David Manners
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David Manners (April 30, 1901 – December 23, 1998) was a Canadian film actor.
Born Rauff de Rither Daun Acklom in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Manners came to Hollywood at the beginning of the talking films revolution after studying acting with Eva Le Gallienne, and acting on stage with Helen Hayes.
In spite of his father's protestations of his thespian ambitions and his even having studied forestry (which bored him) at the University of Toronto, Manners resolutely pursued a stage career and appeared in both Broadway and out-of-town productions, one of which induced Le Gallienne to comment that he was "a very bad actor."
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[edit] A Hollywood career
After excursions abroad and to Alberta and Arizona, Manners was serendipitously "discovered" by the film director James Whale at a Hollywood party, and within a few years, he was a popular leading man, playing opposite such up and coming actresses as Katharine Hepburn, Gloria Stuart, Myrna Loy, Loretta Young, and Ann Dvorak, and he was paired several times with Helen Chandler.
His very first film, directed by Whale, was unfortunately destroyed before having been released, but with his second movie, Journey's End, such august publications as The New York Times and Variety officially bestowed their imprimatur upon the fledgling film actor. His subsequent film appearances at RKO and Warner Brothers were critically praised (including, yet again, by The New York Times, an early and prescient adherent of his acting abilities), and he was contracted by the latter studio.
Numerous films followed, and Manners became more proficient and effective as an actor. In only his tenth movie, he co-starred with one of the "grand dames of the silver screen," Barbara Stanwyck, in Frank Capra's critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful The Miracle Woman, and the movie's failure to attract an audience disappointed Capra tremendously. But The New York Times, again lauding Manners, featured this tribute, "Manners does exceptionally well with this sympathetic assignment."
During his brief tenure at Warners, which loaned him out to other studios quite frequently, Manners progressed from callow featured actor and leading man to finally attaining star stature with the lead in Crooner. Shortly thereafter, he began to freelance with much success. In a film just prior to the termination of his Warner Brothers contract, RKO's highly regarded A Bill of Divorcement, co-star Katharine Hepburn commented that, "David was a big star. I was so nervous working with him... He was... just a dear to work with and a totally professional and talented actor."
A year later, an ingenue with much potential remarked that "David wasn't in the one scene I did in Roman Scandals, but he watched every scene shot. He was tremendously enthusiastic, and he...invited me to supper. ... He was mobbed everywhere. All the time he kept telling me I had style and personality. He said if I persevered I'd get somewhere in Hollywood. Not once did he ever hint that he'd like to take me home to his boudoir. ... He was so utterly charming." That ingenue, who did persevere for many years, was Lucille Ball.
Many studios vied for his talent and services, including the aforementioned RKO, as well as Columbia, Universal, Paramount, Fox, and United Artists, among several others.
His most widely seen role was as Jonathan Harker in Tod Browning's Dracula (1931) starring Bela Lugosi, though he commented throughout his life that he had never watched the film and did not intend to [citation needed]. In interviews towards the end of his life he was still urging well-wishing fans not to send him video copies of the film[citation needed].
[edit] Pursuit of other interests
After the success of "Dracula", Manners worked for several years as a romantic leading man, and was most often seen in a tuxedo in romantic comedies and light dramas. The Last Flight (1931) , a Lost Generation celebration of alcohol in Paris, and Karl Freund's The Mummy (1932) with Boris Karloff were two standouts. But by 1936 he had grown bored with Hollywood, and abandoned his film career.
Manners never acclimated to Hollywood, which he found to be "a false place." Although he seemed to be immersed in the film community with his contributions (along with those of James Cagney and Eddie Cantor, among several others) to the creation of the Screen Actors Guild in 1933, he returned to New York City.
In 1940, he officially changed his name to David Joseph Manners and became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He returned to the theater where he worked regularly until his retirement in the 1950s. Appearing on Broadway, in summer stock, and on tour, Manners was cast in a variety of productions, some of which were ill-fated. Yet, the acclaimed actor Marlon Brando, who was cast along with Manners in Maxwell Anderson's Truckline Cafe, said of his colleague, "I owe him my entire career."
He spent the remainder of his life in private pursuits, such as writing (several of his novels, published by Dutton, sold over 100,000 copies each) and painting.
He died in Santa Barbara, California on December 23, 1998 at the age of 97.
[edit] References
Much of the information appearing in this entry was gleaned from the following publications:
McMurchy D. "David Manners: A Perfect Gentleman." Classic Images, vol. 289, July 1999.
Ephraim and Katz. The Film Encyclopedia. Harper Perennial, New York.
Hirschhorn C. The Warner Bros. Story. Crown Publishers, New York, 1979.
