Stewart Granger

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For Canadian former basketball player, see Stewart Granger (basketball).

Stewart Granger at the height of his fame

Stewart Granger (May 6, 1913 – August 16, 1993) was an English film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. Tall, dark, and dignifiedly handsome, Granger was a popular leading man in the 40's, 50's and 60's.

He was born in London, and educated at Epsom College. The grandson of the actor Luigi Lablache, his real name was James Lablache Stewart. He was obliged to change it in order not to be confused with the famous American actor James Stewart. As Granger reported in an interview once, his off-screen friends called him "Jimmy".

In 1933, he made his film debut as an extra. His first starring role was in the Gainsborough period melodrama The Man in Grey (1943), a film that helped to make him a huge star in Britain. In the early 1950s he moved to Hollywood and starred in a number of swashbucklers and other adventure films.

Granger's theatrical voice and tall stature made him a natural for he-man roles, but he was just as dashing in comedies, which was shown by his performance in North To Alaska with John Wayne.

He was married three times:

Elspeth March (1938–1948); (two children, Jamie and Lindsay)
Jean Simmons (1950–1960), (with whom he had starred in Adam and Evelyne); (one child)
Caroline LeCerf (1964–1969); (one daughter Samantha)

In 1956, Granger became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

In Germany, Granger acted in the role of Old Surehand in three western-movies made after novels by German author Karl May, with French actor Pierre Brice (in the role of the fictional red Indian-chief Winnetou), in "Unter Geiern" (Frontier Hellcat) (1964), "Der Ölprinz" (Rampage at Apache Wells) (1965) and "Old Surehand" (Flaming Frontier) (1965).

With Pierre Brice and Lex Barker, who was also a Karl-May-movie hero, he was united in the movie "Gern hab' ich die Frauen gekillt" (Killer's Carnival) (1966). In the German Edgar Wallace-movie series of the 1960's he was to be seen in "The Trygon Factor" (1966). Towards the end of his career, Granger even starred in a German soap-opera called "Das Erbe der Guldenburgs" (The Guldenburg Heritage) (1987).

He died in Santa Monica, California, from prostate cancer; he was 80 years old.