Murray Kinnell

Murray Kinnell
Born	(1889-07-24)24 July 1889 Sydenham, London, U.K.
Died	11 August 1954(1954-08-11) (aged 65) Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Nationality	British (1889) American (1933)
Occupation(s)	Actor, Trade Union officer
Years active	1907-1937 Actor 1936-1952 SAG Officer
Spouse	Henrietta Goodwin
Children	1

Murray Kinnell (24 July 1889 – 11 August 1954) was a British-born American actor, recognized for playing smooth, gentlemanly, although rather shady characters. He began acting on the English stage in 1907,[1] toured in the United States from 1912 through 1914, then returned to England where he served in the British Army during World War I.[2] After the war, he emigrated to the US. He appeared in 71 films between the pre-code era of 1930 and 1937. He later served the Screen Actors Guild in several positions for 16 years.[3][4]

Early years

Kinnell was born in Sydenham, London when it was still part of Kent.[5] He was the second of three sons to John Kinnell, a Scottish-born engineer, and Rose Taylor from Surrey.[5] He was educated first at Seaford College in Sussex,[6] then at Mill Hill School in London.[7]

Early stage career

According to a later interview, Kinnell began his stage career in the troupe of Florence Glossop-Harris in 1907.[1] His first known stage credits are from 1909 with the company of Allan Wilkie.[8] By 1911 he had joined the company of Frank Cellier, the husband of Florence Glossop-Harris.[9] Kinnell played in both Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice on English stages, and undoubtedly many other plays as well for which verification is lacking.[10][9]

Kinnell next appears in 1912 with a touring company playing Pomander Walk in the US and Canada.[11][12] The following year he joined the Annie Russell Old English Comedy Company, playing throughout the eastern US in She Stoops to Conquer, The Rivals, and The School for Scandal.[13][14][15] The tour wound up its run in Philadelphia during April 1914. Kinnell used the time off to marry the tour's ingenue, Henrietta Goodwin.[16]

Edward Sheldon's The Garden of Paradise, produced by Liebler & Company, opened in late November 1914 at the Park Theatre in Manhattan.[17] Kinnell played two roles in this visual extravaganza based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid.[17] However the production bankrupted Liebler & Company, and the receiver shut the play down on December 8, 1914, after a little more than two weeks.[18]

Kinnell then returned to England, where he performed Shakespeare with the F. R. Benson company from late 1915 thru early April 1916.[19][20]

Military service and post-war stage

Kinnell had enlisted in the London Scottish during January 1916,[2] but wasn't taken up for training until April of that year. He was a lieutenant[21] with the 2/14th Battalion that saw action in France, Salonika, and Palestine as part of the 60th Division.[22] He served for three years, until 1919, when he resumed his acting career upon discharge at the war's end.[23]

Following military service, Kinnell next appeared in a production of The Merchant of Venice at the Court Theatre in London that ran from October 1919 through February 1920.[24][25] Beginning in January 1920 he also did single performances in other plays for the experimental Stage Society[26] and the revivalist Phoenix Society.[27][28]

Later that year Kinnell joined the St. James Theater company in the English debut of The Jest, a three-month tour that also included his wife in the cast.[29][30] However, by January 1921, Kinnell was "at liberty", according to his theatrical card in The Daily Telegraph.[31] While his wife returned to America for a role in a Broadway production, Kinnell joined the Henry Baynton company and performed a large reperatoire of drastically pruned Shakespeare from June 1921 thru November 1922.[32][33] It played well in the more provincial towns but London critics were quite severe over the cuts.[34] Kinnell then did an original play Oliver Cromwell, written and produced by John Drinkwater and starring Henry Ainley.[35]

Transatlantic commuter

E. H. Sothern and his wife Julia Marlowe brought four English actors to the US in September 1923 for their final Shakespeare tour, one of whom was Kinnell.[36] The tour opened with Cymbeline on October 2, 1923, at the Jolson Theatre.[37] Unfortunately, Marlowe was both past her prime and wedded to an outdated style of acting that drew harsh criticism.[37] It cannot have been an easy experience for Kinnell, but he persevered with the company's repertoire of Shakespeare plays[fn 1] both in New York and on tour.[38] In March 1924 Kinnell left the still-going tour for a debut drama based on the book Simon Called Peter.[39]

