MELVYN DOUGLAS BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Melvyn Edouard Hellelberg was born April 5th, 1901 in Macon, Georgia to parents Lena Priscilla and Edouard Gregory Hellelberg, a Jewish concert pianist and composer.  His father was a very successful musician teaching music at a variety of colleges, however, Douglas never managed to complete high school.
 
During his teen years, Douglas got involved in acting working with stock companies and Shakespearean repertory.  He made his stage debut in Chicago and also briefly owned his own theatre in Madison, Wisconsin.  Douglas first appeared in New York City as a gambler in, "A Free Soul" (1928) and then in 1930, he was cast in the Broadway play, "Tonight or Never" where he worked with his future wife, Hellen Gahagan.  He received a Hollywood contract and relocated to Los Angeles, California.

Douglas then began working in film with roles on, "The Vampire Bat" (1932), "She Married Her Boss" (1935), "A Woman's Face" (1941), "Desire Me" (1932), "Ninotchka" (1929) and "Two Faced Woman" (1941).
 
During World War I he took a break from acting and served as director of the Arts Council in the Office of Civilian Defense and then he also joined the United States Army.  Upon completion of his military career he returned back to his career of acting taking on roles in such films as, "The Sea of Grass" (1947), "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" (1948), "Glad Tidings" (1951) and "Time Out For Ginger" (1952). 
 
Douglas did not limit his acting career to the stage and film alone, he was also involved in numerous television shows such as, "DuMont" (1953) a detective show.  Douglas also hosted the DuMont game show, "Blind Date" (1953).  He went onto host the CBS series, "Frontier Justice" (1959) for a total of eleven episodes. 
 
Entering the 60's, Douglas's career did not slow down, but he took on different types of roles then he was known for due to his age.  He was portraying characters that took on a fatherly role in films such as, "Hud" (1963) also starring Paul Newman, Patricia Neal and Brandon De Wilde and "The Candidate" (1972).

His final Broadway appearance was on, "Spofford" (1967) and his final screen appearance was in the film, "Ghost Story" (1981). 
 
Douglas was married twice throughout his lifetime.  First to an artist, Rosalind Hightower, and they had one child, (Melvyn) Gregory Hesselberg, in 1925.  He then married an actress Helen Gahagan in 1931.  She had taken on the career of a politician and the couple together travelled to Eurpoe where they were both disgusted by the French and German anti-Semitism.  Together, the couple had two chidlren, Peter born in 1933 and Mary Helen born in 1938.  The couple remained married until Helen passed away in 1980 from cancer. 

Melvyn Douglas passed away on August 4th, 1981 in New York City.  He was honored with various nominations and awards throuoghuot his career in the entertainment industry.  In 1963 Douglas won Best Supporting Actor for the film, "Hud" and in 1970 he was nominated for Best Actor in the film, "I Never Sang For My Father".  One more Best Supporting Actor was won in 1979 for his role on, "Being There".  Melvyn Douglas also won a Tony Award for his Broadway lead role in, "The Best Man" (1960) and an Emmy for, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" (1967).  Douglas was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to the Motion Picture Industry.  

