Theatre Register

Clifton Webb

Shows · Clifton Webb

Actor 1889–1966 On stage 19131946

Webb Parmelee Hollenbeck (November 19, 1889 – October 13, 1966), known professionally as Clifton Webb, was an American actor, singer, and dancer. He worked extensively and was known for his stage appearances in the plays of Noël Coward, including Blithe Spirit, as well as appearances on Broadway in a number of successful musical revues. As a film actor, he was nominated for three Academy Awards — Best Supporting Actor for Laura (1944) and The Razor's Edge (1946), and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Sitting Pretty (1948).

On stage 21 productions, 33 years

1913 The Purple Road Liberty Theatre · Original · directed by Edward P. Temple 136 perf.
1914 Dancing Around Winter Garden Theatre · Original · directed by Jack Mason 145 perf.
1915 Ned Wayburn's Town Topics Century Theatre · Original 68 perf.
1916 See America First Maxine Elliott's Theatre · Original · directed by J. H. Benrimo 15 perf.
1917 Love o' Mike Shubert Theatre · Original · directed by J. H. Benrimo 233 perf.
1918 Listen Lester Knickerbocker Theatre · Original · directed by Robert Marks 272 perf.
1920 As You Were Central Theatre · Original 143 perf.
1923 Jack and Jill Globe Theatre · Original · directed by John Harwood 92 perf.
1923 Meet the Wife Klaw Theatre · Original 232 perf.
1924 Parasites 39th Street Theatre · Original 54 perf.
1925 Sunny New Amsterdam Theatre · Original · directed by Hassard Short 517 perf.
1928 She’s My Baby Globe Theatre · Original · directed by Edward Royce 71 perf.
1928 Treasure Girl Alvin Theatre · Original · directed by Bertram Harrison 68 perf.
1929 The Little Show Music Box · Original · directed by Dwight Deere Wiman, Alexander Leftwich 321 perf.
1930 Three’s a Crowd Selwyn Theatre · Revival · directed by Hassard Short 272 perf.
1932 Flying Colors Imperial Theatre · Original · directed by Howard Dietz 188 perf.
1933 As Thousands Cheer Music Box · Original · directed by Hassard Short 400 perf.
1938 You Never Know Winter Garden Theatre · Original · directed by Rowland Leigh 78 perf.
1941 Blithe Spirit Morosco Theatre · Original 657 perf.
1943 Blithe Spirit Morosco Theatre · Return-Engagement 32 perf.
1946 Present Laughter Plymouth Theatre · Original 158 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once12 names

Joan Clement 4 productions
Peggy Wood 3 productions
Libby Holman 3 productions
Wilma Roeloff 2 productions
William Sholar Jr 2 productions
Ward Tallman 2 productions
Valerie Cossart 2 productions
Teddy West 2 productions
Tamara Geva 2 productions
Ruth Maybee 2 productions
Robert Smith 2 productions
Portland Hoffa 2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 8 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

Also credited on1 work

Sitting Pretty

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature8 passages

  • Sunny. Esther Howard, Joseph Cawthorn, Dorothy Francis, Clifton Webb, Marilyn Miller, Paul Frawley, Mary Hay, and Jack Donahue. (White)ebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • Cast: Marilyn Miller, Jack Donahue, Clifton Webb, Mary Hay, Joseph Cawhthorn, Paul Frawley, Cliff Edwards, Pert Kelton, Moss & Fontana, Esther Howard, Dorothy Francis, George Olsen Orchestraebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • Cast: Clifton Webb, Fred Allen, Libby Holman, Romney Brent, Portland Hoffa, Bettina Hall, Jack McCauley, Peggy Conklin, Constance Cummingsebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • Cast: Clifton Webb, Fred Allen, Libby Holman, Tamara Geva, Portland Hoffa, Earl Oxford, Fred MacMurrayebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • Once the sponsors of The Second Little Show decided that the stars of the first Little Show — Clifton Webb, Fred Allen, and Libby Holman — would not be in their new revue, fledgling producer Max Gordon persuaded the trio to appear in his own revue. He further assured that Three’s a Crowd would be accepted in fact if not in name as the seq…ebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • Cast: Clifton Webb, Charles Butterworth, Tamara Geva, Patsy Kelly, Philip Loeb, Vilma & Buddy Ebsen, Larry Adler, Imogene Coca, Monette Mooreebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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