Hume Cronyn

Actor / Filmmaker / Theater Director

Hume Cronyn was known to modern moviegoers as the feisty character actor who appeared in Cocoon (1985) and Cocoon: The Return (1988). Fans of live theater knew him better for his 60 years on the stage and for his longtime marriage to acting partner Jessica Tandy. Cronyn began acting in the 1930s, and after ten years on stage he made his movie debut playing a comical crime enthusiast in Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943). The next year he was nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in The Seventh Cross (1944), but Cronyn spent most of his time and energy working in the theater as an actor, director and writer. He received four Tony nominations over the years, winning in 1964 for his portrayal of Polonius in Hamlet. In 1994 he and Tandy were given the first Tony for lifetime achievement, and together they collected numerous awards for their work in the dramatic arts, including a Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement medal (1986). Cronyn's other films include The Parallax View (1974, starring Warren Beatty), The World According to Garp (1982, starring Robin Williams), Batteries Not Included (1987) and The Pelican Brief (1993, starring Julia Roberts). His Broadway plays include A Delicate Balance, Foxfire and The Gin Game.

Extra credit: Cronyn was an amateur boxer (featherweight) before becoming an actor... After Tandy's death in 1994 he married author Susan Cooper, his longtime playwriting partner.