Lewis Stone

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Lewis Shepard Stone November 15 1879 September 12 1953 was an American actor known for his role as Judge James Hardy in MetroGoldwynMayers Andy Hardy film series and as an MGM contract player Born in Worcester Massachusetts to Bertrand Stone and Philena Heald Ball Lewis Stones hair turned gray prematurely reportedly by age 20 Lewis served in the United States Army in the SpanishAmerican War then returned to a career as a writer He soon began acting Stone was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1929 for The Patriot After that he appeared in seven films with Greta Garbo spanning both the silent and early sound periods He played the role of Dr Otternschlag in the Garbo film Grand Hotel in which he utters the famous closing line Grand Hotel People coming Going Nothing ever happens He played a larger role in the 1933 Garbo film Queen Christina His appearance in the successful prison film The Big House furthered his career He played adventurers in the dinosaur epic The Lost World 1925 with Wallace Beery and The Mask of Fu Manchu 1932 with Boris Karloff and a police captain in Bureau of Missing Persons 1933 In 1937 Stone essayed the role which would become his most famous that of Judge James Hardy in the Mickey Rooney Andy Hardy series Stone appeared as the judge in fifteen movies beginning with Youre Only Young Once 1937 Stone died in Hancock Park Los Angeles on September 12 1953 aged 73 Lewis Stone was later honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6524 Hollywood Blvd