Hume Cronyn

Lore & Background

Cronyn was born in London, Ontario, Canada, one of five children. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn Sr., was a businessman and a Member of Parliament for London (after whom the Hume Cronyn Memorial Observatory and asteroid (12050) Humecronyn are named). His mother, Frances Amelia (née Labatt), was an heiress of the brewing company of the same name. Cronyn's paternal great-grandfather, the Right Reverend Benjamin Cronyn, served as the first bishop of the Anglican diocese of Huron and founded Huron College. His great-uncle, Benjamin Jr., was a prominent citizen and early mayor of London, Ontario, but was later indicted for fraud and fled to Vermont. Cronyn was a cousin of Canadian-born theater producer Robert Whitehead, and a first cousin of the Canadian-British artist Hugh Verschoyle Cronyn GM. He was the first Elmwood School boarder in Ottawa, boarded there between 1917 and 1921, then attended Ridley College and McGill University, where he became a member of Kappa Alpha Society. Early in life, he was an amateur featherweight boxer, nominated for Canada's 1932 Olympic Boxing team. His first marriage was to philanthropist Emily Woodruff in late 1934 or early 1935; they never lived together and quietly divorced in 1936. He married actress Jessica Tandy in 1942; they had a daughter, Tandy, and a son, Christopher. After Tandy's death in 1994, Cronyn married author/playwright Susan Cooper in July 1996. Cronyn died on June 15, 2003, from prostate cancer aged 91.

Reader's Guide

Cronyn made his Broadway debut in 1934 as a janitor in Hipper's Holiday. He won a Drama Desk Special Award in 1986 and the National Medal of Arts in 1990. His first Hollywood film was Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943). He appeared in Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944) and worked on the screenplays of Rope (1948) and Under Capricorn (1949). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for The Seventh Cross (1944) and won a Tony Award for his performance as Polonius opposite Richard Burton's Hamlet (1964). He bought the screenplay What Nancy Wanted from Norma Barzman, later selling it to RKO which filmed it as The Locket (1946). He made television appearances including The Barbara Stanwyck Show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes, and Hawaii Five-O episodes. He starred with Jessica Tandy in the radio series The Marriage (1953–1954), which moved to television in July 1954. The couple appeared together in many productions including The Seventh Cross, The Green Years, The Gin Game, Honky Tonk Freeway, The World According to Garp, Cocoon, Foxfire (1987 film), *batteries not included, Cocoon: The Return, To Dance with the White Dog, and Camilla. Cronyn had an association with the Stratford Festival, playing Shylock in The Merchant of Venice in 1976 and debuting his play Foxfire in 1980. He won an Emmy in 1990 for the TV movie Age-Old Friends. Later appearances included The Pelican Brief (1993), Marvin's Room (1996), and the Showtime TV film 12 Angry Men (1997).

Did You Know?

• Cronyn was an amateur featherweight boxer nominated for Canada's 1932 Olympic Boxing team.
• He co-wrote the play Foxfire with his third wife, Susan Cooper.
• Cronyn and Jessica Tandy were both awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degrees by the University of Western Ontario on the same day in 1974.
• The asteroid 12050 Humecronyn is named after Hume Blake Cronyn Sr., not the actor.