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Now that Robert Montgomery has returned to Broadway as a legitimate stage director, it can be said with complete honesty that he has run the gamut in the entertainment world. Before Hollywood discovered him, he had already played juvenile leads on Broadway as well as in stock and touring companies. During his reign as the king of cinemaland's debonair, romantic prototype, in such successes as "When Ladies Meet," "The Last of Mrs. Cheyney," "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," etc., he broke tradition and played so unforgettably the psychopathic murderer in "Night Must Fall." For this he won an Academy Award nomination. He was nominated for a similar honor for his portrayal of a heavenly visitor to earth in "Here Comes Mr. Jordan." Seeking further challenge, he not only starred in but also directed "Lady in the Lake," a psychological suspence yarn in which he introduced to movie audiences the so-called "subjective camera" technique in which the camera acts as a performer. He assumed the director's post once again for another film in which he starred, "Ride the Pink Horse." In 1950, quite aware of a new world to conquer in the realm of show business, he joined the National Broadcasting Company as an executive TV producer, and launched the continuously popular dramatic series, "Robert Montgomery Presents." Later, he added to his busy schedule a radio commentary program called "A Citizen Views the News," which won him a Freedoms Foundation Award in 1952 for "outstanding contributions to a better understanding of the American way of life." The same year among a host of other citations which have continued to pile up, he received the Gold Medal of the International Benjamin Franklin Society for "courageous American citizenship in fighting against Communist infiltration of the motion picture and radio fields." As personal consultant to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, particulary in the area of television and radio, he is an offical member of the White House staff, with a private office in the executive mansion. During World War II for his Pacific exploits, Montgomery was awarded the Naval Citation, and for his Normandy activities, the Bronze Star and French Legion of Honor Medal. Mr. Montgomery, whose English and Irish ancestors were early settlers in this country, some of whom fought and died in the American Revloution, was born in Beacon, New York. He is the father of Elizabeth Montgomery, leading Broadway and TV ingenue, and 18-year-old Robert, Jr. |
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