The words "suave" and "debonair" became synonymous with the name Adolphe Menjou in Hollywood, both on- and off-camera. The epitome of knavish, continental charm and sartorial opulence, Menjou, complete with trademark waxy black mustache, evolved into one of Hollywood's most distinguished of artists and fashion plates, a tailor-made scene-stealer, if you will. What is often forgotten is that he was primed as a matinée idol back in the silent-film days. With hooded, slightly owlish eyes, a prominent nose and prematurely receding hairline, he was hardly competition for 'Rudolph Valentino , pretty much says it all for this polished, preening professional.
The "Menjou" mustache was named after him.
Adolphe attended the Culver Military Academy and eventually graduated from Cornell University with a degree in engineering. He also was a captain in the Ambulance Corps during World War I.
First-generation American of mixed French-Irish ancestry. His French-born father, Albert Menjou, was a successful hotel manager and his mother, Nora Joyce, was from Connemara, Ireland.
Voted Best Dressed Man in America nine times over the years.
Distant cousin of author James Joyce --his mother was Joyces first cousin.
Brother of actor Henri Menjou.
Was a (very) "friendly witness" for the House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings into alleged "Communist subversion" in Hollywood. He willingly "named names" to HUAC during his 1947 testimony and was well-known for his ultra-right-wing political stances. He once said that all Communists should be taken out and shot, regardless of whether they were American citizens or not.
Once boasted that his wardrobe included about 2,000 articles -- over 100 suits and 15 overcoats alone.
Staunch member of the John Birch Society.
Possessed enviable art and coin collections during his lifetime.
He died with an estate valued at $700,000.
Menjou and fellow actor Edward Arnold shared the same birth date (February 18, 1890).
Menjou was an avid and skilled golfer. Clark Gable was among his favorite partners on the links.
In 1944 Menjou and Walt Disneyformed the militant anti-Communist organization called the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals.
In 1919 Menjou produced a series of two-minute shorts for J. Van Buren entitles "Topics of the Day.".
Menjou was also well known in the 1950s as a television pitch man for Drewrys Beer, and appeared in several Drewrys television commercials.
The first Drive-In Theater was devised by Richard M. Hollingshead in Camden, New Jersey and opened on June 6, 1933. It had 400 slots and a 40 by 50 foot screen, and he advertised it with the slogan, "The whole family is welcome, regardless of how noisy the children are." The first movie shown was "Wife Beware" starring Adolphe Menjou. His drive-in was in operation for only three years, but in that time the idea caught on in other states.
Spoke French fluently (French being his fathers tongue) and starred in several Hollywood-made French-language films in 1930.
Sartorial elegance and regal bearing wearing a tuxedo.
It was my mustache that landed jobs for me. In those silent-film days it,was the mark of a villain. When I realized they had me pegged as a,foreign nobleman type I began to live the part, too. I bought a pair of,white spats, an ascot tie and a walking stick.
[1947 HUAAC testimony] I believe that under certain circumstances a,communistic director, a communistic writer, or a communistic actor,even if he were under orders from the head of a studio not to inject,communism, or Un-Americanism or subversion into pictures, could easily,subvert that order under the proper circumstances by a look, by an,inflection, by a change in the voice. I think it could easily be done. .
_02.jpg)
_05.jpg)
_06.jpg)
.jpg)
_02.jpg)
