Joel Mccrea

Actor

About

Also Known As

Joel Albert Mccrea

Birth Place

South Pasadena, California, USA

Born

November 05, 1905

Died

October 20, 1990

Cause of Death

Pulmonary Complications (Flu Developed Into Pneumonia)

Biography

Filmography

Mustang Country (1976)

Dan Treego

Great American Cowboy (1973)

Narration

Cry Blood, Apache (1970)

Older Pitcalin

Free Grass (1969)

Agent no. 1

Ride the High Country (1962)

Steve Judd

The Crowning Experience (1960)

Prologue narrator

Photos & Videos

View All

Silver Cord, The (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Some Women Cannot

Silver Cord, The (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Let Me Look At You Now

Family & Companions

Frances Dee

Wife

Actor. Married October, 1933; met while filming "The Silver Cord" (1933); subsequently appeared together in "One Man's Journey" (1933), "Wells Fargo" (1937) and "Four Faces West" (1948).

Bibliography

"Last of the Cowboy Heroes: The Westerns of Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, and Audie Murphy"

Robert Nott, McFarland (2000)

Notes

"I liked doing comedies, but as I got older I was better suited to do Westerns. Because I think it becomes unattractive for an older fellow trying to look young, falling in love with attractive girls in those kinds of situations...Anyway, I always felt so much more comfortable in the Western. The minute I got a horse and a hat and a pair of boots on, I felt easier. I didn't feel like I was an actor anymore. I felt like I was the guy out there doing it." --Joel McCrea in 1978 interview.

Biography

Likable, ruggedly handsome figure, a durable star who first made his name in adventures and melodramas of the 1930s. McCrea gave one of his finest performances in Hitchcock's "Foreign Correspondent" (1940) and brought an amiable, relaxed charm to his comic roles, especially when directed by Preston Sturges in "Sullivan's Travels" (1941) and "The Palm Beach Story" (1942) and by George Stevens in "The More the Merrier" (1943). His offhand yet sincere style also kept him much in demand as a lead in "women's pictures" (as they were then called), and McCrea played romantically opposite female divas including Constance Bennett ("Rockabye" 1932), Irene Dunne ("The Silver Cord" 1933), Barbara Stanwyck ("Gambling Lady" 1934), Merle Oberon ("These Three" 1936) and Ginger Rogers ("Primrose Path" 1940)

Although McCrea had starred in a number of Westerns and action pictures in the 30s (e.g., Cecil B. DeMille's "Union Pacific" 1939), beginning with William Wellman's "Buffalo Bill" (1944), McCrea starred primarily in Westerns for the rest of his career. His many horse operas, the best of which included "Colorado Territory" (1949), "Trooper Hook" (1957) and "Ride the High Country" (1962), mirrored his own frontier roots as well as his personal life. A passionate outdoorsman, he listed his occupation as "rancher" and his hobby as "acting." McCrea was married to actress Frances Dee from 1933 until his death; their son Jody McCrea (b. 1934) appeared with him on his TV series "Wichita Town" (1959-60) and in the film "Cry Blood, Apache" (1970).

Filmography

Life Events

1922

Worked as extra, stuntman, and bit player in silent pictures

1928

Signed contract with MGM

1929

Film acting debut in "The Jazz Age"

1929

First leading film role in "The Silver Horde"

1930

Signed contract with RKO

1933

Purchased first 1,000 acres of his eventual 3,000-acre spread in Thousand Oaks, CA

1934

Made first of five films co-starring Miriam Hopkins, "The Richest Girl in the World"

1934

Made first of six films co-starring Barbara Stanwyck, "Gambling Lady"

1937

First actor to play Dr. Kildare on screen in "Internes Can't Take Money"

1941

Made first of three key films with writer-director Preston Sturges, "Sullivan's Travels"

1944

Made primarily Westerns after starring in "Buffalo Bill"

1953

Travelled to England to make one of his few late-career non-Westerns, "Shoot First/Rough Shoot"

1962

Made last feature film for many years, "Ride the High Country"

1969

Inducted into the Hall of Fame of Great Western Actors in Oklahoma City

1976

Last acting appearance, "Mustang Country"

1985

Appeared as himself in the feature documentary, "George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey"

1990

Last public appearance at a fundraiser for Republican gubernatorial candidate Pete Wilson in Beverly Hills CA (October 3)

Photo Collections

One Man's Journey - Pressbook

Here is the original campaign book (pressbook) for the RKO film One Man's Journey (1933), starring Lionel Barrymore. Pressbooks were sent to exhibitors and theater owners to aid them in publicizing the film's run in their theater.
(Pressbook images courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)

One Man's Journey - Publicity Stills

Here are a number of Publicity Stills from the RKO film One Man's Journey (1933), starring Lionel Barrymore, Dorothy Jordan, and Joel McCrea. Publicity stills were specially-posed photos, usually taken off the set, for purposes of publicity or reference for promotional artwork.

