Ralph Forbes

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Ralph Forbes
Forbes in Daniel Boone (1936)
Born
Ralph Forbes Taylor

(1904-09-30)30 September 1904
Wandsworth, London, England
Died31 March 1951(1951-03-31) (aged 46)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1923–1950
Spouses
(m. 1924; div. 1932)
(m. 1934; div. 1941)
Dora Sayers
(m. 1946)
Parent
RelativesBrenda Forbes (sister)

Ralph Forbes (born Ralph Forbes Taylor; 30 September 1904 – 31 March 1951) was an English film and stage actor active in Britain and the United States.

Early life[edit]

Forbes was born in Wandsworth, London, the son of Ernest John "E.J." and Ethel Louise Taylor. His mother would become known as Mary Forbes, a stage and film actress. His younger sister was actress Brenda Forbes (born Dorothy Brenda Taylor). Born on 30 September 1904, Forbes was baptized on 6 November[1] and his birth was legally registered with the authorities during the last quarter of 1904.[2]

Forbes met with an accident while playing football at Denstone College in Staffordshire which resulted in a scar on his cheek.[3] He came to the United States as a member of a British troupe that performed Havoc, a war play.[4] He started off in films, then went on stage.

In the United States he appeared onstage opposite actress Ruth Chatterton, whom he wed on 20 December 1924 in New York City.[5] He was 20 years old and she was four days shy of her 32nd birthday. The couple divorced in 1932. He married actress Heather Angel in Yuma, Arizona,[6] on 29 August 1934; that marriage ended in divorce on 18 July 1941.[7] His last wife, whom he married in 1946, was actress Dora Sayers.[8]

Later years[edit]

Following a film career that spanned from 1926 to 1944,[9] Forbes’s latter years were given to working on the Broadway stage. One of his last stage appearances was in a revival of Shaw's You Never Can Tell in 1948. He died at Montefiore Hospital in The Bronx, New York, in 1951, aged 46.[8]

Filmography[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Baptismal record for Ralph Forbes Taylor, ancestry.com; accessed 25 September 2015.(registration required)
  2. ^ Birth registration for Ralph Forbes Taylor, ancestry.com; accessed 25 September 2015.(registration required)
  3. ^ Wagner, Laura (Fall 2017). "Ralph Forbes: Smolderingly Handsome". Films of the Golden Age (90): 38–43.
  4. ^ "Ralph Forbes, English Actor, Makes Good in Hollywood". The Boston Globe. Massachusetts, Boston. 24 September 1936. p. 32. Retrieved 25 July 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. ^ "Ruth Chatterton, Broadway Star, Weds Ralph Forbes, English Actor". The Boston Globe. Massachusetts, Boston. 21 December 1924. p. 21. Retrieved 25 July 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. ^ "Heather Angel and Ralph Forbes Wed". The Klamath News. Oregon, Klamath Falls. United Press. 30 August 1934. p. 1. Retrieved 25 July 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ^ "Heather Angel Wins Divorce; Says Ralph Forbes Slapped Her". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. 19 July 1941. p. 17. Retrieved 25 July 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  8. ^ a b "Ralph Forbes Dies; Stage, Film Actor - London-Born Player Got His First Role in U.S. in 1924 - Was in 50 Picture". The New York Times. 1 April 1951. p. 54. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  9. ^ "Filmography for Ralph Forbes". Tcm.com. 31 March 1951. Retrieved 26 September 2015.

External links[edit]