Editing Monty Woolley (section)

==Acting career==
[[File:Monty Woolley star HWF.JPG|thumb|upright|alt=Woolley's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, showing the television emblem, though his official category is "Motion Pictures" |[[Hollywood Walk of Fame]], 6542&nbsp;Hollywood&nbsp;Blvd.]]

Woolley began directing on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in 1929 with ''[[Fifty Million Frenchmen]]'',<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre |first=Stanley |last=Green |author-link=Stanley Green (historian)|page=323 |publisher=[[Da Capo Press]] <!-- perseus group --> |year=1976 |isbn=9780786746842 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWIRAljCR7oC&pg=PA323}}</ref> and began acting there in 1936 after leaving his academic career. In 1939 he starred in the [[George S. Kaufman|Kaufman]] and [[Moss Hart|Hart]] comedy ''[[The Man Who Came to Dinner]]'' for 783 performances. It was for this well-reviewed role he was typecast as the wasp-tongued, supercilious sophisticate.<ref name="St. Pete"/><ref name="Crowther"/>

Woolley signed with [[20th Century Fox]] in the 1940s and appeared in many films through the mid-1950s. His most famous film role, a reprise of his Broadway role, was in 1941's ''The Man Who Came To Dinner'' in which he plays a cranky radio wag restricted to a wheelchair because of a seemingly injured hip, a caricature of the legendary pundit [[Alexander Woollcott]]. The film received a good review from ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref name="Crowther">Crowther, Bosley (January 2, 1942) [https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&res=9B04E0D91E31E53BBC4A53DFB7668389659EDE "''The Man Who Came to Dinner''"]. Review. ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved August 9, 2010.</ref> He played himself<ref>"Played himself" is something of a stretch.  In the movie he played himself "as a relentless 'skirt chaser' despite the fact that in real life Woolley, himself gay, chased pants (particularly if they encased a sailor) and not skirts." George F. Curten, "Where Is the Life that Late He Led? Hollywood's Construction of Sexuality in the Life of Cole Porter", in Larry Gross & James D. Woods, eds., ''The Columbia Reader on Lesbians and Gay Men in Media, Society, and Politics'' (1999, NYC, Columbia Univ. Press) page 320.</ref> in [[Warner Bros.]]' fictionalized film biography of Cole Porter, ''[[Night and Day (1946 film)|Night and Day]]'' (1946), and the role of Professor Wutheridge in ''[[The Bishop's Wife]]'' (1947). In the comedy ''[[As Young as You Feel]]'' (1951), he played a printer who, fired routinely from his job at the age of 65, poses as an executive to get his job back.

He was also a frequent radio guest performer, first appearing in the medium as a foil to [[Al Jolson]].<ref>{{cite book |title=On the Air: the Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |last=Dunning |first=John |author-link=John Dunning (radio historian) |year=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-507678-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/onairencyclop00dunn/page/423 423] |url=https://archive.org/details/onairencyclop00dunn |url-access=registration }}</ref> Woolley became a familiar guest on such shows as ''[[The Fred Allen Show]]'', ''[[Duffy's Tavern]]'', ''[[The Big Show (radio show)|The Big Show]]'', ''[[The Chase and Sanborn Hour]]'' with [[Edgar Bergen]] and Charlie McCarthy, and others. In 1950, Woolley landed the starring  role in the [[NBC]] series ''The Magnificent Montague''. He played a former Shakespearean actor whose long fall onto hard times forced him to swallow his pride and take a role on daily network radio, becoming an unlikely star while sparring with his wife, Lily ([[Anne Seymour (actress)|Anne Seymour]]), and his wise-cracking maid, Agnes ([[Pert Kelton]]). The show lasted from November 1950 through September 1951.<ref>Everitt, David (2000). [https://books.google.com/books?id=x2cJwVvcJi4C&pg=PA219 ''King of the half hour: Nat Hiken and the golden age of TV comedy'']. [[Syracuse University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-8156-0676-5}}. Retrieved August 9, 2010.</ref>

[[File:Monty Woolley handprintsignature at Graumans Chinese Theatre.jpg|thumb|right|225px|alt=Monty Woolley's concrete tile showing, from the top, the words "My beard" adjoining his beard imprint, the inscription "To Sid [Grauman] Wish you were here", his signature, the date "5-28-43", and his handprints |Hand and beard print at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.]]

