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Actor Shepperd Strudwick possessed dark, dignified, matinée-style good looks with a slightly enigmatic expression that may have hindered his rise to top "leading man" status in films. Nonetheless, he earned notable recognition in several movies and consistently returned to his first passion, the theater, throughout his career.
Born Shepperd Strudwick, Jr. on September 22, 1907, in North Carolina, he was the son of a cotton mill executive. Hailing from a prominent Hillsborough family with a lineage of doctors, scientists, architects, actors, and painters, one ancestor, physician Edmund Charles Fox Strudwick, was distinguished as the first president of the North Carolina Medical Society. After high school, Strudwick enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill intending to become a writer. He contributed to the editorial staff of the college magazine and joined the university's drama club, the Carolina Playmakers, eventually shifting his major to drama.
Having appeared in several college productions before graduating, Strudwick moved to New York in 1928 to pursue a professional acting career. He quickly secured minor roles in two Broadway plays, "The Yellow Jacket" and "Falstaff," both starring producer Charles Coburn and actress Ivah Wills. He followed these with performances in "Under the Gaslight" (1929) and "The Life Line" (1930). Throughout the 1930s, Strudwick enhanced numerous Broadway and regional productions, including "Both Your Houses" (1933), "Let Freedom Ring" (1935), and Shakespeare's "As You Like It" (1937), in which he starred as Orlando. The Shakespearean cast included his first wife, actress Helen Wynn, whom he married in May 1936. Together, they appeared in the 1939 Broadway production of "The Three Sisters," with Strudwick as Vershinin and Wynn as Olga. Helen was the mother of their only child, Shepperd Strudwick III.
In the late 1930s, at age 31, Strudwick was invited to Hollywood, bringing with him a strong theatrical reputation. MGM hired him, where he became known for his debonair portrayals of Southern gentlemen. He even tested for the role of Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind (1939) but lost the part to Leslie Howard. His first MGM roles were in biographical shorts: portraying Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis in the Oscar-winning "That Mothers Might Live" (1938) and the notorious 19th-century Mexican bandit Joaquin Murrieta (1938). He then took on supporting roles in secondary features, including the romantic comedy "Fast Company" (1938) with Melvyn Douglas, and entries in popular film series such as "Congo Maisie" (1940) starring Ann Sothern and "Dr. Kildare's Strange Case" (1940) featuring Lew Ayres and Lionel Barrymore. His final MGM film was the aviation movie "Flight Command" (1940) starring Robert Taylor.
In 1941, Strudwick switched studios and adopted the stage name John Shepperd upon signing with 20th Century Fox. However, he continued to use his real name for New York stage performances. Tall and aristocratic-looking with a sleepy-eyed charm, his characters often appeared suspicious or doubtful in their intentions. At Fox, he showed "second lead" potential opposite some of the era's most beautiful stars, including Gene Tierney, Loretta Young, Claudette Colbert, and Carole Landis, but never reached top romantic star status. His most notable role came as the deeply melancholic poet in "The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe" (1942) opposite Linda Darnell. Despite his talent and solid performances, he remained a secondary-tier actor.
By the post-war period, Shepperd was firmly established in character roles, frequently portraying patrician fathers, corrupt politicians, reverends, or serious professionals. He appeared in notable films such as "Joan of Arc" (1948), "All the King's Men" (1949), and "A Place in the Sun" (1951). A respected member of the Actors Studio, where he met his second wife, actress Margaret O'Neill, Strudwick reverted to using his real name in both stage and film once his leading man prospects had diminished.
In the 1950s, he made a strong Broadway comeback in both comedic and dramatic roles, including "Affairs of State" (1950), "The Bat" (1953), "The Ladies of the Corridor" (1953), "The Night Circus" (1958), and "Only in America" (1959). In 1962, he portrayed George in matinée productions of Edward Albee's landmark drama "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" on Broadway, eventually taking over the role in August 1963.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he was a frequent dramatic guest on television shows such as "The Twilight Zone," "The Defenders," "McMillan and Wife," and "The Name of the Game." He also appeared in daytime dramas, portraying both upright and shady characters on serials like "As the World Turns" (1956) and "Another World" (1964). His performances in soaps "One Life to Live" (1968) and "Love of Life" (1951) earned him Emmy nominations.
Strudwick's theatrical career culminated with a Tony nomination for his featured role in "To Grandmother's House We Go" in 1981. After his final acting appearance on a 1982 episode of "Nurse," he fell ill and died of cancer in New York City on January 15, 1983. He was survived by his son and his fourth wife, Mary Jeffrey, whom he married in 1977.
