Farley Granger

Farley Earle Granger was born in 1925 in San Jose, California, to Eva (Hopkins) and Farley Earle Granger, who owned an automobile dealership. Right out of high school, he was brought to the attention of movie producer 'Samuel Goldwyn' (qv), who cast him in a small role in _The North Star (1943)_ (qv). He followed it up with a much bigger part in _The Purple Heart (1944)_ (qv) and then joined the army. After his release he had to wait until 'Nicholas Ray' (qv) cast him in the low-budget RKO classic _They Live by Night (1948)_ (qv) with 'Cathy O'Donnell' (qv), and then he was recalled by Goldwyn, who signed him to a five-year contract. He then made _Rope (1948)_ (qv) for 'Alfred Hitchcock' (qv) and followed up for Goldwyn with _Enchantment (1948)_ (qv) with 'David Niven' (qv), 'Evelyn Keyes' (qv) and 'Teresa Wright' (qv). Other roles followed, including _Roseanna McCoy (1949)_ (qv) with 'Joan Evans' (qv), _Our Very Own (1950)_ (qv) with 'Ann Blyth' (qv) and _Side Street (1950)_ (qv), again with 'Cathy O'Donnell' (qv). He returned to Hitchcock for the best role of his career, as the socialite tennis champ embroiled in a murder plot by psychotic 'Robert Walker' (qv) in _Strangers on a Train (1951)_ (qv). He then appeared in _O. Henry's Full House (1952)_ (qv) with 'Jeanne Crain' (qv), _Hans Christian Andersen (1952)_ (qv) with 'Danny Kaye' (qv), _The Story of Three Loves (1953)_ (qv) with 'Leslie Caron' (qv) and _Small Town Girl (1953)_ (qv) with 'Jane Powell' (qv). He went to Italy to make _Sehnsucht (1954)_ (qv) for 'Luchino Visconti' (qv) with 'Alida Valli' (qv), one of his best films. He did a Broadway play in 1955, "The Carefree Tree", and then returned to films in _The Naked Street (1955)_ (qv) with 'Anthony Quinn' (qv) and 'Anne Bancroft' (qv) and _The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955)_ (qv) with 'Joan Collins' (qv) and 'Ray Milland' (qv). Over the next ten years Granger worked extensively on television and the stage, mainly in stock, and returned to films in _Rogue's Gallery (1968)_ (qv) with 'Dennis Morgan' (qv). He then returned to Italy, where he made a series of films, including _The Challengers (1970)_ (qv) with 'Anne Baxter (I)', _The Man Called Noon (1973)_ (qv) with 'Richard Crenna' (qv) and _Arnold (1973)_ (qv) with 'Stella Stevens' (qv). More recent films include _The Prowler (1981)_ (qv), _Death Mask (1984)_ (qv), _The Imagemaker (1986)_ (qv) and _The Next Big Thing (2001)_ (qv). Since the 1950s he has continued to work frequently on American television and, in 1980, returned to Broadway and appeared in 'Ira Levin' (qv)'s successful play "Deathtrap". In 2007 he published his autobiography, "Include Me Out: My Life from Goldwyn to Broadway" with 'Robert Calhoun' (qv). A longtime resident of New York, Granger has recently appeared in several documentaries discussing Hollywood and, often, specifically 'Alfred Hitchcock' (qv).::alfiehitchie (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)