Gig young

Byron Ellsworth Barr was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota , and later his family moved to New York . He developed a love for the theater back in high school, then he received a scholarship at the Pasadena Playhouse Theater in Pasadena .

One day, Barr and George Reeves , who starred in the play Pancho by L. Barrington, were spotted by Warner Brothers . Both actors signed contracts with the studio for the execution of secondary roles. In earlier films, Byron Barr was either not mentioned in the credits or stood under the pseudonym Byron Barr (not to be confused with actor Byron Barr). In 1942, he played the role of Gig Young in the film "Funny Sisters", and since then this name has become his artistic pseudonym.

In the 40s of the XX century, Young starred in a large number of paintings, playing mainly brothers or friends of the main characters and thereby gaining some fame.

In 1941, Young signed up as a volunteer at the US Coast Guard , where he served as a medical professional until the end of World War II . After his return, Warner Brothers tore up his contract.

Young began to work as a freelancer in various studios; during the same years, the main type of roles played by him was formed - the role of a good-natured alcoholic, familiar to the actor from his own experience. Thanks to this role in the drama Come Fill the Cup (1951), where Young played with James Cagney , he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor .

In 1955, Gig Young starred in the noir “Hours of Despair” with Humphrey Bogart and Fredrick March . In 1957, he played the role of the selfish lover Catherine Hepburn in the comedy “Cabinet Set”. In 1958, Gig Young again played an alcoholic in the comedy “ Teacher ’s Favorite ” with Doris Day and Clark Gable , for whom he was again nominated for an Oscar for best supporting role. But this success did not benefit the actor. Such roles began to be offered to him, and problems with alcohol grew.

In 1970, Gig Young received an Oscar and a Golden Globe (best supporting actor) for the role of Rocky, the lead dance marathon, in the movie “ They Drive Shooted Horses, don't they?” »With Jane Fonda . For Young, this Oscar became a foreboding of the end; back in 1952, after the first nomination for an Oscar, the actor said that "many actors nominated for an Oscar subsequently were not waiting for the best of times."

In the last years of his career, the actor became addicted to alcohol. Because of this, he was removed from the set in the film " Glittering Saddles ." Director Mel Brooks , who invited him to a major role in this film, replaced him with Gene Wilder after a few shooting days. Young’s last work in the movie was the role in the movie “ The Game of Death ” (1979), which was released six years after the death of the main character, Bruce Lee , who died in 1973.

Young has been married five times. The first marriage with Sheila Stapler (1940-1947) lasted seven years.

Young's second wife was Sophie Rosenstein (1950-1952), who died of cancer two years after the wedding. He then looked after actress Elaine Stritch .

The third wife, actress Elizabeth Montgomery (1956-1963), broke up with the actor because of his drunkenness.

Young's fourth wife, nine months after his divorce from Montgomery, was Elaine Williams (1963-1966), who was carrying his child at that time. In April 1964, their daughter Jennifer was born. After three years of marriage, the couple divorced. Not wanting to pay child support, Young denied his paternity, but after five years of litigation, the case was lost.

With his fifth wife, 31-year-old German Kim Schmidt, Young met on the set of his last film, The Game of Death , on September 27, 1978, they got married.

On October 19, 1978, the newlyweds were found dead in their apartment in Manhattan . According to the police, the actor shot his wife, and then shot himself. Although the case has attracted considerable media attention and speculation, Young’s motivation to commit murder / suicide remains unknown, as he did not leave a suicide note, and his entourage cannot explain this action. Before the tragedy, Gig Young took part in the recording of an episode of the TV show Joe Franklin (which was never shown), and then, after returning home, committed suicide.

According to a will containing orders on the fate of property in the amount of 200 thousand dollars, Young left the Academy Award to his agent Martin Bohm and his wife. The wording read "Oscar, which I won with Martin's help." New York police found a figurine next to the bodies of the dead. Young left $ 10 to his daughter, whose fatherhood he denied.

Gig Young is buried by an older sister in a family plot named Byron Barr in the Green Hill Cemetery in Waynesville, North Carolina.

Movies

Television

• 1952: Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in the film Come Fill the Cup (1951) (nomination)
• 1959: Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in the movie Teacher’s Favorite (1958) (nomination)
• 1959: Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture - Teacher ’s Favorite (1958) (nomination)
• 1970: Oscar Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in the movie Hunted Horses Shoot, isn't it? "(1969)
• 1970: BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Hunted Horses Shoot, Isn't It? "(1969) (nomination)
• 1970: Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture - “ Hunted horses are shot, aren't they?” "(1969)

For his contribution to the development of the television industry, Gig Young was awarded the star 6821 on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard.

• Gig Young on the Internet Broadway Database
• Gig Young on TV.com