Adventure in Manhattan - Publicity Stills

Adventure in Manhattan - Scene Stills

Border River - Publicity Stills

Border River - Scene Stills

Cattle Drive - Scene Stills

Mustang Country - Movie Poster

Border River - Movie Posters

The Virginian - Movie Posters

Border River - British Front-of-House Stills

The Virginian - Behind-the-Scenes Photo

The Virginian - Lobby Cards

Border River - Lobby Card Set

Border River - Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Mustang Country - Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Sullivan's Travels - Lobby Card Set

Battleground - Behind-the-Scenes Stills

Here are a number of photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of MGM's Battleground (1949), directed by William Wellman and starring Van Johnson, Ricardo Montalban, James Whitmore, George Murphy, and many others.

Foreign Correspondent - Movie Poster

Here is the American One-Sheet Movie Poster for Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Coorespondent (1940), starring Joel McCrea and Laraine Day. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.

Ride the High Country - Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Here are some photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of Ride the High Country (1962), starring Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea.

Ride the High Country - Movie Poster

Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for Ride the High Country (1962), starring Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.

Cattle Drive - Publicity Stills

Here are a few publicity stills from Cattle Drive (1951), starring Joel McCrea, Dean Stockwell and Chill Wills.

Cattle Drive - Movie Posters

Here are a few original movie posters from Cattle Drive (1951), starring Joel McCrea and Dean Stockwell.

The Most Dangerous Game - Movie Poster

Here is the original movie poster art for RKO Pictures' The Most Dangerous Game (1932), starring Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, and Leslie Banks.

Adventure In Manhattan - Lobby Cards

Here are a few Lobby Cards from Adventure in Manhattan (1936). Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.

Adventure in Manhattan - Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Here are several photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of Columbia Pictures' Adventure in Manhattan (1936), starring Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea.

One Man's Journey - Movie Posters

Here are a couple of original Movie Posters for the RKO film One Man's Journey (1933), starring Lionel Barrymore. The one-sheet is on view along with a window card from the film.

One Man's Journey - Scene Stills

Here are a number of scene stills from the RKO film One Man's Journey (1933), starring Lionel Barrymore, Dorothy Jordan, and Joel McCrea.

Videos

Silver Cord, The (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Some Women Cannot Opening with top-billed Irene Dunne with a tiny but nifty bit of German, as scientist Christina, Joel McCrea her American architect husband, and an uncredited Gustav von Seyffertitz as her boss, John Cromwell directing from the hit Sidney Howard play, in RKO's The Silver Cord, 1933.

Silver Cord, The (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Let Me Look At You Now Snapping forward as German-born Christina scientist (Irene Dunne) and her architect husband (Joel McCrea) arrive from Heidelberg at his family country home, meeting his brother’s fianceè (Frances Dee) then Robert (Eric Linden), and Laura Hope Crews their mother, in her celebrated Broadway role, in The Silver Cord, 1933.

Wichita (1955) -- (Movie Clip) My Name's Earp, Wyatt Earp Having been spied in silhouette in the opening scene, the star (Joel McCrea) introduces himself to the cattlemen, Walter Sande as the boss Wallace, Robert Wilke as Ben Thompson, Rayford Barnes as gun-curious Clements and Lloyd Bridges as Gyp, in Wichta, 1955, from producer Walter Mirisch, original story and screenplay by Daniel B. Ullman.

Wichita (1955) -- (Movie Clip) Pretty Good Sized Man Packed scene after the opening of the railroad, Joel McCrea as visitor Wyatt Earp is making a deposit (Sam Peckinpah his teller!) when railroad chief McCoy (Walter Coy) arrives with wife, daughter, reporter Bat Masterson and the mayor (Mae Clarke, Vera Miles, Keith Larsen, Carl Benton Reid), and trouble ensues, George Sherwood the risk-averse sheriff, in Wichta, 1955.

Wichita (1955) -- (Movie Clip) Babylon On The Arkansas River None of the principals appear here, as two guys we haven’t seen (Peter Graves and John Smith, whom we’ll learn play the brothers of the star, Joel McCrea as Marshal Wyatt Earp) arrive, meeting the bartender (William Newell) and the scheming saloon owner Black (Edgar Buchanan), in Wichta, 1955.

Union Pacific (1939) -- (Movie Clip) Pay Or No Pay Just a suggestion of the scale producer-director C.B. De Mille's has in mind, trouble shooter Jeff (Joel McCrea) discussing railroad progress with foreman Dusky (William Haade), mail girl Mollie (Barbara Stanwyck) working the crowd, in Union Pacific, 1939.

Stars In My Crown (1950) -- (Movie Clip) Sharing The Parson's Heart Rejoining narration in the voice of the mature John (Dean Stockwell), exposition on the circumstances of his living with preacher Josiah Gray (Joel McCrea) and his wife and church organist Harriet (Ellen Drew), Jacques Tourneur directing in the MGM version of the novel by Alabama’s Joe David Brown, Stars In My Crown, 1950.

Stars In My Crown (1950) -- (Movie Clip) I'm Always A Boy In Walesburg With narration by Marshall Thompson, the screenplay derived from the somewhat autobiographical novel by Alabamian Joe David Brown, we meet Dean Stockwell as young John, Joel McCrea the preacher, plus Polly Bailey, Amanda Blake, Adeline de Walt Reynolds, Wilson Wood, Ed Begley and Arthur Hunnicutt, in MGM’s Stars In My Crown, 1950.

