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Adolphe Menjou

The best dressed man in America, the ever debonair Adolphe Menjou quickly made his mark during the waning days of silent cinema as a suave ladies' man, clad in the finest of formal wear and always sporting the most impeccable moustache in the room. After toiling in small roles for a few years, Menjou first gained notice in Charlie Chaplin's "A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate" (1923) and he settled into an onscreen persona that he showcased wonderfully in films like "Morocco" (1930). His Oscar-nominated turn as an acerbic, fast-talking editor in "The Front Page" (1931) demonstrated his ease with verbal humor and he went on to give memorable portrayals in everything from the Shirley Temple confection "Little Miss Marker" (1934) to Stanley Kubrick's bracing anti-war drama "Paths of Glory" (1957). Fluency in several languages also helped the Pittsburgh-born actor to convincingly play all manner of sophisticates. Menjou appeared in well over 100 films, where he proved regularly that he was equally comfortable at being charming or villainous, and could also do a fine job of combining those two characteristics when called for.