Real name James Stewart. Born on May 6th 1913 in London. He was educated at Epsom college and then attended the Webber-Douglas school of Dramatic Art. He entered films in 1933 as an extra. It was in the 1940s that Granger hit his stride playing a succession of romantic leads for Gainsborough studios opposite leading ladies such as Jean Kent, Phyllis Calvert and Margaret Lockwood. These films were mainly historical dramas slightly on the melodramatic side, but with plenty of opportunity for romance, British audiences loved him and he became a major box office draw second only to James Mason. Te escapist tendencies of these films has led recent reviewers (and indeed critics of the time) to dismiss the gainsborough films as 'tosh', but to the public they were much needed relief from the realities of war and rationing and are now being reappraised. Stewart Grangersigned with MGM in 1950 and left England for Hollywood where he went on to become the epitome of the virile adventurer of the 1950s. He died in 1993. More to Come... |