James Craig

Overview

Born
February 4, 1912 · Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Died
June 27, 1985 · Santa Ana, California, USA (lung cancer)
Birth name
James Henry Meador
Nickname
- Jim
Height
6′ 2″ (1.88 m)

Mini bio

Tall, rugged James Craig's career as an MGM contract player blossomed in the 1940s. This was due in large part to his strong physical and vocal resemblance to the studio's top leading man, Clark Gable (who was -- by the time Craig was signed to MGM -- serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces). The Rice Institute graduate had studied to be a physician until a sojourn in the movie capital persuaded him to try his luck as an actor. He was tutored by thespian Cyril Delevanti in 1934 and began in the industry as an extra. Having lived for some time in Texas, he had the perfect drawl just tailor-made for a western hero. James Henry Meador consequently transformed himself into James Craig when it looked like he might be given a role in the melodrama Craig's Wife (1936). As it turned out, he was mainly cast in low-budget second-feature westerns for the first two years of his Hollywood tenure. Craig's breakthrough arrived courtesy of a loan-out to RKO where he was co-starred opposite Ginger Rogers in Kitty Foyle (1940). He had some critical success as farmer Jabez Stone in The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) and scored high-profile parts in a couple of other A-grade features: the caliph in Kismet (1944), and as Halverson in Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945). However, before long, Mr. Gable returned from the war and it was back to low budget horse operas for Craig. After working in episodic television for several years in the 1960s, he called it quits and turned his talents towards a lucrative career in real estate.
- IMDb mini biography by: I.S.Mowis

Family

Spouses
Children
Parents

Trivia

Retired from acting in 1980 and became a wealthy real estate salesman.
His son Robert died on 4/19/48, aged 3.
He died of lung cancer at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, CA.
He was name-dropped several times in the novel Myra Breckinridge (1970) by Gore Vidal, as the eponymous hero's favorite and most romantically desirable movie star.
Became a father for the second time at age 33 when his first wife Mary gave birth to their son Robert Craig Meador on 3/3/45.