John Ridgely

Acting

John Ridgely

Born 1909-09-06 · Chicago, Illinois, USA

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Ridgely (born John Huntington Rea, September 6, 1909 – January 18, 1968) was an American film character actor with over 175 film credits. He appeared in the 1946 Humphrey Bogart film The Big Sleep as blackmailing gangster Eddie Mars and had a memorable role as a suffering heart patient in the film noir Nora Prentiss (1947). He appeared in a large number of other Warner Bros. films in the 1930s and 1940s. Freelancing after 1948, John Ridgely continued to essay general-purpose parts until he left films in 1953. Thereafter, he worked in summer-theater productions and television until his death from a heart attack at the age of 58 in 1968.

Acting credits

The Big Sleep poster
7.6

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

The Big Sleep

1946

A Place in the Sun poster
7.3

A young social climber wins the heart of a beautiful heiress but his former girlfriend's pregnancy stands in the way of his ambition.

A Place in the Sun

1951

Arsenic and Old Lace poster
7.6

Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!

Arsenic and Old Lace

1944

The Greatest Show on Earth poster
6.4

To ensure a full profitable season, circus manager Brad Braden engages The Great Sebastian, though this moves his girlfriend Holly from her hard-won center trapeze spot. Holly and Sebastian begin a dangerous one-upmanship duel in the ring, while he pursues her on the ground.

The Greatest Show on Earth

1952

No Time for Comedy poster
5.3

An aspiring playwright finds himself an overnight Broadway success.

No Time for Comedy

1940

Rookie Fireman poster
7.5

Merchant seaman Joe Blake, in love with Peggy Walters, takes the job of a rookie fireman in a big city department. His commander is strict-disciplinarian Fire Captain Jess Henshaw.

Rookie Fireman

1950

Knockout poster
5.1

Johnny Rocket (Arthur Kennedy) needs to fight one more match to have enough money to get married to Angela (Olympe Bradna) and start on his dream to run and then own a gym. However, his manager makes sure that this does not happen and eventually Johnny embraces being a fighter, but Angela becomes increasingly unhappy.

Knockout

1941

The Letter poster
7.3

After a woman shoots a man to death, a damning letter she wrote raises suspicions.

The Letter

1940

They Died with Their Boots On poster
6.7

The story follows General George Armstrong Custer's adventures from his West Point days to his death. He defies orders during the Civil War, trains the 7th Cavalry, appeases Chief Crazy Horse and later engages in bloody battle with the Sioux nation.

They Died with Their Boots On

1941

Dark Victory poster
6.9

Socialite Judith Traherne lives a lavish but emotionally empty life. Riding horses is one of her few joys, and her stable master is secretly in love with her. Told she has a brain tumor by her doctor, Frederick Steele, Judith becomes distraught. After she decides to have surgery to remove the tumor, Judith realizes she is in love with Dr. Steele, but more troubling medical news may sabotage her new relationship, and her second chance at life.

Dark Victory

1939

Flight Angels poster
4.8

Federal Airlines ace pilot Chick Faber is grounded by Flight Superintendent Bill Graves when a doctor says his eyesight is failing. Aided by Mary Norvell and Nan Hudson, Graves persuades Chick to take a job as teacher in the school for airline hostesses, and Chick and Mary get married. He learns that the Army is going to test a stratosphere plane that he and Artie Dixon designed and feels that he should make the first flight but permission is refused.

Flight Angels

1940

Father Is A Prince poster
6.5

Carpet-sweeper manufacturer John Bower has no patience with inefficiency, lawyers, or vacuum cleaners. He's a bit of a skinflint, too. His family thinks he works too hard. He feels inferior for not having gone to college, so now he doesn't want his children going, either. His daughter Connie is afraid to break the news of her engagement to Gary Lee, especially since not only is Gary a lawyer and a college grad, but his father owns a vacuum-cleaner company, too.

Father Is A Prince

1940

The Roaring Twenties poster
7.5

After World War I, Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere.

The Roaring Twenties

1939

The Fighting 69th poster
5.8

Although loudmouthed braggart Jerry Plunkett alienates his comrades and officers, Father Duffy, the regimental chaplain, has faith that he'll prove himself in the end.

The Fighting 69th

1940

Command Decision poster
6.6

High-ranking officers struggle with the decision to prioritize bombing German factories producing new jet fighters over the extremely high casualties the mission will cost.

Command Decision

1948

Women in the Wind poster
6.8

A famous aviator helps an amateur enter a cross-country air race for women.

Women in the Wind

1939

High Wall poster
6.4

Steven Kenet, suffering from a recurring brain injury, appears to have strangled his wife. Having confessed, he's committed to an understaffed county asylum full of pathetic inmates. There, Dr. Ann Lorrison is initially skeptical about Kenet's story and reluctance to undergo treatment. But against her better judgement, she begins to doubt his guilt.

High Wall

1947

Backfire poster
5.9

When he's discharged from a military hospital, ex-GI Bob Corey goes on a search for his army buddy Steve Connolly. A reformed crook, Connolly is on the lam from a trumped-up murder rap, and Corey hopes to clear his pal. Tagging along is Army nurse Julie Benson, who has fallen for Corey.

Backfire

1950

The Return of Doctor X poster
6.0

When news reporter Walter Garrett arrives at the hotel room of bombshell actress Angela Merrova to conduct an interview, he finds her dead from multiple stab wounds. He returns with the police to find the hotel empty and the body vanished. Garrett writes about the incident but is fired when Merrova, alive and well, goes to the paper to complain. Now his only chance to get his job back is to find the truth, which involves the grisly scheme of a madman.

The Return of Doctor X

1939

Strange Alibi poster
7.2

An undercover cop finds himself on the wrong side of the law when the mob discovers his true identity.

Strange Alibi

1941

Brother Orchid poster
6.6

When retired racket boss John Sarto tries to reclaim his place and former friends try to kill him, he finds solace in a monastery and reinvents himself as a pious monk.

Brother Orchid

1940

They Drive by Night poster
6.9

Joe and Paul Fabrini are Wildcat, or independent, truck drivers who have their own small one-truck business. The Fabrini boys constantly battle distributors, rivals and loan collectors, while trying to make a success of their transport company.

They Drive by Night

1940

Air Force poster
6.5

The crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack and is sent on to Manila to help with the defense of the Philippines.

Air Force

1943

Destination Tokyo poster
6.9

During World War II, Captain Cassidy and his crew of submariners are ordered into Tokyo Bay on a secret mission. They are to gather information in advance of the planned bombing of Tokyo. Along the way, the crew learn about each other as they face the enemy and some of them lose their lives.

Destination Tokyo

1943