# Pre 1950s Celebrities With College Degrees **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 17, 2016, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245 "2016-11-17T08:53:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/41 "2016-11-19T02:40:32Z")
There is a GREAT book called, “The Catcher Was A Spy”. It’s a bio of Berg and a truly entertaining read if you’re into that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/42 "2016-11-19T05:50:31Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > James Mason “earned a first” at Cambridge, I have no idea what the hell that means. Apparently some kind of a degree in the British aristocracy vernacular. It means that he got the highest possible grades. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/43 "2016-11-19T23:53:04Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Ronald Reagan, Eureka College class of 1932 Eddie Albert, who acted alongside him in the BROTHER RAT movies starting in '38, moved on to leading-man status in a number of pictures in the '40s – and had a college diploma in _his_ back pocket, likewise. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/44 "2016-11-20T15:09:16Z")
George Macready got a degree from Brown and a distinctive facial scar before hitting Hollywood, where he spent the '40s as a sinister-looking “Hey, It’s That Guy” actor: often as the [second-billed](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041308/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_115) [antagonist](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037927/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_134) to the hero, or [third-billed](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038879/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_126) after [the hero](http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0040855/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_124) and [his gal](http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0040166/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_123) (as was the case, most famously, with Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford in [GILDA](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038559/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_129)). Anyhow, he actually got a rare star turn in 1946’s [THE MAN WHO DARED](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038722/mediaviewer/rm2283210752), as a crusading newsman who does a half-assed job of framing himself for murder to show the world how easy it is for the state to get a death-penalty conviction based solely on circumstantial evidence that doesn’t really prove anything; and then my pal will deliver proof of my innocence, and – what’s that? Did you say ‘car accident’? Huh. Did not see _that_ coming. Well, guess I have to escape custody somehow, and try to clear my name… ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/45 "2016-11-20T18:26:11Z")
AK84 writes: \> . . . It means that he got the highest possible grades . . . Sort of, but be aware of the difference between American and British ways of evaluating university students. British universities don’t give grades in individual courses. Students take overall examinations in their chosen subject (i.e., their major) at the end of their university career. Their honors degree is determined by the results of that test. About 15% of university students get a first-class honors degree. A standard way of explaining the equivalence between British and American universities is that a first-class honors at a British university is equivalent to getting at least a 3.67 GPA at an American university: > **[British undergraduate degree classification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_undergraduate_degree_classification#First-class_honours)** > > The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variations) in other countries and regions. > The classification system as currently used in the United Kingdom was developed in 1918. Honours were then a means to recognise individuals who demonstrated depth of knowledge or originality, as opposed to relative ac... ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/46 "2016-11-20T18:40:15Z")
It really depends actually, In some subjects getting a First requires being sharp enough to complete the coursework and do well in the exams. For others, getting a First is a super big deal. In Law, about 3% of graduates get Upper Class; i.e the ranking below First, and its not unknown for no one in a graduating class to get a First. In others, you have to be really thick to not get at least a Second, and a bit of smarts should get you an Upper or a First (PP&E). ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/47 "2016-11-20T23:10:22Z")
Raymond Massey graduated from Balliol College, Oxford. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/48 "2016-11-21T12:13:40Z")
University of Washington grad and Olympic medalist Herman Brix starred in a TARZAN movie serial in '35 – and in '36, Brix went on to earn top billing as a football player in, well, TWO MINUTES TO PLAY; and then in '37, he earned top billing as a prizefighter in FLYING FISTS; and after getting top billing as Eric “Agent 17” Lane in SKY RACKET, Brix again earned top billing in '38 as HAWK OF THE WILDERNESS. Anyhow, he, ah, sensibly decided to drop that German-sounding name in time to get plenty of leading-man roles in the '40s as all-American “Bruce Bennett”: foiling Nazi spies as the top-billed hero of SABOTAGE SQUAD, and battling U-Boats as the top-billed hero of ATLANTIC CONVOY – and then spending more than a little time _inside_ one of 'em, as the top-billed hero of U-BOAT PRISONER – and so on. And he was second-billed to Bogie in SAHARA; and third-billed, after Bogie and Bacall, in DARK PASSAGE; and fourth-billed in Bogie’s TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE; and so on: he was tall and athletic, but he was no Bogie – but, hey, who is? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/49 "2016-11-21T12:26:08Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > If we’re going to include guys who started working toward a degree before dropping out, this list is going to get plenty longer; off the top of my head, John Wayne famously left school when an injury sidelined his college football career. > > At that: James Whitmore stopped playing football for Yale due to injuries, but stuck around to graduate – and then served in the USMC during WWII, and then got his big break in Hollywood in '49, impressing folks with the role that would earn him his first Oscar nomination (after he’d already won a Tony on Broadway). Scott’s story is similar. Once his sports career was cut short due to injury he left school. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/50 "2016-11-21T16:12:20Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Scott’s story is similar. Once his sports career was cut short due to injury he left school. Yeah, again, if we start listing guys who dropped out of college and then hit it big in Hollywood, this could get _crazy_ long. Tex Ritter, f’rinstance, fits the bill – but, so long as we’re limiting it to folks who in fact graduated from college, let me add that he was second-billed in a number of westerns to Johnny Mack Brown, who (a) apparently _did_ graduate from college after earning a spot in the College Football Hall Of Fame, and who (b) was top-billed in [more westerns than you’d maybe even think possible](http://m.imdb.com/name/nm0113902/filmotype/actor?ref_=m_nmfm_1). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/51 "2016-11-22T11:51:03Z")
