Ralph Forbes

English actor

Ralph Forbes

Forbes in Daniel Boone (1936)

Born|

Ralph Forbes Taylor

(1904-09-30)30 September 1904

Wandsworth, London, England

Died| 31 March 1951(1951-03-31) (aged 46)

New York City, U.S.

Occupation| Actor
Years active| 1923–1950
Spouses|

Ruth Chatterton

(m. 1924; div. 1932)​

Heather Angel

(m. 1934; div. 1941)​

Dora Sayers

(m. 1946)​

Parent|

* Mary Forbes (mother)

Relatives| Brenda 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]

* The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's (1921) as Oliver Greenfield (film debut)
* A Lowland Cinderella (1921) as Master of Darrock
* The Glorious Adventure (1922) as Courtier (uncredited)
* Comin' Thro the Rye (1923) as George Tempest
* Reveille (1924) as The Kid
* Owd Bob (1924) as Davie McAdam
* Charley's Aunt (1926) as Jack Chesney
* Beau Geste (1926) as John Geste
* Mr. Wu (1927) as Basil Gregory
* The Enemy (1927) as Carl Behrend
* The Latest from Paris (1928) as Joe Adams
* The Trail of '98 (1928) as Larry
* Under the Black Eagle (1928) as Karl von Zorn
* The Actress (1928) as Arthur Gower
* The Whip (1928) as Lord Brancaster
* The Masks of the Devil (1928) as Manfred
* Restless Youth (1928) as Bruce Neil
* Lilies of the Field (1930) as Ted Willing
* The Green Goddess (1930) as Dr. Traherne
* Mamba (1930) as Karl von Reiden
* The Lady of Scandal (1930) as John
* Inside the Lines (1930) as Eric Woodhouse
* Her Wedding Night (1930) as Larry Charters
* The Bachelor Father (1931) - John Ashley
* Beau Ideal (1931) as John Geste
* Thunder Below (1932) as Davis
* Smilin'Through (1932) as Willie Ainley
* Christopher Strong (1933) as Harry Rawlinson
* The Phantom Broadcast (1933) as Norman Wilder
* Pleasure Cruise (1933) as Richard Orloff aka Taversham
* The Avenger (1933) as Norman Craig
* The Solitaire Man (1933) as Robert Bascom
* Bombay Mail (1934) as William Luke-Patson
* The Mystery of Mr. X (1934) as Sir Christopher Marche
* Riptide (1934) as Fenwick
* Twentieth Century (1934) as George Smith
* Shock (1934) as Derek Marbury
* The Fountain (1934) as Ballater
* The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) as Captain Surtees Cook
* Outcast Lady (1934) as Boy Fenwick
* Strange Wives (1934) as Paul
* Enchanted April (1935) as Peppo Briggs
* Rescue Squad (1935) as DeWitt Porter
* Streamline Express (1935) as Fred Arnold
* The Goose and the Gander (1935) as Ralph Summers
* The Three Musketeers (1935) as Duke of Buckingham
* La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (1935, Short)
* I'll Name the Murderer (1936) as Tommy Tilton
* Mary of Scotland (1936) as Randolph
* Piccadilly Jim (1936) as Lord Frederick 'Freddie' Priory
* Romeo and Juliet (1936) as Paris - Young Nobleman Kinsman to the Prince
* Daniel Boone (1936) as Stephen Marlowe
* Love Letters of a Star (1936) as Meredith Landers
* Rich Relations (1937) as Dave Walton
* The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937) as Cousin John
* The Thirteenth Chair (1937) as Lionel Trent
* The Legion of Missing Men (1937) as Bob Carter
* Make a Wish (1937) as Walter Mays
* Woman Against the World (1937) as Larry Steele
* Stage Door (1937) as Cast of Stage Play
* Women Are Like That (1938) as Martin Brush
* Kidnapped (1938) as James
* If I Were King (1938) as Oliver Le Dain
* Annabel Takes a Tour (1938) as Viscount Ronald River-Clyde
* Convicts at Large (1938) as David Brent
* The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) as Sir Hugo Baskerville
* The Magnificent Fraud (1939) as Harrison Todd
* The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) as Lord Knollys
* Tower of London (1939) as Henry Tudor
* Calling Philo Vance (1940) as Tom McDonald
* Adventure in Diamonds (1940) as Mr. Perrins
* Curtain Call (1940) as Leslie Barrivale
* Frenchman's Creek (1944) as Harry St. Columb (final film)

## 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.
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.
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.
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.
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]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ralph Forbes.

* Ralph Forbes at IMDb
* Ralph Forbes at the Internet Broadway Database
* Ralph Forbes at Virtual History

Authority control databases

International|

* FAST
* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* Spain
* France
* BnF data
* United States

*[m.]: married
*[div.]: divorced