Stars In My Crown (1950) -- (Movie Clip) I'm Not Interested In Souls Southern gun-toting preacher Gray (Joel McCrea) is called to the bedside of a parishoner, crossing paths with James Mitchell (known-best for theater and as Palmer Courtland on All My Children) as Dr. Harris Jr., who plans to leave his hometown, because the locals don’t trust his modern methods, in the face of a typhus outbreak, in Stars In My Crown, 1950.

One Man's Journey (1933) -- (Movie Clip) To My Son's Future Wife Frances Dee is Joan, fianceè to ambitious young doctor Jimmy (Joel McCrea), who is inspired to introduce herself to his humbler father Eli (Lionel Barrymore, title character), in RKO's One Man's Journey, 1933.

One Man's Journey (1933) -- (Movie Clip) It Must Be The Water Passage of time as humble New England single-father Dr. Watt (Lionel Barrymore) carries on his selfless work and his son grows up to be Joel McCrea, and smallpox breaks out, in One Man’s Journey, 1933, the RKO melodrama restored by TCM, from a story by Katharine Haviland-Taylor.

Foreign Correspondent (1940) -- (Movie Clip) May I Have Your Picture? Reporter "Haverstock" (Joel McCrea) is baffled when Dutch diplomat Van Meer (Albert Bassermann) doesn't know him, Charles Waggenheim as the assassin, and pursuit with friend Carol (Laraine Day) and fellow reporter ffolliott (George Sanders), in Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent, 1940.

Woman Wanted - (Original Trailer) An innocent woman (Maureen O'Sullivan) is chased by both gangsters and the police.

Gambling Lady - (Original Trailer) Barbara Stanwyck is Lady Lee, Gambling Lady (1934), in love with accused murderer Joel McCrea.

Foreign Correspondent - (Original Trailer) A camera with gun attachment, trick windmills and a mid-ocean plane crash are some of the predicaments facing Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent (1940).

Fort Massacre - (Original Trailer) A possibly mad cavalry commander (Joel McCrea) leads his troops through dangerous Indian territory in Fort Massacre (1958).

Dead End - (Original Trailer) A killer (Humphrey Bogart) returns to the mean streets that made him in William Wyler's Dead End (1937) co-starring Sylvia Sidney and Joel McCrea.

Barbary Coast - (Re-issue trailer) A vice king's girlfriend falls for a young miner in Howard Hawks' Barbary Coast (1935) starring Edward G. Robinson, Miriam Hopkins and Joel McCrea (Telluride Film Festival honoree 1982).

Ride the High Country - (Original Trailer) Two aging gunslingers (Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea) sign on to transport gold from a remote mining town in Ride the High Country (1962).

Great Moment, The - (Original Trailer) Director Preston Sturges tells the true story of the first dentist to find a painless method of pulling teeth in The Great Moment (1944).

Gunfight at Dodge City, The - (Original Trailer) Joel McCrea plays Bat Masterson as a tougher kind of maverick in The Gunfight at Dodge City (1959).

Colorado Territory - (Original Trailer) An outlaw just released from prison is sucked back into a life of crime in Colorado Territory (1949), starring Joel McCrea.

Stars in My Crown - (Original Trailer) A parson (Joel McCrea) uses six-guns and the Bible to bring peace to a Tennessee town in Stars in My Crown (1950).

Outriders, The - (Original Trailer) Joel McCrea stars in MGM's Technicolor Western, The Outriders (1950).

TCM Podcast -- Lizz Winstead (Movie Promo) May 2012 Daily Show co-creator and author, Lizz Winstead, joins producer Scott McGee to talk about Star of the Month Joel McCrea and the sophisticated, ensemble comedy Dinner At Eight. Log on now to facebook.com/tcmtv and tell us who YOU would cast in a Dinner At Eight remake.

Family

Thomas McCrea

Father

Utility executive. Worked for L.A. Gas & Electric Company.

Jody McCrea

Son

Actor, rancher. Born September 6, 1934; left acting to become a rancher.

David McCrea

Son

Rancher.

Peter McCrea

Son

Land planner, real estate developer. Married to Jack Lemmon's daughter Courtney.

Companions

Frances Dee

Wife

Actor. Married October, 1933; met while filming "The Silver Cord" (1933); subsequently appeared together in "One Man's Journey" (1933), "Wells Fargo" (1937) and "Four Faces West" (1948).

Bibliography

"Last of the Cowboy Heroes: The Westerns of Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, and Audie Murphy"

Robert Nott, McFarland (2000)

About

Biography

Filmography

Photos & Videos

Family & Companions

Bibliography

Notes

Biography

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

Cast (Special)

Misc. Crew (Special)

Cast (Short)

Life Events

1922

1928

1929

1929

1930

1933

1934

1934

1937

1941

1944

1953

1962

1969

1976

1985

1990

Photo Collections

Videos

Movie Clip

Trailer

Promo

Family

Companions

Bibliography

Notes

TCM Emails