TYRONE POWER BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Tyrone Power was born on May 5th, 1914 in Cincinnati, Ohio as Tyrone Edmund Power.  His parents were actor Tyrone Power Sr. and actress Patia Power.  At a young age, the family moved with Tyrone Jr. to California, due to advice from a doctor saying a warmer climate might be better for young Tyrone's health and his mother gave birth to his sister, Anne in 1915. 
 
His parents worked together on stage and film, but eventually divorced and his mother took the children back to Cincinnati where she worked as a drama and voice coach.  However, after Tyrone graduated high school he chose to move back to California with his father and proceed with an acting career.
 
Sadly, in 1931 Tyrone Sr. died of a heart attack on the set of the film, "Miracle Man". Tyrone jr. was at a loss, he was left alone and with no money to take care of himself.  He tried to drop his fathers name to help get him work and he did eventually land a small role in, "Tom Brown of Culver" (1932) however, he became discouraged soon afterwards and left Los Angeles for New York.  
 
Luck was with him, when Katherine Cornell, a great female actress chose Tyrone to understudy Burgess Meredith in the play, "Flowers of the Forest".  This followed with being cast in her tour of "Romeo and Juliet".  He took Katherine's advice and continued to gain more experience in theater.  After working on, "Shaw's St. Joan", he finally felt he was ready to return to Hollywood.
 
In 1936, Tyrone signed with 20th Century Fox Studios.  He was assigned to a small part in "Girls' Dormitory" where he caught the eye of many fans.  Following that, he was cast in a slightly larger part in "Ladies in Love", which starred Janet Gaynor.
 
The director, Henry King, then was asked to consider Tyrone for another role.  He was tested for, "Lloyds of London" and was cast.  He was received by critics as a superstar for his performance. 
 
He continued to delight the public with hit after hit and became the #2 box office star in the world and named "King of Hollywood" by the motion picture theater.  He was a light leading man, likeable and charming  who had a way with women.  Some of his films in the late 30's and early 40's were, " Love is News" (1937), "In Old Chicago" (1938), "Daytime Wife" (1939), "Johnny Apollo" (1940), "A Yank in the RAF" (1941).

After his tremendous success in 1940's "The Mark of Zorro", he moved into adventure-swashbuckler roles: "Blood and Sand", "The Black Swan", "Son of Fury", "The Captain from Castile", and "The Black Rose".
 
Tyrone always dreamedof playing a dark, complex role. In 1948, he starred as Stan Carlisle in the gritty film noir, "Nightmare Alley". Tyrone Power was moving into a new level as an actor.
 
Once his contract with Fox ended, Power sought better parts, appearing in "The Long Gray Line" (1954), "Abandon Ship" (1957), and "Witness for the Prosecution" (1957). He also chose to return to his stage roots in "The Devil's Disciple", "John Brown's Body", "Back to Methusalah" and "The Dark is Light Enough".
 
Tyrone Power was one of Hollywood's most eligible bachelors when he married French actress, Annabella, on April 23, 1939. They met on the 20th Century-Fox lot, around the time they starred together in the movie, "Suez". When Darryl F. Zanuck, 20th Century-Fox studio boss, realized the seriousness of the romance between her and his top male star, however, he strongly objected, fearing that Tyrone Power would lose part of his female fan base if he were married. Zanuck offered to give Annabella plum roles in movies to be filmed abroad, in order to get her out of the country and away from one of Hollywood's biggest heartthrobs.  However, the couple chose to go against his wishes and married causing Annabella's career at 20th Century Fox to have tremendous consequences.
 
However, in 1949 the couple divorced due to such things as Power's service in World War II, Annabella's inability to conceive, and his various flings.   He had actually met his second wife, Starlet Linda Christian, while still married to Annabella when he was in Rome in 1947.  They married in 1949 soon after his first divorce and the couple had two daughters, Romina and Taryn.  Only 7 years later, his marriage ended with divorce #2.  As he entered into the 1950's, Power was becoming increasingly unhappy with his movie assignments, with such movies as "American Guerrilla in the Philippines" and "Pony Soldier", he asked his studio to grant him permission to seek out his own roles outside 20th Century-Fox.   Permission was granted, with the understanding that he would fulfill his fourteen-film commitment to 20th Century-Fox, in between his other movie roles. Immediately following the filming of "American Guerrilla in the Philippines", he went into rehearsals for the stage version of "Mister Roberts". He performed the title role in the play.

In 1953, he made "The Mississippi Gambler" for Universal Studios.  He ended up making one-million dollars from the movie, a very large sum in those days. His movies had been very profitable for 20th Century-Fox, and the studio tried to get him to sign another contract with the studio when his contract ended.
 
After a long affair with Swedish actress Mai Zetterling, Power married one last time in 1958 to Deborah Minardos, a young woman from Mississippi. Power died before she gave birth to his only son, Tyrone Power IV.

His major hits thus far included," In Old Chicago" (1938), "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1938), "Jesse James" (1939), "The Mark of Zorro" (1940), "Blood and Sand" (1941), "The Razor's Edge" (1946), "The Captain from Castile" (1947), "The Prince of Foxes" (1949), "The Eddy Duchin Story" (1956), "The Long Gray Line" (1955), and his last completed film, "Witness for the Prosecution" (1957).
 
Tyrone was by far one of the top leading men in Hollywood from 1936 until his death in 1958. He became an overnight star and leading man at the age of twenty-two and made about fifty films in a career that was cut short by a heart attack at the age of forty-four.  He was buried at Hollywood  Cemetery at noon on November 21, 1958.  

Filmography

1957    Witness for the Prosecution
1957    The Sun Also Rises 
1957    The Rising of the Moon
1957    Abandon Ship!
1956    The Eddy Duchin Story 
1955    Untamed
1955    The Long Gray Line
1953    King of the Khyber Rifles
1953    The Mississippi Gambler 
1952    Diplomatic Courier
1952    Pony Soldier
1951    I'll Never Forget You
1951    Rawhide
1950    An American Guerrilla in the Philippines
1950    The Black Rose
1949    Prince of Foxes
1948    The Luck of the Irish 
1948    That Wonderful Urge
1947    Captain from Castile
1947    Nightmare Alley
1946    The Razor's Edge
1943    Show Business at War
1943    Crash Dive
1942    The Black Swan
1942    This Above All
1942    Son of Fury
1941    A Yank in the RAF 
1941    Blood and Sand
1940    Brigham Young
1940    The Mark of Zorro 
1940    Johnny Apollo
1940    Day-Time Wife
1939    The Rains Came 
1939    Second Fiddle
1939    Rose of Washington Square
1939    Hollywood Hobbies
1939    Jesse James
1938    Suez
1938    Alexander's Ragtime Band
1938    Marie Antoinette
1937    In Old Chicago
1937    Second Honeymoon
1937    Thin Ice
1937    Cafe Metropole
1937    Love Is News
1936    Girls' Dormitory
1936    Ladies in Love
1936    Lloyds of London
1935    Northern Frontier
1934    Flirtation Walk
1932    Tom Brown of Culver