Kinnell returned to England where he next performed during July 1924 in an original work by Joshua Jordan called The Dream Kiss, described as "a farce of somnambulism".[40] It hardly seemed worth the trip, for he was next cast during September 1924 in the Broadway production of Hassan, based on the verses of James Elroy Flecker.[41] This spectacle dispensed with tryouts due to its massive scale (some 200 performers including 60 principals and 70 dancers), perhaps relying on the success the production had in London the previous year.[41] Despite incidental music by Frederick Delius the show closed after just 16 performances, with only Kinnell drawing praise among the cast.[42] February 1925 saw him in a revival of William Congreve's The Way of the World.[43]

Old English

For the first time Kinnell became the leading man of an acting troupe in March 1925, with the All-English stock company at the Orpheum in Montreal.[23] This was under the direction of Leo G. Carroll, with Betty Murray as the female lead.[23] His tenure with the company lasted thru May 1925.[44] While Kinnell was in Canada, his wife Henrietta Goodwin had a small part in Old English on Broadway, a play by John Galsworthy that starred George Arliss. When it went on tour in the fall of 1925, Kinnell joined his wife in the road company, albeit as a leading actor.[45] This was Kinnell's first role as an outright villain, a "blackmailing solicitor" who hounds the eponymous character (himself a scoundrel) played by Arliss.[46] The part gained him his first published interview,[47] and several years later his first film role.

The Old English tour took a four-month hiatus in late May 1926,[48] while Arliss vacationed in England.[49] Kinnell's time off was spent performing in The Lovers with the Phoenix Players[fn 2] in summer 1926.[50] Arliss returned from England in September 1926, and the Old English tour resumed playing,[49] reaching Los Angeles in December 1926,[51] then winding up the long tour at Philadelphia during May 1927.[52]

Arliss again

A touring production of The Constant Wife was Kinnell's next performance.[53] It starred Ethel Barrymore and C. Aubrey Smith, with Kinnell in a supporting role.[53] It opened in late September 1927 and finished up six weeks later.[54]

Arliss kept Kinnell with him on his next major engagement, playing Bassiano to Arliss' Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, with Peggy Wood as Portia. The Winthrop Ames production had a week-long tryout at New Haven, Connecticut,[55] before premiering on Broadway.[56] Brooks Atkinson pronounced it as workmanlike but without spirit,[fn 3] and thought Arliss had turned Shylock into a gentleman.[56] The production closed on Broadway after eight weeks, and immediately began touring the East Coast.[57] The tour closed in May 1928 and Kinnell joined the Scarborough Stock Company for a six-week season starting in late June.[58]

The first Edgar Wallace play produced in the US was The Sign of the Leopard, which had been called The Squeaker in the UK.[59] Kinnell had a leading role in this, starting with tryouts in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, before going to Broadway in December 1928. Described as a crime play or a melodrama, it failed to impress New York critics.[60] After it closed, Kinnell took over the male lead in the touring company for the Broadway production of Young Love that starred Dorothy Gish.[61]

Kinnell's first-known radio performance came in July 1929 with an NBC broadcast of The Importance of Being Earnest.[62] His next known acting credit did not occur until late February 1930, when he appeared in a tryout for Elizabeth and Essex by Harry Wagstaff Gribble.[63] This compilation of incidents from three centuries-old plays starred Thais Lawton and Hugh Buckler in the title roles.[63] Renamed to The Royal Virgin on Broadway, The New York Times found it competent but dull, saying: "...the best performing of the play was Murray Kinnell's crafty, serpentine portrayal of Cecil".[64]

Screen career

First films: 1930-31

Warner Brothers (WB) had signed George Arliss to make films of his most famous stage performances; Old English would be the third movie.[65] Both Kinnell and his wife Henrietta Goodwin reprised their stage roles for the cameras in Old English, the first film for each,[22] though only Kinnell was credited.[66]

Kinnell told an interviewer after completing his first film that he much preferred it to stage acting.[1] However, he went on the stage in Los Angeles, playing the lead in The Infinite Shoeblack during November 1930 to acclaim from local reviewers.[67][68] The following month, his second film, The Princess and the Plumber, opened in Los Angeles.[69]

