Hitchcock star Farley Granger dies at 85
Farley Granger, the 1950s screen idol who starred in the Alfred Hitchcock classics “Rope” and “Strangers on a Train,” has died. He was 85.
Granger died Sunday of natural causes at his home in Manhattan, according to Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner's office.
Granger was a 16-year-old student at North Hollywood High School when he got the notion that he wanted to act and joined a little theater group.
Photos: The films of Farley Granger
Talent scouts for movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn saw the handsome youngster and signed him to a contract. His first movie was “The North Star” in 1943.
Granger was born on July 1, 1925, in San Jose, where his father was a car dealer. The business went bust during the Depression, and in 1933 the family moved to Los Angeles, where he was subsequently spotted.
His career halted for U.S. Navy service during World War II.
He made “Rope” in 1948 and “Strangers on a Train” in 1951. In the latter, he plays a tennis star who meets a man on a train. The other man, played by Robert Walker, turns out to be a psychotic who proposes that each of them murder the other's troublesome relative. He tells Granger's character, “Some people are better off dead -- like your wife and my father, for instance.”
Walker's character proceeds to carry out his part of the bargain, killing the tennis star's estranged wife and trapping the Granger character in an ever-tightening circle of suspicion.
Granger also appeared in “They Live by Night,” “Roseanna McCoy,” “Side Street,” “The Story of Three Loves,” “Edge of Doom” and “Hans Christian Andersen.”
He made his Broadway debut in 1960 in “First Impressions,” a musical version of Jane Austen's “Pride and Prejudice.” He later did two years with Eva Le Gallienne's repertory troupe and a considerable stint as the lead in the long-running thriller “Deathtrap.”
Granger continued to make films over the years: “The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing,” “The Serpent,” “The Man Called Noon,” “The Imagemaker” and “The Whoopee Boys.” He made several movies in Italy, including Luchino Visconti's “Senso.”
He also appeared in several daytime soaps, including “As the World Turns,” “Edge of Night” and “One Life to Live,” for which he received a Daytime Emmy nomination.
Above is a look at “Strangers on a Train.” Our news obituary by Times staff writer Dennis McLellan can be found here.
Tell us your favorite Granger role.
Related:
Photos: The films of Farley Granger
Hollywood Star Walk: Farley Granger
-- Associated Press
THE matinee idol!
Posted by: AJ Buttacavoli | 03/29/2011 at 08:21 AM
Awww. And my girl and I just watched "Strangers on a Train" for what must have been the 4th time in our lives. You will be missed, Mr. Granger. Rest in peace, sir.
Posted by: David | 03/29/2011 at 08:52 AM
God Bless another Hollywood star has gone. From the era that reqiured 'talent and charisma and hutspur'. Unlike todays 'got it on a plate shallow hals! My mother thought you were very handsome and a great actor. She loved your film work. Thank You for the joy you brought.
Posted by: yell4yell | 03/29/2011 at 09:13 AM
"Strangers on a Train" was on AMC last week and it made me recall what a fine actor and good looker Mr. Granger was. R.I.P.
Posted by: pj | 03/29/2011 at 09:51 AM
Goodness, was he handsome! "Criss-cross" goes through my head whenever I ride a train. Unlike the sad Robert Walker, he lived a long life. God Bless.
Posted by: fasteee | 03/29/2011 at 10:37 AM
Peace.
Posted by: Stephen J. Smith | 03/29/2011 at 11:57 AM
No mention that he came out as bisexual in his 2007 autobiography, and his contributions to "The Celluloid Closet" documentary?
This is disappointing. Even in death, he's shoved back into the closet.
Posted by: Elenora Fagan | 03/29/2011 at 12:45 PM
Immortalized by Tom Waits. RIP
He kinda looked like Farley Granger with his hair slicked back
she says I'm a sucker for a fella in a cowboy hat
Posted by: Jim Smith | 03/29/2011 at 01:52 PM
Wheres the gay part? He was just like Rock Hudson, Montgomery Clift, probably James Dean-guys who were forced to live in the closet-very timely stuff. Should've been mentioned.
Posted by: Amalgamate | 03/29/2011 at 03:01 PM
guy was a good actor.
Posted by: LOU | 03/29/2011 at 09:25 PM
A great actor who blessed the Hollywood with his charismatic charm and histrionics. How helpless we are that we cannot stop the passing away of the great personalities like actors/actresses/musicians/singers/technicians and others who have contributed a lot to the human kind in their capacities.
May his soul rest in peace. Amen.
Kathmandu, Nepal
Posted by: Sanjeev Lama Hyolmo | 04/01/2011 at 02:22 AM
I liked him in "Story of Three Loves," a triptych movie in which he played a boy (Ricky Nelson) who wants to be a man for one night. Ethyl Barrymore plays a delightful witch who can make his dream come true. Great movie now out in a very good DVD.
Posted by: Mike K | 04/03/2011 at 11:54 AM
Saw him in BRIGADOON in the early 60s on stage. Easy to see why he preferred stage acting - he was marvelous in it.
Posted by: verbwank | 04/11/2011 at 03:05 PM
Amalgamate asks: "Wheres the gay part? [...] Should've been mentioned."
Not least the fact that "Rope" (the film that really launched his career) was a thinly-veiled account of the Leopold and Loeb murder and that Granger's character was gay. Very unusual for the '40s.
Posted by: Leo | 04/13/2011 at 01:58 PM
I always watched the ROPE many times.
Posted by: Showbiz News Today | 04/17/2011 at 04:24 AM