Woolley first appeared on television in cameos, then in his own dramatic play series ''On Stage with Monty Woolley''.<ref name="S.Gazette">[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FnYuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ToEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4433,1703587&dq=monty+woolley+dinner&hl=en "Monty Woolley to Appear in a Series of Television Films"]. ''[[Schenectady Gazette]]''', July 11, 1953. p.&nbsp;8. Retrieved August 9, 2010.</ref> He starred in a [[CBS]] TV adaptation of ''The Man Who Came to Dinner'' in 1954,<ref name="Hawes"/> which he and some reviewers lambasted,<ref>Thomas, Bob (AP) (June 27, 1955). [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tdwwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Tt0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5572,2955388&dq=monty+woolley+television&hl=en "Monte Woolley Snorts At Liberace, Bore Bars"]. ''[[Ottawa Citizen]]''. Retrieved August 9, 2010.</ref><ref>Gould, Jack. (October 15, 1954).  [https://www.nytimes.com/1954/10/15/archives/television-in-review-bite-taken-out-of-man-who-came-to-dinner.html "Television in Review; Bite Taken Out of ''Man Who Came to Dinner''"]. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved August 9, 2010.</ref> and appeared in other televised dramas in the series ''Best of Broadway''.<ref name="St. Pete">[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LyILAAAAIBAJ&sjid=c1IDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6708,3397570&dq=monty+woolley+dies&hl=en "Monty Woolley Dies In Albany"]. ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]'', May 7, 1963. Retrieved August 9, 2010.</ref><ref name="Hawes">{{cite book |last=Hawes|first=William|year=2001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0pQKmPSfHCQC&pg=PA23 |title=Filmed television drama, 1952-1958|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|pages=23,&nbsp;29|isbn=978-0-7864-1132-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,936459,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205093451/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,936459,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 5, 2008 |title= Television: Program Preview, Oct. 11, 1954 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=October 11, 1954|access-date= August 9, 2010}}</ref>

After completing his last film, ''[[Kismet (1955 film)|Kismet]]'' (1955), he returned to radio for about a year, after which he was forced to retire due to ill health.

Woolley was nominated twice for an [[Academy Award]], for [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] in 1943 for ''[[The Pied Piper (1942 film)|The Pied Piper]]'' and for [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]] in 1945 for ''[[Since You Went Away]]''.  He won a Best Actor award from the [[National Board of Review Awards 1942|National Board of Review]] in 1942 for his role in ''The Pied Piper''.

His hands and beard were impressed in the pavement of [[List of handprints in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre#1940s|Grauman's Chinese Theatre]] in 1943.<ref name="Cerf">{{cite book |first=Bennett |last=Cerf |author-link=Bennett Cerf |year=1944 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O-weAAAAMAAJ&q=woolley |title=Try and stop me: a collection of anecdotes and stories, mostly humorous|publisher= [[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York |pages=57–59 |asin=B0007EW7W8 |access-date=March 19, 2011}}</ref><ref>[http://www.manntheatres.com/chinese/1940s.php 1940s] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110302140455/http://www.manntheatres.com/chinese/1940s.php |date=March 2, 2011 }}. Grauman's Chinese Theatre</ref> Woolley received a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] in 1960, officially listed in the "Motion Picture" category,<ref>{{cite web| url=http://walkoffame.com/monty-woolley  |title=Monty Woolley |work=hollywoodchamber.net |date=October 25, 2019 |publisher=Hollywood Chamber of Commerce}} ''Note: Official category is ''Motion Pictures'' but his star bears the television emblem.''</ref> though his star bears the television emblem.<ref>[http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/monty-wooley/ "Hollywood Star Walk—Monty Woolley"]. ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Retrieved July 25, 2010.</ref> The error of the television emblem was evident, considering his only TV efforts were his classic role as Sheridan Whiteside in a 1954 TV adaptation of ''The Man Who Came to Dinner'', and another small role in an episode of a short-lived series called ''Five Fingers'' in 1959.