Jeffrey Lynn

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Jeffrey Lynn born Ragnar Godfrey Lind February 16 1909 November 24 1995 was an American stagescreen actor and film producer who worked primarily through the Golden Age of Hollywood establishing himself as one of the premier talents of his time Throughout his acting career both on stage and in film he was typecast as the attractive reliable love interest of the heroine or the tall stalwart hero Born and raised in Massachusetts he attended Bates College before working as a teacher He was tapped to act in his first film in 1938 which convinced him to move to Hollywood California His second filmFour Daughters 1938propelled him into national fame sparking three sequels Daughters Courageous 1939 Four Wives 1939 and Four Mothers 1941 with Lynn reprising his role in each of them He was at the center of the Gone with the Wind 1939 screening controversy he was noted as the top contender to play Ashley Wilkes however the directer eventually chose Leslie Howard instead Lynn was asked to join James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart in The Roaring Twenties 1939 a gangster noir that garnered him critical praise His success continued with such films as The Fighting 69th 1940 in which he portrayed poetsoldier Joyce Kilmer opposite Cagney It All Came True 1940 All This and Heaven Too 1940 and Million Dollar Baby 1941 His movie career was put on hold for World War II draft where he received a Bronze Star for his service as a in Italy and Austria as a combat intelligence captain He returned to the screen in 1948 and was in the notably successful A Letter to Three Wives 1949 which went on to be nominated of best picture in the 1950 prime time Academy Awards A year later he joined that cast of Home Town Story 1951 billed alongside Marilyn Monroe His later film career credits include BUtterfield 8 1960 along with Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey and Tony Rome 1967 with Frank Sinatra Lynn also began to act on Broadway and was featured in such plays as Any Wednesday 1966 and Dinner at Eight 1967 Later on in his career he found mixed critical success television starring in hit shows such as Robert Montgomery Presents Your Show of Shows My Son Jeep with young Martin Huston and Lux Video Theatre He died in November 1995 in Burbank California from natural causes and was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills Actor Jeffrey Lynn Jeff Goldblum is named in honor of Jeffrey Lynn