Van Heflin graduated from college, and then picked up a master’s, before hitting it big in the movies: his supporting role in 1941’s JOHNNY EAGER got him an Oscar, and in 1942 he got his first starring role in KID GLOVE KILLER; and he then followed up with top-billed roles in GRAND CENTRAL MURDER and TENNESSEE JOHNSON. Anyhow, after WWII Heflin was still out there in the public eye: getting second billing under Barbara Stanwyck, and then second billing under Joan Crawford, and then second billing under Lana Turner; and then back to top billing, over Susan Hayward, in '48; and then back to second billing, under Jennifer Jones, in '49. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/52 "2016-11-23T11:39:55Z")
Lloyd Bridges graduated from UCLA in the 1930s, and in the 1940s started getting top billing by playing a criminal on the run from the law in **Trapped** when he wasn’t busy playing Phil Corrigan, Secret Agent X-9, in **Secret Agent X-9**. (And, sure, he was second-billed to his leading lady in [Secret Service Investigator](http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0040768/?ref_=m_nmfmd_act_148), as you can see by looking at the movie poster – but just _look at that movie poster!_ He’s the dynamic man of action, and she’s the small head staring into the distance?) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/53 "2016-11-24T13:10:43Z")
Berkeley grad Donald Woods got top billing in **Road Gang** (as the crusading newsman sentenced to hard labor) and in **The Talent Scout** (as the agent who can make that girl a STAR; a STAR!) and in **The Florentine Dagger** (as the guy who doesn’t know if he’s a killer) and in **The Case of the Stuttering Bishop** (as, well, Perry Mason). Anyhow, after that he moved on to comedic second billing as the straight man to the incredible Lupe Vélez in **The Girl From Mexico** – which soon led to them reprising their roles as newlyweds in **Mexican Spitfire** , and then promptly coming back for more of the same in **Mexican Spitfire Out West**. Granted, he then got second-billed to the _dog_ in 1949’s **The Return of Rin Tin Tin**. But, hey, that still counts, right? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2016, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/54 "2016-11-25T11:51:45Z")
Martha Scott graduated from the University of Michigan before racking up an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in her screen debut in 1940; she was second-billed to William Holden in that one – and after being second-billed to Cary Grant later that year, she was top-billed as the star of CHEERS FOR MISS BISHOP in 1941; and so it went as the '40s went on: she’d get second billing as Fredric March’s leading lady in one movie, and second billing as John Wayne’s in another; and then she’d get right back to earning top billing, as the star of STRANGE BARGAIN. And so on. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/55 "2016-11-26T05:04:46Z")
Polish-born writer of many Dixie-oriented songs for film and stage, as well as over 200 hits including ‘Happy Days Are Here Again’, [Jack Yellen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Yellen); University of Michigan, class of 1913. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/56 "2016-11-26T05:23:48Z")
Something to remember is that back before about 1950, you could be in an advanced academic program in high school that was very rigorous (high schools were more about preparing people for specific careers than they are now, and had large vocational wings, rigorous academic wings, and secretarial schools, accounting schools, etc.), and you had a major, and graduated with a diploma to pursue a career. Many women and some men graduated with teaching certificates. You could have a degree in accounting from high school, or be prepared to enter law school, depending on the school. Irene Dunne earned a high school diploma to teach art, but then won a contest, and was awarded a prestigious scholarship to the Chicago Musical College (a conservatory), where she graduated in 1926. That’s not quite the same thing as a four-year degree, but she was very accomplished academically, and known around the studios as very bright, and a shrewd negotiator. Her career was very early in the studio system: her first major film was in 1930, and her last in 1952, with some TV credits as well. She managed to remain a free agent during a large part of the studio system, and as a result, made quire a lot more money per film than most people. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/57 "2016-11-26T06:09:21Z")
At that, it’s my understanding that Margaret Hamilton earned a teaching certificate at college before achieving cinematic immortality as the Wicked Witch of the West. (And, speaking of on-screen witches: Agnes Moorehead simply got an undergraduate degree in biology before picking up a master’s and working as a teacher for years before racking up those three Academy Award nominations in the '40s.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/58 "2016-11-26T06:16:57Z")
(Which brings to mind Wellesley grad Anne Revere – who _also_ got three Oscar noms in the '40s, but who further cemented her bona fides by winning one of 'em.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/59 "2016-11-26T06:49:12Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Something to remember is that back before about 1950, you could be in an advanced academic program in high school that was very rigorous (high schools were more about preparing people for specific careers than they are now, and had large vocational wings, rigorous academic wings, and secretarial schools, accounting schools, etc.), and you had a major, and graduated with a diploma to pursue a career. Many women and some men graduated with teaching certificates. You could have a degree in accounting from high school, or be prepared to enter law school, depending on the school. Of course, some things maybe never change: Robert Paige graduated from West Point, and naturally went on to – well, top billing in FRONTIER BADMAN and GET GOING and FIRED WIFE and THE RED STALLION and FLYING G-MEN, and second billing under his leading lady in HER PRIMITIVE MAN and BLONDE ICE and CAN’T HELP SINGING and TANGIER and ALMOST MARRIED. That sentence kind of got away from me, there. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245/60 "2016-11-27T00:38:54Z")
> [@the other waldo pepper](#): > > of course, some things maybe never change: Robert paige graduated from west point, and naturally went on to – well, top billing in frontier badman and get going and fired wife and the red stallion and flying g-men, and second billing under his leading lady in her primitive man and blonde ice and can’t help singing and tangier and almost married. > > That sentence kind of got away from me, there. you don’t say [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1950s-celebrities-with-college-degrees/772245.md?page=4)