Gig Young

Birthday: 4 November 1913, St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA

Birth Name: Byron Elsworth Barr

Height: 185 cm

Affable, immensely likable American actor, usually in second leads. A native of Minnesota, his parents John and Emma Barr raised him in Washington, DC. He developed a passion for the theatre while appearing in high school plays. After some amateur experience, he applied for and received a scholarship to the acclaimed Pasadena Community Playhouse. While acting in "Pancho", a south-of-the-border play by Lowell Barrington, he and the leading actor in the play, George Reeves, were spotted by a Warner Brothers talent scout. Both actors were signed supporting player contracts with the studio. Still acting under his given name, Byron Barr, he played bits and extra roles. He experimented with varying screen names because of another actor with the same name (see Byron Barr). In 1942, in the picture The Gay Sisters (1942), he was given the role of a character with the name Gig Young and thereafter adopted the name as his own. He had been supplementing his income working in a gasoline station, but The Gay Sisters (1942) gave him a career boost. Although service with the Coast Guard interrupted his ascension, he returned from the war and soon established himself as a reliable player of light leading men roles, usually secondarily to bigger stars. A dramatic part in Come Fill the Cup (1951) won him a nomination for the best supporting actor Oscar, a feat he repeated seven years later in a comedic role in Teacher's Pet (1958). A prolific television career complemented his film work. In 1969, his surprisingly seedy portrayal of a dance-marathon emcee in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) finally won him the Oscar. A succession of marriages, including one to actress Elizabeth Montgomery, failed. In 1978, three weeks after marrying German actress Kim Schmidt, Young apparently shot her to death in their New York City apartment and then turned the gun on himself. The direct cause of the murder-suicide remains unclear. Young was not quite 65, his bride 31. Hide

[summing up his professional career] 30 years and 55 pictures - not more than five that were any goo Show more [summing up his professional career] 30 years and 55 pictures - not more than five that were any good, or any good for me. I've picked the best from the lousy parts they offered me. Hide

Comedy is harder to do than drama, since comedy roles involve the offbeat, not merely the basic emot Show more Comedy is harder to do than drama, since comedy roles involve the offbeat, not merely the basic emotions. I like to play both comedy and drama. Hide

[To Louella Parsons, after receiving his first Academy Award nomination for Come Fill the Cup (1951) Show more [To Louella Parsons, after receiving his first Academy Award nomination for Come Fill the Cup (1951)]: So many people who have been nominated for an Oscar have had bad luck afterwards. Hide

Acting is the exaggeration of life, and if you can blow it up and still make it look real, the bette Show more Acting is the exaggeration of life, and if you can blow it up and still make it look real, the better your performance. Any actor who loves what he is doing can't take his mind off it. Hide

My specialties are corpses, unconscious people and people snoring in spectacular epics. My specialties are corpses, unconscious people and people snoring in spectacular epics.

[on his role as the dance-marathon barker in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)]: (The role was) Show more [on his role as the dance-marathon barker in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)]: (The role was) a lifeline for a drowning man, a last chance to show (my) talent as a serious actor. Hide

Gig Young's FILMOGRAPHY - Page 2

as Actor (37)

That Touch of Mink

The Three Musketeers (1948)

Kid Galahad

Dive Bomber

Rear Window

They Died with Their Boots On

McCloud - Season 1

The Twilight Zone - Season 2

Sherlock Holmes in New York

Lust for Gold