|
Historical Museum 
|
|
|
|
|
Eddie
Cochran Legends
|
Richard Carlson Born April 29, 1912 Deceased Nov. 24th, 1977 Richard Carlson was born in
Albert Lea, Minnesota on April 29th, 1912. Richard's mother was French
and his father was Danish. His father, Henry Carlson, was a lawyer.
Henry Carlson was born on February 22, 1872, in Bath Township near the
small town of Clarks Grove, located just to the north of Albert Lea. It
is said that his father was a self-made man. Their mother, before her
marriage was Mabel Du Toit and she was from the town of Schaska,
Minnesota.. Mabel and Henry were united in marraige on January 16,
1901. In the 1911 edition of Freeborn County History, Richard had not
yet appeared on the scene. Only three "bright" children are mentioned:
Margaret Mabel, Ruth Elenore, and Henry Clay. Richard was the fourth of
four children. It is said that Richard inherited his good looks from
his mother. While living in Albert Lea, Henry Carlson was the president
of the local school board, was a member of the local Elks Lodge # 813,
and he was a member of Albert Lea Lodge #66 of the K. of P. The family
attended the Episcopal Church. Richard began his writing career in
Albert Lea High School, where his first effort - a three act play - was
produced.
 Until the age of 9, the Carlson family lived in a home "pleasantly" located at 525 Park Avenue. In 1921, Richard and his family moved to the Twin Cities as his father thought there were greater opportunities there. His father became a very prominent lawyer in Minneapolis. While in high school in Minneapolis, his quick, keen mind and excellent memory absorbed all his lessons quickly...leaving him time to edit the high school paper, and play football and hockey. He also wrote a novel about a mythical colony of whites in Africa. His triple barreled career started in his senior year when he wrote, directed, and appeared in the class play, "The Masquerade" which caused a school sensation. In college at the University of Minnesota, he went into dramatics as an actor, writer, and director. He wrote three plays, along with many skits and sketches. He graduated from the University with an M.A. degree, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and with $2,500 in scholarship prizes. Although he had hoped to become a playwright, he accepted a post as an English instructor at the University of Minnesota. Disillusioned by the dull, opinionated professors, he invested his $2,500 in a repertory company, writing, directing, and acting again. His company proved an artistic success and a financial failure. He headed for Hollywood in 1936 and acted in the Pasadena Playhouse. Broadway, however, was more promising. He left for New York and parts in "Three Men on a Horse," "The Night of January 16," "Now You've Done It, " and Ethel Barrymore in "The Ghost of Yankee Doodle." He then went back to Hollywood in 1938 under a three way contract to David O. Selznick, who hired him as a writer, actor, and director to make his screen debut on the film "The Young at Heart"; Janet Gaynor, the film's star, urged that he appear in the movie, which became his debut. He received many good roles in films released primarily by MGM and United Artists.. Service in World War II interrupted his career in 1942. After 4 1/2 years in the Navy he returned from the war and found it difficult to get the good rolls he had previously been offered. By the early 1950's, he had rebuilt his film career. Whereas he had usually been cast in comedies and dramas, in the 1950's, he starred in numerous science fiction and horror films, several of which were released in 3-D. In the early part of his career (the '30s, '40s, and '50s), he had been typecast as a diffident juvenile. He had trouble breaking out of the mold and landing more mature roles; he tended to appear in monster flicks and B-movies in the '50s. He turned to directing in that decade, beginning with "Riders to the Stars" (1954), which he also wrote and in which he acted. Besides acting and directing, he also became a magazine writer and wrote scripts for TV. Carlson starred in the TV series "I Led Three Lives" and "McKenzie's Raiders" and appeared in episodes of numerous others. Richard does have a star for Television on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His star can be found at 6333 Hollywood Blvd. On the 24th of November, 1977, Richard died from a cerrebral hemorrage in Encino, California. At the time of his death, he was servived by his wife Mona, of Sherman Oaks, California, and two sons Chirstopher, of Pacific Palisades, California and Henry, of San Francisco, California.  Richard starred in this 3-D movie in 1954.  From the movie "All I Desire" in which he starred with Maureen O'Sullivan. (1953) Check these links for more information on Richard Carlson: |
|
|
|
||