Walter Pidgeon

Overview

Born
September 23, 1897 · Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Died
September 25, 1984 · Santa Monica, California, USA (stroke)
Birth name
Walter Davis Pigeon
Height
1.88 m

Biography

Family

Spouses
Parents

Trivia

His first wife Edna died in 1921 while giving birth to their daughter, whom Mr. Pidgeon also named Edna. His widowed mother Hannah moved out to California to help care for his daughter. She lived there for the next 38 years, dying at the age of 94.
Had a notoriously poor memory for names, referring to anyone whose name he could not remember as "Joe." This became such a habit that, for his birthday one year, the cast and crew of the picture he was working on bought him a present: A director's chair enscribed "Joe Pidgeon."
He donated his body to the U.C.L.A. Medical School in Los Angeles for teaching and research purposes.
Walter had a brother, Larry Pidgeon. Larry suffered from yellow fever, caught while serving in the Pacific in WWII. Larry Pidgeon was the editorial editor of the Santa Barbara News-Press for many years.
Fred Astaire heard him singing at a party while appearing with an amateur company in Boston and got him an agent. Walter was more interested in acting, however, and joined E.E. Clive's repertory stage company where he worked on his craft. Thanks also to Astaire, the deep baritone auditioned for and became the singing partner for singer/entertainer Elsie Janis which toured for six months in the mid-1920s. Pidgeon's first wife traveled with the company as an understudy for Janis.

Quotes

[on Hollywood] It was like an expensive, beautifully-run fan club. You didn't need to carry money. Your face was your credit card--all over the world.
I was like a kept woman during my twenty-one years at MGM.
I didn't demand any vetoes over the films I didn't like, as they do today. I asked nicely and discovered a secret that has stayed with me for my entire career -- that a request spoken softly usually brings results and demands rarely do.
I was called to [Louis B. Mayer]'s office to discuss a long-term contract he wanted me to sign. He told me he had been impressed by my work at other studios and that he felt I would be an asset to MGM. He peered at me over his glasses and suggested I tell him about myself. I started by saying I came from New Brunswick. "That's in Canada", I added. "I know where New Brunswick is", said Mayer rather snippy. "Where in New Brunswick were you born?" "Saint John", I replied. Mayer jumped to his feet and thumped on his desk. "Young man", he shouted, "you can't influence me with lies like that. Who told you to say you came from Saint John?" Finally I quietened him down and convinced him I really was from Saint John. I had to tell him where half-a-dozen streets and buildings were that he remembered. But I left his office with a contract for much more money than I expected and we were friends until the day he died.
Maybe it was better never to become red hot. I'd seen performers like that and they never lasted long. Maybe a long glow is the best way. At Metro I was never considered big enough to squire around Norma Shearer or Joan Crawford or Greta Garbo. Well, I outlasted them all at MGM, didn't I? It takes a lot of work to appear easy going and I tried to avoid being stuffy.