John Carradine

The voice that echoed through the alleys of Hollywood

John Carradine stood almost six foot two and weighed about as much as a sigh. He had an angular face that looked carved with an axe and a baritone voice that let him recite Shakespeare in the middle of a gale. In 1930 he arrived in Los Angeles with empty pockets and the name Peter Richmond. But he soon realized that his corpse-like frame was a gold mine for casting directors looking for villains or tavern philosophers.

His encounter with John Ford changed his fortune dramatically. Between 1936 and 1940 he took part in some of the most important works of American cinema. In Stagecoach he played Hatfield, the Southern gambler with an aristocratic air who seeks redemption on a stagecoach. That role fixed his image in the public imagination as the elegant man hiding a murky secret.

He made more than ten films under Ford's direction and never needed more than two takes to nail his lines. In 1940 he brought the preacher Casy to life in The Grapes of Wrath. It was his most restrained and human performance. Yet the actor felt that film was a minor art compared with classical theater.

He sold his talent to the highest bidder to fund his dreams of greatness.

His obsession with the stage and his refuge in B-movies

In 1943 he founded his own theater company to perform Shakespeare. It was an absolute financial disaster. He spent every dollar he had earned in the major studios renting theaters and paying for velvet costumes. So he began accepting any script put in front of him to pay off the stage debts. He didn't care about the quality of the text as long as the check cleared on Friday.

In 1944 he put on Count Dracula's cape in House of Frankenstein. Unlike Bela Lugosi, he brought a cold elegance and a much more imposing physical presence. But the prestige of the 1930s was evaporating amid plastic fangs and cardboard sets. Still, Carradine didn't mind. He worked for volume and out of necessity.

The debts ended up devouring his prestige.

During the fifties and sixties, his name appeared in the credits of dozens of low-budget horror films. In 1956 he appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments, playing Aaron. It was one of his last returns to top-tier blockbusters before sinking permanently into the muck of exploitation cinema. He amassed more than 350 credits on his official filmography.

The physical decline and the final years in Italy

His hands suffered from severe arthritis that left them deformed during his last decades. But he never stopped traveling or accepting supporting roles in films of questionable quality. In 1981 he appeared in The Howling, bringing his veteran presence to a werewolf story. He still had that deep gaze that unsettled young viewers who didn't know his past with John Ford.

And physical strain took its toll in the rawest way possible.

In 1982 he lent his voice to the Great Owl in the animated film The Secret of NIMH. His voice remained intact even though his body no longer allowed him to move with the agility of old. In 1987 he shot The Tomb and Monster in the Closet, proving that his work ethic knew no rest and no shame. He died in Milan on November 27, 1988 after climbing the 328 steps of the cathedral in the Italian city. He was 82 years old and had just finished shooting a low-budget European production.