| Robert Downing Ames | |
|---|---|
| Born | Robert Downing Ames March 23, 1889 Hartford, Connecticut |
| Died | November 27, 1931 (aged 42) New York, New York |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1920-1931 (Film) |
| Spouse | Alice Gerry (1907 - 19??) Frances Goodrich (1917 - 1923) Vivienne Segal (1923 - 1926) Muriel Oakes (1927 - 1930) |
Robert Downing Ames (1889–1931) was an American stage and film actor whose career was cut short by his untimely death at age 42.
Contents |
Robert Ames was born on March 23, 1889 at Hartford, Connecticut,[1] wher his father, Louis Mason Ames, was employed as an accountant for an insurance company and his mother, Mary Elma (née Downing) Ames, worked as a voice coach.[2]
Ames first big break as an actor came when a friend brought him to the attention of Henry Miller (actor) which led to a role in Miller’s production of The Great Divide by William Vaughn Moody. Ames would spend eleven seasons with Miller’s company before moving on to Jessie Boustelle’s stock company for eight seasons and the Municipal Stock Company for three. His first Broadway success came in 1916 playing Charles Daingerfield (alias Brindlebury) opposite Ruth Chatterton in Come Out of the Kitchen by A. E. Thomas.[3] Ames played leading roles in The Hero (1921) by Gilbert Emery,[4] Lights Out (1922) by Paul Dickey and Mann Page,[5] Icebound(1923) by Owen Page, We've Got to Have Money (1923) by Edward Laska and The Desert Flower (1924) by Don Mullally.,[6][7]
After a brief stint in vaudeville Ames moved to Hollywood in the mid 1920s to concentrated on film work, though on occasion he would return to perform on the New York stage. He co-starred in several early talkies, including The Trespasser (1929) with Gloria Swanson, A Lady to Love (1930) with Vilma Banky and Edward G. Robinson, and the 1930 version of Holiday, opposite Ann Harding in the role later taken by Cary Grant in the better remembered 1938 remake.[8]
Robert Ames married four times. His first, to Alice Gerry, occurred around 1907 and produced a daughter and son before their divorce nine years later. His second wife was actress/writer Frances Goodrich. This union ended in 1923 after six years of marriage. Later that same year Ames married actress/singer Vivienne Segal, only to divorce three years hence. His last marriage to socialite Muriel Oakes also lasted three years before she filed for divorce in 1930. The day after his marriage to Oakes, Ames was slapped with a $200,000 breach of promise lawsuit by night club entertainer Helen Lambert who claimed he had promised to marry her after his divorce from Segal. Over the last months of his life Ames was linked romantically in the press with stage and film actress Ina Claire.[9]
On November 27, 1931, Robert Downing Ames was found dead in his room at the Hotel Delmonico in New York City. Ames had traveled to New York from Hollywood to spend time with his family over the Thanksgiving holiday and to begin work on a film for Paramount Pictures.[10][11] At the time of his death Ames was taking a non-narcotic medication for alcohol withdrawal delirium. A later autopsy could find no trace of alcohol or other medications in his system, only that he was in the early stages of developing heart disease. The official cause of death was attributed to delirium tremens most likely brought on by his sudden abstinence from alcohol.[12]
Robert Ames was survived by his children, Jane and Robert Jr., his father Louis and brother, Harold F. Ames. His mother had preceded him in death some two years earlier.