By February 1931 he was mentioned as cast as Metz for The Secret Six.[70] April 1931 saw the release of both that film and The Public Enemy, in which Kinnell played the two-timing petty-larceny hood Putty Nose.[71] The latter earned Kinnell praise from the drama critic of The Los Angeles Times: "Murray Kinnell, in his few appearances on the screen, gains a place for himself among the best character actors in Hollywood".[72]

The following month he left Los Angeles for Honolulu for filming The Black Camel.[73] His derelict artist turned beachcomber, shown openly living with a Hawaiian woman, was the most interesting character in that early Charlie Chan film, released in July 1931.[74]

After playing three well-received and memorable roles in the first six months of 1931, the remaining movies Kinnel did that year provided him far less attention and enthusiasm from reviewers.[75][76][77][78][79]

Prolific years: 1932-34

During the next three years Kinnell would average a dozen films annually, though some had him in small uncredited parts. His first film released in 1932 was The Menace.[80] As an actor, he was most impressed with the potential of a young unknown actress in that film. Knowing that George Arliss was looking for a leading woman in his next picture, Kinnell suggested to Arliss that Bette Davis be cast in The Man Who Played God.[81] Davis, who at the time was getting discouraged with her career, never forgot Kinnell's help: "If it hadn't been for Murray Kinnell's belief in me, I probably would have bade goodbye to Hollywood forever".[81]

April 1932 saw the release of Grand Hotel, an instant success with the critics.[82][83] Kinnell's small feature bit didn't even merit a mention by reviewers in this ensemble effort with seven major stars.[82][83] That same month The Mouthpiece was released, another film in which Kinnell had a bit part as a butler.[84]

Kinnell did another George Arliss film called A Successful Calamity in September 1932.[85]

A film that Kinnell made in 1933 would take years before being allowed in some theaters. Damaged Lives was a docudrama about venereal disease; Kinnell and Jason Robards played doctors that help afflicted patients.[86]

Arliss, who had left Warners for the new 20th Century Fox studio, cast Kinnell as one of the brothers in The House of Rothschild, released in March 1934.[87] Kinnell also did two more Charlie Chan films that year: Charlie Chan's Courage, in which he was the first victim,[88] and Charlie Chan in London, where he played a seemingly sinister butler with an unexpected secret.[89]

He finished 1934 with the December release of Anne of Green Gables.[90]

Later films: 1935-37

Kinnell's film year of 1935 began with a role as a "dasteredly plotter" in Charlie Chan in Paris.[91] He then began filming another historical picture starring George Arliss, Cardinal Richelieu.[92]

Hoping to repeat the success of The House of Rothschild, 20th Century Fox mounted another historical tale around an English company in Lloyd's of London, released in November 1936.[93] Kinnell played Rev. Nelson, the father of Lord Nelson, in a film that one reviewer said "lacks the powerful punch which the first conveyed".[93]

Kinnell's last two films were an uncredited bit in Parnell,[94] and a major part in the Grade B mystery, Think Fast, Mr. Moto, both released in summer 1937.[95]

Screen Actors Guild

Though he wasn't a pioneering member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), Kinnell joined that trade union within a few years of its founding. By August 1936 he had been elected assistant treasurer.[96] He was business chairman for the annual SAG fundraising society ball,[97] and he handled issuing temporary credentials for journalists visiting movie lots.[98]

SAG officials appointed him in 1939 to be the Guild's representative for arbitration hearings with the Motion Picture Producers (MPP) over contract disputes.[99] Besides arbitration, he also worked with the producers on limiting the numbers of screen extras handled by Central Casting to favor those with most experience.[100]

During 1943 Kinnell was again appointed as arbitrator in a dispute involving a pay hike demanded by SAG for over 5000 extras, stand-ins, stuntmen, body doubles, and singers.[101] During April 1944 he testified in a National Labor Relations Board hearing that for screen extras there were "too many people competing for too little work and all could not hope to make a living at that type of work".[102]

