Tyrone Power

Tyrone Power in a dashing portrait sitting from 1938. Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on May 5 in 1914. His ancestry included English, Irish, German, French Huguenot, and French-Canadian. Although raised by his mother, he corresponded with his father, who encouraged his acting dreams. A screen test led to a contract at 20th Century Fox in 1936, and he quickly progressed to leading roles. Within a year or so, he was one of Fox's leading stars, playing in contemporary and period pieces with ease, including "Marie Antoinette" (1938), "Blood and Sand" (1941), "The Black Swan" (1942). After the war, he got his best reviews for an atypical part as a downward-spiraling con-man in “Nightmare Alley” (1947). This was followed with a number of adventure flicks, "Captain from Castile" (1947), "Prince of Foxes" (1949)", "The Black Rose" (1950). In the 1950s he began placing limits on the number of films he would make in order to devote more time for theatre productions. He received his biggest accolades as a stage actor in "John Brown's Body" and "Mister Roberts". Following a fine performance in Billy Wilder's "Witness for the Prosecution" (1957), Power began production on "Solomon and Sheba" (1959). Halfway through shooting, he collapsed during a duelling scene with George Sanders, and sadly died of a heart attack before reaching a hospital. His three children, including Romina Power and his namesake, Tyrone Power Jr., have all followed him in the family acting tradition.

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