Robert Cornthwaite


Robert Cornthwaite

About

Also Known As
Bob Cornthwaite, Robert R. Cornthwaite
Birth Place
St. Helens, Oregon, USA
Born
April 28, 1917
Died
July 20, 2006
Cause of Death
Natural Causes

Biography

Robert Cornthwaite was a thin man with an aristocratic bearing who radiated intelligence; in Hollywood, that got him typecast as a cold, intellectual scientist. This was despite the range he displayed in his many acting roles, which ran the gamut from Napoleon Bonaparte (in "The Purple Mask," a 1955 period film about French rebels just after the Revolution) to an Alzheimer's-afflicted ma...

Biography

Robert Cornthwaite was a thin man with an aristocratic bearing who radiated intelligence; in Hollywood, that got him typecast as a cold, intellectual scientist. This was despite the range he displayed in his many acting roles, which ran the gamut from Napoleon Bonaparte (in "The Purple Mask," a 1955 period film about French rebels just after the Revolution) to an Alzheimer's-afflicted mayor in the oddball small-town TV drama "Picket Fences" (1992). Perhaps the stereotype is due to Cornthwaite's memorable turn as Dr. Carrington, the ultimate science fiction egghead scientist in the self-descriptive 1951 hit "The Thing From Another World." Throughout his career, the actor played enough characters with the title "Dr." to staff the faculty of a major university. Among the more notable of these appearances was as a medical practitioner in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane" (1962), a thriller about a demented former child star (played by Bette Davis) tormenting her sister. Cornthwaite took variations of this character to TV, but he also branched out into non-intellectual roles. He played a butler in a two-episode stretch of the popular Boston bar-set sitcom "Cheers" (1992) and a diplomat in the space saga "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" (1979). During his working life, the actor was also extensively involved with productions in the theater, his preferred medium.

Life Events

Videos

Movie Clip

Thing From Another World, The (1951) -- (Movie Clip) Welcome To Our Igloo Banter by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer, as Capt. Hendry (Kenneth Tobey) has first encounters with Nikki (Margaret Sheridan) and Dr. Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite), at the research station in The Thing From Another World, 1951.
Kiss Me Deadly (1955) -- (Movie Clip) He's A Bedroom Dick Ralph Meeker as Mike Hammer leaves the hospital with gal-Friday Velda (Maxine Cooper), weeks after the non-accident that killed his hitcher, James Seay apprehending and Robert Cornthwaite interrogating for the FBI, Wesley Addy his cop pal Pat, in Robert Aldrich’s Kiss Me Deadly, 1955.
Thing From Another World, The (1951) -- (Movie Clip) Super Carrot The whole gang, led by doctors Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite) and Stern (Edouard Franz), reporter Scotty (Douglas Spencer) following, examines the severed arm of The Thing From Another World, 1951.
Thing From Another World, The (1951) -- (Movie Clip) That Thing's Alive! Barnes (William Self) takes over the watch and probably unwisely throws his electric blanket over the frozen alien, bringing Hendry (Kenneth Tobey), Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite) et al into action, in The Thing From Another World, 1951.
Spirit Of St. Louis, The -- (Movie Clip) Have You Got A Name? "Slim" Lindbergh (James Stewart as the legendary aviator), with pal Harry (Robert Cornthwaite) making the introductions, pitches his idea to St. Louis businessmen led by Bixby (David Orrick), early in Billy Wilder's The Spirit Of St. Louis, 1957.

Bibliography