Filmography

1981  Ghost Story
1981  The Hot Touch
1980  Tell Me a Riddle
1980  The Changeling
1980  The 37th Annual Golden Globe Awards
1979  Being There
1979  The Seduction of Joe Tynan
1977  Intimate Strangers 
1977  ABC Weekend Specials: Portrait of Grandpa Doc 
1977  Twilight's Last Gleaming
1976  The Tenant
1974  Benjamin Franklin
1974  Murder or Mercy 
1974  The Death Squad
1973  The Going Up of David Lev
1972  Circle of Fear: House of Evil
1972  The Candidate
1972  Two Is a Happy Number
1971  Death Takes a Holiday
1971  The 43rd Annual Academy Awards
1971  NET Playhouse: Trail of Tears
1970  The David Frost Show
1970  I Never Sang for My Father
1970  The Dick Cavett Show
1970  Hunters Are for Killing
1969  Project XX: Meet George Washington
1968  Companions in Nightmare
1968  The Ed Sullivan Show
1967  CBS Playhouse: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
1967  The Crucible
1967  Hotel
1966  Hallmark Hall of Fame: Lamp at Midnight
1966  The Fugitive
1966  Lamp at Midnight
1965  Hallmark Hall of Fame: Inherit the Wind
1965  Inherit the Wind
1965  Once Upon a Tractor
1965  Rapture
1964  The Americanization of Emily
1964  Advance to the Rear
1963  Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre: A Killing at Sundial
1963  Kraft Mystery Theater: The Image Merchants
1963  Hud
1963  Ben Casey: Rage Against the Dying Light
1962  Billy Budd
1960  Sunday Showcase: Our American Heritage: Shadow of a Soldier
1959  The Ed Sullivan Show: Episode #13.7
1959  Frontier Justice: Black Is for Grief
1959  Frontier Justice: A Time to Live
1959  Frontier Justice: Shadow of a Dead Man
1959  Frontier Justice: No Man Living
1959  Frontier Justice: Fugitive
1959  Frontier Justice: Until the Man Dies
1959  Frontier Justice: Man of Fear
1959  Frontier Justice: Black Creek Encounter
1959  Frontier Justice: Blood in the Dust
1959  Frontier Justice: You Only Run Once
1959  Frontier Justice: The Three Graves
1959  Playhouse 90: Judgment at Nuremberg
1958  The Garry Moore Show:
1958  Playhouse 90: The Return of Ansel Gibbs
1958  The United States Steel Hour: Second Chance
1958  Playhouse 90: The Plot to Kill Stalin
1957  G.E. True Theater: Love Came Late
1957  Goodyear Playhouse: The Legacy
1957  The Arthur Murray Party
1957  The United States Steel Hour: The Hill Wife
1957  What's My Line?
1957  Playhouse 90: The Greer Case
1956  The Alcoa Hour: Man on a Tiger
1955  The Alcoa Hour: Thunder in Washington
1955  The Ed Sullivan Show
1955  Kraft Theatre: The Chess Game
1955  Windows: Arcade
1955  The Ford Television Theatre: Letters Marked Personal
1953  The Arthur Murray Party
1953  Steve Randall
1953  The Arthur Murray Party
1952  The Name's the Same
1952  Steve Randall: The Trial
1952  Steve Randall: Walk a Lonely Street
1952  Steve Randall: The Quiet Lions
1952  Lights Out: Private--Keep Out
1952  Studio One in Hollywood: Letter from an Unknown Woman
1952  Celanese Theatre: Reunion in Vienna
1951  What's My Line?   
1951  On the Loose
1951  My Forbidden Past
1951  Starlight Theatre: Relatively Speaking
1950  Pulitzer Prize Playhouse: Mrs. January and Mr. Ex
1950  Your Show of Shows
1950  Lux Video Theatre: To Thine Own Self
1950  Pulitzer Prize Playhouse: The Magnificent Ambersons
1950  Your Show of Shows
1949  The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse: The Strange Christmas Dinner
1949  The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse: The Five Lives of Richard Gordon
1949  The Great Sinner
1949  Your Big Moment
1949  A Woman's Secret
1949  My Own True Love
1948  Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House 
1947  The Guilt of Janet Ames
1947  The Sea of Grass
1943  Three Hearts for Julia
1942  They All Kissed the Bride
1942  We Were Dancing
1941  Two-Faced Woman
1941  Our Wife
1941  That Uncertain Feeling
1940  This Thing Called Love 
1940  Third Finger, Left Hand 
1940  He Stayed for Breakfast
1940  Too Many Husbands
1939  The Amazing Mr. Williams
1939  Good Girls Go to Paris
1939  Tell No Tales
1939  Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
1939  There's That Woman Again
1938  Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 4
1938  The Shining Hour
1938  That Certain Age
1938  Fast Company
1938  The Toy Wife 
1938  There's Always a Woman 
1938  Arsène Lupin Returns 
1937  I'll Take Romance
1937  Angel 
1937  I Met Him in Paris
1937  Captains Courageous
1937  Women of Glamour
1936  Theodora Goes Wild
1936  The Gorgeous Hussy
1936  And So They Were Married
1935  The Lone Wolf Returns
1935  Annie Oakley
1935  Mary Burns, Fugitive
1935  She Married Her Boss
1935  The People's Enemy
1934  Dangerous Corner
1934  Woman in the Dark
1933  Counsellor at Law
1933  Nagana
1933  The Vampire Bat
1932  The Old Dark House
1932  As You Desire Me
1932  The Broken Wing
1932  The Wiser Sex
1932  Prestige
1931  Tonight or Never