PEDRO DE CORDOBA

'Pedro de Cordoba' (September 28, 1881 – September 16, 1950), was an American actor.
Pedro de Cordoba, who appeared in his first film, a 1913
version of "Carmen," was actually a classically trained
theatre actor who confessed he did not enjoy
appearing in silent films nearly as much as he liked
working on stage. However, de Cordoba's career during the early silent film era was prolific and he soon became a popular leading man in early Hollywood motion pictures. His Broadway career cast him with such legendary stage actresses as Jane Cowl and
Katharine Cornell.

His deeply–resonant speaking voice made him
perfectly suited to talking pictures, unlike many silent
film stars who had neither foreseen, nor prepared for,
the day when sound would meet celluloid.
He enjoyed a career as one of the busiest character actors
in Hollywood, from the 1930’s through the ‘50’s.
He was most often cast as aristocratic, or clerical
characters of Hispanic origin, because of his last name,
as well as his royal bearing.

In actuality he was born in New York City of parents
who were French and Cuban in origin. He was a
devout Catholic, which no doubt contributed to his
priest-like demeanor. He was very well read and
knowledgeable about the Catholic faith, and even
served for a time as president of the Catholic Actors
Guild of America. On rare occasions he would be cast
in the role of a villain, but most of the characters he
portrayed were as refined as was the man himself, in
real life.

De Cordoba’s most memorable part is probably his
portrayal of the "living skeleton" sideshow character
who hides fugitive Robert Cummings in his carnival
wagon in the Alfred Hitchcock film, ''Saboteur'' (1942).
The last film in which the actor appeared, a political
drama set in an unnamed South American dictatorship,
Crisis (1950), was released shortly after his death.

Pedro de Cordoba died in 1950 and was interred at the Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City in Los Angeles County, California.

Contents

External links

External links

★ nytimes.com - New York Times > Movies > Pedro de Cordoba

★ nytimes.com - News clippings

★

★ ibdb.com - The Internet Broadway Database > Pedro de Cordoba

★ findagrave.org - Find a Grave - Pedro de Cordoba