Biography

Though his on-screen persona never seemed to vary much from that of, say, Ebenezer Scrooge, he was a very well-respected stage actor and director, with a particular fondness for the works of Henrik Ibsen. Digges enjoyed an enormously successful career as a Broadway actor and director (active there from 1906-1947) in addition to his work as a character actor in Hollywood.

Opposite the Sam Spade of Ricardo Cortez in The Maltese Falcon (1931), Warner Bros.' 1931 adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's novel, Digges portrayed "Kasper Guttman" - the role wonderfully reprised in Warners' 1941 version (The Maltese Falcon (1941)) by Sydney Greenstreet.

Acted on stage from 1902 and moved to the U.S. two years later. Was briefly stage manager for Charles Frohman and George Arliss, before embarking on a prolific Broadway career (1906-1947) which lasted until his death.

A sister-in law, Mrs. Margaret Keogh of New York; and a sister, Mrs. Mai Gannen, and two brothers, James and Ernst, survive in Ireland.

Character player of various types in US films from 1929 through the mid-40's.

Dudley Digges, actor-impersonator, says: "Love is the atonement for the impossible beauty, if you get what I mean. Through love you realize what is unattainable, and leave it unattainable- through love you come to know what you cannot do, and what you can't be. Love is a form of creation everyone is capable of." (Cheyenne State Leader, ((Cheyenne, Wyo.)) 6 February 1921).