Written By: Jason S. Lockard December is the time for Holiday films. Whether it comedy, drama, TV movies, features. One thing is for sure film fans love their holiday offerings. So this month it's time to give Santa his due or at least an actor who seems to fit the bill to a tee. The star of the Month: Edmund Gween.
Born Edmund John Kellaway in Wandsworth, London, He began his acting career in the theatre in 1895 playing brash comic roles. In 1901 he married Minnie Terry, niece of the famous actress Ellen Terry.
After a failed production of Ben Hur the couple appeared on stage together in London in a farce called What the Butler Saw in 1905. Over the years Gwenn would perform in many stage plays. When World War I broke out his career was interrupted by his military service, serving as an officer in the British Army. During the war, their marriage broke apart and than devoiced, though they remained on good terms.
Gwenn began his film career in 1916 and appeared in more than eighty films included such films as; Pride and Prejudice, Of Human Bondage, Foreign Correspondent, The trouble with Harry and Our film for this month Miracle on 34th Street.
The Holiday classic, an old man going by the name of Kris Kringle (Gwenn) fills in for an intoxicated Santa in Macy's annual Thanksgiving Day parade. People seem to love the believable Santa that he starts appearing regularly at the chain's main store in midtown Manhattan. He is soon institutionalized as being insane, when he claims to be the true Santa Claus. It is up to a young lawyer Fred Bailey (John Payne) to defend him by arguing in court that he is the one and only Santa Claus. And in turn making believers out of the cynical Doris Walker ()Maureen O'Hara and her daughter Susan (Natalie Wood).
This film is truly a masterpiece. It is a beautifully magical little film that will have you believing there is a Santa again. The film has been re-made in TV versions and feature films, but none of them capture the magic of the 1947 original classic.
At the age of 78 he traveled from his home in California to London to visit his now widowed ex-wife. He proclaimed the reason he never married again was "because I was very happy with my wife. I simply stayed faithful to the memory of that happiness."
On September 6th, 1959 twenty days before his 82nd birthday Gwenn died from pneumonia after suffering a stroke. He was cremated and his ashes stored in the vault at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles. During his career, Gwenn won an Academy Award and 2 Golden Globes and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
So if you’ve never seen Edmund Gwenn in a film, I highly suggest this one! I want to wish each and every one of you reading this article a Merry Christmas and a great Holiday season. I hope 2020 is better than the previous year and thanks for reading our articles and reviews this year.
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