Tyrone Power

Known for ActingBorn 1914-05-05Died 1958-11-15Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

One of the great romantic swashbuckling stars of the mid-twentieth century, and the third Tyrone Power of four in a famed acting dynasty reaching back to the eighteenth century. His great-grandfather was the first Tyrone Power (1795-1841), a famed Irish comedian. His father, known to historians as Tyrone Power Sr., but to his contemporaries as either Tyrone Power or Tyrone Power the Younger, was a huge star in the theater (and later in films) in both classical and modern roles. His mother, Patia Riaume (Mrs. Tyrone Power), was also a Shakespearean actress as well as a respected dramatic coach. Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr., (also called Tyrone Power III; May 5, 1914 - November 15, 1958) was born at his mother's home of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1914. A frail, sickly child, he was taken by his parents to the warmer climate of southern California. After his parents' divorce, he and his sister Anne Power returned to Cincinnati with their mother. There he attended school while developing an obsession with acting. Although raised by his mother, he corresponded with his father, who encouraged his acting dreams. He was a supernumerary in his father's stage production of 'The Merchant of Venice' in Chicago and held him as he died suddenly of a heart attack later that year. Startlingly handsome, young Tyrone nevertheless struggled to find work in Hollywood. He appeared in a few small roles, then went east to do stage work. A screen test led to a contract at 20th Century Fox in 1936, and he quickly progressed to leading roles. Within a year or so, he was one of Fox's leading stars, playing in contemporary and period pieces with ease. Most of his roles were colorful without being deep, and his swordplay was more praised than his wordplay. He served in the Marine Corps in World War II as a transport pilot, and he saw action in the Pacific Theater of operations. After the war, he got his best reviews for an atypical part as a downward-spiraling con-man in Nightmare Alley (1947). Although he remained a huge star, much of his postwar work was unremarkable. He continued to do notable stage work and also began producing films. Following a fine performance in Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Power began production on Solomon and Sheba (1959). Halfway through shooting, he collapsed during a dueling scene with George Sanders, and he died of a heart attack before reaching a hospital.Read more

Movies & web series

Showbiz Goes to War

Bambi

Cinépanorama

Witness for the Prosecution

The Adventures of Errol Flynn

Northern Frontier

Seven Waves Away

Hollywood: The Dream Factory

Sir John Mills' Moving Memories

The Mississippi Gambler

Death In Hollywood

Lloyd's of London

Captain from Castile

Nightmare Alley

Anthony Quinn: An Original

Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake

Café Metropole

What's My Line?

The Oscars

The Long Gray Line

The Mark of Zorro

Lusitanian Illusion

Show-Business at War

Screen Snapshots (Series 23, No. 1): Hollywood in Uniform

The Rising of the Moon

Hollywood Goes to Town

The Razor's Edge

Johnny Apollo

The Ed Sullivan Show

Uncertain Verification

Rawhide

The Black Rose

This Above All

Tom Brown of Culver

Alexander's Ragtime Band

Thin Ice

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

In Old Chicago

Rose of Washington Square

Solomon and Sheba

That Wonderful Urge

Girls' Dormitory

Marie Antoinette

Blood and Sand

The Black Swan

Death Scenes 2

Jesse James

The House in the Square