By 1949 Kinnell was the agency administrator for SAG, responsible for relations between independent screen actors outside the studio system and the talent agencies that represented them.[103] Kinnell oversaw the negotiations for a ten-year agreement between SAG and talent management that would control the terms under which actors could be signed.[103]

Later years

Kinnell retired from SAG on February 28, 1952.[4] He told SAG officials he was going to take his wife on a long trip abroad, but would be available to the organization on an advisory basis when he returned.[4]

On 11 August 1954, Kinnell died at his home in Santa Barbara, California.[104]

Personal life

Kinnell's 1928 Petition for Naturalization listed his description at age 39 as 5' 9 1/2" (176.5 cm) tall, weighing 145 pounds (65.8 kg), with gray eyes and brown hair.[105] After completing the five-year mandatory residency, Kinnell's US citizenship was approved in 1933.[105]

Kinnell married Henrietta Goodwin in Philadelphia on April 14, 1914.[16] She was a stage actress, born in Tacoma, Washington,[106] but raised in the Washington, D.C. area. They had one son, Peter Kinnell, who was born in June 1916 while they resided in the UK. He did not join his parents in America until August 1925.[107]

According to newspaper accounts, Kinnell habitually wore a monocle in private life,[108] and once told an interviewer "I became an actor because I didn't know any better".[109] He was an excellent amateur fencer,[110] and an active member of the Hollywood Cricket Club.[111] Kinnell and his son Peter were part of the traveling Hollywood team that took on and beat a Vancouver eleven at a Cricket Jubilee in British Columbia.[112]

He was also a chess player; in the aftermath of World War II he and other British ex-pat veterans in Hollywood would visit Birmingham Hospital regularly to play disabled US veterans.[113]

Stage performances

The table is by year of first performance. His performances from 1907, 1908, and 1910 lack documentation as yet, and other early years are incomplete.

