | September 26, 1921 – ? |
| 1921 | The Straw | Fred Nicholls | Greenwich Village Theatre | November 10, 1921 – November 1921 |
| 1922 | Scandal | Sutherland York | Majestic Theatre | January 15, 1922 – January 20, 1922 |
| 1922 | Common Clay | W. P. Yates | Majestic Theatre | January 30, 1922 – February 3, 1922 |
| 1922 | It Pays to Advertise | Ellery Clark | Majestic Theatre | March 26, 1922 – March 31, 1922 |
| 1922 | Under Cover | Steven Denby | Majestic Theatre | June 11, 1922 – June 15, 1922 |
| 1922 | Kick In | Whip Fogarty | Majestic Theatre | July 9, 1922 – July 14, 1922 |
| 1922 | Banco | George Dalou | Ritz Theatre | September 20, 1922 – November 1922 |
| 1923 | Mike Angelo | Ivan Smirnoff | Morosco Theatre | January 8, 1923 – February 1923 |
| 1923 | The Dice of the Gods | Buchanan Lawrence | National Theatre | April 5, 1923 – April 1923 |
| 1923 | In Love With Love | Frank Oakes | Ritz Theatre | August 6, 1923 – November 1923 |
| 1924 | The Dust Heap | Pat O'Day | Vanderbilt Theatre | April 24, 1924 – May 1924 |
| 1925 | A Good Bad Woman | Dr. Carlyle Lawler | Comedy Theatre | February 9, 1925 – February 1925 |
| 1925 | The Gorilla | Arthur Marsden | Comedy Theatre | April 28, 1925 – May 1925 |
| 1926 | Sandalwood | George | Gaiety Theatre | September 22, 1926 – October 1926 |
| 1928 | Heavy Traffic | Wilbur Richardson | Empire Theatre | September 5, 1928 – October 1928 |
| 1928 | A Most Immoral Lady | Arthur Marsden | Cort Theatre | November 26, 1928 – April 1929 |
| 1929 | A Strong Man's House | Simeon Fitch | Ambassador Theatre | September 16, 1929 – October 5, 1929 |
| 1929 | Seven | Captain Otis | Theatre Republic | December 27, 1929 – January 1930 |
| 1930 | Virtue's Bed | Major Harry Austin | Hudson Theatre | April 15, 1930 – June 1930 |
| 1930 | Midnight | Plunkett | Guild Theatre, Avon Theatre | Dec 29, 1930 – Feb. 7, 1931 |
| 1931 | Three Times the Hour | Lawrence M. Blake | Avon Theatre | August 25, 1931 – September 1931 |
| 1933 | Marathon | "Too Soon" Decker | Mansfield Theatre | January 27, 1933 – January 1933 |
| 1933 | Both Your Houses | Plunkett | Royale Theatre | March 6, 1933 – May 6, 1933 |
| 1934 | We Die Exquisitely | | Red Barn Theatre (Locust Valley, New York) | July 2, 1934 – July 8, 1934. "Melodrama set [aboard] luxury air liner," co-starring Lee Patrick and James Stewart. |
| 1938 | On Borrowed Time | Dr. Evans | Lobero Theater Geary Theater Biltmore Theater | July 4, 1938 – July 10, 1938, July 11, 1938 –? August 8, 1938 – August 20, 1938 |
| 1940 | Margin for Error | Dr. Jennings | El Capitan Theater | March 23, 1940 – April 6, 1940 |
| 1940 | Back to Eden | | Wilshire Ebell Theatre | September 10, 1940 – September 15, 1940 |
| 1947 | State of the Union | Senator Lauterback (replacement) | Hudson Theatre | May 19, 1947 – May 31, 1947 |

## Selected filmography

* The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)
* The Cheat (1931)
* Misleading Lady (1932)
* These 30 Years (1933)
* Frisco Kid (1935)
* Special Agent (1935)
* Beware of Ladies (1936)
* The Murder of Dr. Harrigan (1936)
* The Walking Dead (1936)
* Trapped by Television (1936)
* Roaming Lady (1936)
* Spendthrift (1936)
* Beloved Enemy (1936)
* Stolen Holiday (1937)
* Marked Woman (1937)
* John Meade's Woman (1937)
* "Sky Giant" (1938)
* The Saint Strikes Back (1939)
* The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
* You Can't Get Away with Murder (1939)
* They Made Me a Criminal (1939)
* The Angels Wash Their Faces (1939)
* Castle on the Hudson (1940)
* King of the Royal Mounted (1940)
* Gambling on the High Seas (1940)
* Robin Hood of the Pecos (1941)
* High Sierra (1941)
* Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941)
* Paper Bullets (1941)
* Desert Bandit (1941)
* Arizona Cyclone (1941)
* Paper Bullets (1941)
* The Mad Monster (1942)
* Perils of Nyoka (1942)
* Dead Men Walk (1943)
* Silver Trails (1949)
* The Far Frontier (1949)