James Craven
Biography
James Craven was a Canadian-American actor who spent much of the 1930s on Canadian and British stages before arriving in Hollywood in 1939, where Columbia Pictures signed him. Producer Larry Darmour gave him a role in the 1940 serial The Green Archer, and director James W. Horne had him play a suave gentleman thief whose schemes collapsed into comic fury, a seriocomic villain he repeated in White Eagle (1941) and Captain Midnight (1942). After Horne's death in 1942 he took work at other studios, typically as upright military officers, then returned to serials for Republic Pictures with The Purple Monster Strikes (1945), Federal Agents vs. Underworld Inc. (1948), King of the Rocket Men (1949) and Flying Disc Man from Mars (1950). He also appeared in Johnny Belinda (1948) and on The Adventures of Kit Carson, and kept taking character parts until his last screen credit, Death of a Scoundrel (1956).
62years old at death
- Born Pennsylvania
- Died Los Angeles
- Star sign: LibraThe sign runs September 23 to October 22
Movie Career
- Films
- 12
- Career span
- 84 years1941 to 2025
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Getting ready for a role
Director James W. Horne liked his performers to play the action straight through the first three sample chapters of a serial, then exaggerate their portrayals for comic effect later, and Craven took full advantage of that direction.
Big break
Craven reached Hollywood in 1939 and Columbia Pictures signed him. Larry Darmour, a producer, then gave him a part in The Green Archer, a 1940 serial.
James Craven movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Six actors appear in two of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Robert Ryan's page
Franklyn Farnum's page
Ann Doran's page
Robert Warwick's page
Lester Matthews's page
Creighton Hale's page
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.