Phillips Holmes

Phillips Raymond Holmes was an American film actor who appeared in 44 films between 1928 and 1938. For his contributions to the film industry, he was posthumously given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Holmes enjoyed a privileged childhood and received his education at Trinity College, Cambridge, the University of Grenoble and a year at Princeton University where he was spotted in the undergraduate crowd during the filming of Frank Tuttle's Varsity in 1928 and offered a screen test. In the early 1930s he became a popular leading man, playing leads in a few important productions, notably in Josef von Sternberg's An American Tragedy. At Paramount, he starred in melodrama and comedy. In 1933, his contract with Paramount ran out and he moved to MGM for one year. As the decade progressed, Holmes' career declined, and he appeared in a few box-office failures, including Sam Goldwyn's poorly received Nana. His last American movie was General Spanky. In 1938, he appeared in two UK movies. Housemaster was his last film, then he returned to acting on stage in the United States. At the start of World War II, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was killed in a mid-air collision in northwest Ontario, Canada.