A Classic Player: Tyrone Power, 1914–1958

By TOWNES COATES

Tyrone Power

Tyrone Power, one of Hollywood’s most magnetic leading men of the Golden Age, became a Player at age 24, already a Broadway veteran. A fourth-generation actor, Power inherited his name and commitment to the theatre from his father, the noted Shakespearean actor and Player Tyrone Power Sr.

Though best remembered for his smoldering screen presence in swashbucklers like The Mark of Zorro (1940) and Captain from Castile (1947), his stage debut came in 1931, and even at the height of his film fame, he tackled demanding theatrical roles in New York and London. He joined The Players in 1938, drawn by family tradition, the club’s rich theatrical tradition, and the camaraderie of fellow actor-members.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Power was part of a multi-generational line of actors dating back to his great-grandfather, the Irish actor and comedian William Grattan Tyrone Power. This belief in inheritance would later show up in Power’s intense desire to have a son of his own who would take up the acting profession.

Power's career was marked by a tension between the box-office idol he became and the serious dramatic actor he longed to be. He likewise took on demanding and perilous military service: during World War II, Power served with distinction as a U.S. Marine Corps pilot in the Pacific Theater. In the postwar years, he deliberately chose more complex roles in films like Nightmare Alley (1947), a dark psychological noir that challenged his matinée-idol image.

In his return to civilian life, Power resumed both his screen and stage careers with renewed depth. He starred in John Brown’s Body on Broadway in 1953 and took on the role of Prince Hal in Henry IV on tour, determined to be more to his audiences than a movie star on stage.

Tyrone Power died unexpectedly in 1958 at the age of 44, after suffering a heart attack while filming Solomon and Sheba in Spain. Laurence Olivier, who had long admired him, called Power “a fine and accomplished actor” who “never turned in a bad performance.” In the family tradition, each of his three children had performing careers, including his namesake son, who was born two months after Power’s death.