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.
It means that he got the highest possible grades.
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.
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 antagonist to the hero, or third-billed after the hero and his gal (as was the case, most famously, with Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford in GILDA).
Anyhow, he actually got a rare star turn in 1946’s THE MAN WHO DARED, 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…
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:
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).
Raymond Massey graduated from Balliol College, Oxford.
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?
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.
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.
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, 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?)
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?
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.
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; University of Michigan, class of 1913.
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.
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.)
(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.)
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