American actor born in New York City on 4 March 1907. After graduating from Columbia University, he became a member of Orson Welles's Mercury Theater Group in the 1930s. His most notable films include Phantom of the Opera (1943), The Secret of St. Ives (1949), Cyrano de Bergerac (1950), and The Giant Claw (1957). He died on 20 June 1964 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, at age 57.