Year	Play	Role	Venue	Notes
1909	The Sleigh Bells	Christian	Bath Theatre Royal	His first known credit, with the Allan Wilkie repertory company.[8]
	The Two Orphans of Paris	Marquis de Presles	Hanley Theatre Royal	[114]
1911	Hamlet	Laertes	Royal County Theatre[fn 4]	This was a company headed by Frank Cellier.[10]
	The Merchant of Venice	Bassanio	Theatre Royal	Cellier's touring company had female leads played by his wife, Florence Glossop-Harris.[9]
1912	Pomander Walk	Basil Pringle	Touring Company	Kinnell played a violinist at No 3 Pomander Walk.[11][12][115][116]
1913	She Stoops to Conquer	George Hastings	Touring Company	This was with the Annie Russell Old English Comedy Company.[13]
	The Rivals	Faulkland	Touring Company	This was still with the Annie Russell company.[14]
	The School for Scandal	Joseph Surface	Touring Company	This was still with the Annie Russell company.[15]
1914	The Garden of Paradise	Jasper/Captain of Guard	Park Theatre	The costly production had mermaids "swimming" thru the air over the stage.[17]
1915	The Merchant of Venice	Lorenzo	Prince of Wales Theatre[fn 5]	This was with the F. R. Benson Shakespeare company.[19]
	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Oberon	Court Theatre	Another F. R. Benson performance.[117]
1916	MacBeth	Malcolm	King's Theatre	Also in this week-long run was Basil Rathbone as MacDuff.[118]
	Henry V		Theatre Royal	[119]
	Hamlet	Horatio	Touring Company	This was performed in alteration with other F. R. Benson Shakespeare plays.[118][119]
	The Taming of the Shrew	Lucentio	Theatre Royal	[120]
	As You Like It	Orlando de Boys	Theatre Royal	This was Kinnell's last performance with the F. R. Benson troupe.[20]
1919	The Merchant of Venice		Court Theatre	This long-running production starred Maurice Moscovich and Mary Grey, with Miles Malleson, George Hayes, Edith Evans, and Cathleen Nesbitt.[24]
1920	Joan of Memories	Richard Tirrell	Shaftesbury Theatre	Three-act experimental comedy by Willson Disher was produced by the Stage Society for a single performance.[26]
	Marriage à la mode	Leonidas	Lyric Theatre	Mounted by the revivalist Phoenix Society for a two-day engagement.[27]
	The Fair Maid of the West	Mr. Spencer	Lyric Theatre	Another Phoenix Society revival, and not well received.[28]
	The Jest		Touring Company	The St. James Theater company production starred Henry Ainley, with Claude Rains and Kinnell's wife, Henrietta Goodwin.[29][30]
1921 1922	As You Like It	Orlando / Jacques	Touring Company	Kinnell portrayed Orlando with Henry Baynton's Shakespeare company in 1921, but when Baynton's Jacques came in for repeated criticism they switched parts the following year.[32][33]
	The Merchant of Venice	Bassiano	Touring Company	[121]
	Antony and Cleopatra	Octavius Caesar	Touring Company	[122]
	Julius Caesar	Brutus	Touring Company
	The Taming of the Shrew	Lucentio	Touring Company
	Romeo and Juliet	Mercutio	Touring Company
	Hamlet	Horatio	Touring Company
	King Lear	Earl of Kent	Touring Company
	The School for Scandal	Joseph Surface	Touring Company	[123]
1923	Oliver Cromwell	Seth Tanner	Touring Company	Written and produced by John Drinkwater, it starred Henry Ainley in title role.[35]
	The Faithful Shepherdess	Thenot	Shaftesbury Theatre	Another two-performances revival by the Phoenix Society, mounted while Kinnell was still touring in Oliver Cromwell.[124]
	Cymbeline	Guiderius	Jolson's Theatre	This marks Kinnell's return to the US stage with the company of E. H. Sothern and Julia Marlowe.[37]
	The Taming of the Shrew	Tranio	Jolson's Theatre Touring Company	[125][38]
	Twelfth Night	Sebastian	Jolson's Theatre Touring Company	[126][38]
	The Merchant of Venice	Lorenzo	Jolson's Theatre Touring Company	[38]
	Hamlet		Jolson's Theatre Touring Company	[38]
	Romeo and Juliet	Benvolio	Jolson's Theatre Touring Company	Sothern and Marlowe, at 64 and 58 respectively, played the titlular teenage roles.[38]
1924	Simon Called Peter		Stamford Theatre[fn 6]	This was a tryout run.[39]
	The Dream Kiss		Wimbledon Theatre	Farce in three acts by Joshua Jordan was described by reviewer as "a wearisome crudity".[40]
	Hassan	Ishak	Knickerbocker Theatre	Spectacle based on James Elroy Flecker verses lasted only two weeks on Broadway.[42]
1925	The Way of the World	Fainall	Princess Theatre	Revival started out in Greenwich Village then moved to the theater district.[43]
	Ann		Orpheum Theatre[fn 7]	Kinnell became leading man of the All-English stock company with this three-act comedy by Lechmere Worrall.[23]
	Clothes and the Woman	Eric Thrale	Orpheum Theatre	Romantic stock comedy was later made into a 1937 British film.[127]
	Spring Cleaning		Orpheum Theatre	[128]
	The Dover Road	Leonard	Orpheum Theatre	[129]
	The Naughty Wife		Orpheum Theatre	[44]
	Old English	Charles Ventnor	Touring Company	National touring company for the Broadway production starring George Arliss ran from September 1925 thru May 1927.[45][52]
1926	The Lovers		Woodstock Theatre[fn 8]	Carlo Goldoni comedy, staged by Ethel Griffies. With Edward Cooper, Rose Hobart, Theodore St. John, Philip Leigh, Harold Moulton, Anne Walters.[50]
1927	The Constant Wife	Mortimer Durham	Touring Company	This production starred Ethel Barrymore and C. Aubrey Smith, with Frank Conroy, Verree Teasdale, Cora Witherspoon, Jeanette Sherwin, Alice John, and Thomas A. Braidon.[53]
1928	The Merchant of Venice	Bassanio	Shubert Theatre Broadhurst Theatre Touring Company	Arliss played Shylock, with Peggy Wood as Portia, Spring Byington as Nerissa, and Leonard Willey as Antonio.[56]
	Captain Applejack	Ambrose Applejohn	Beechwood Theatre[fn 9]	Summer stock with the Scarborough Stock company.[58]
	Smudge		Beechwood Theatre	A debut drama by Douglas Murray. Starred Charlotte Walker and Douglas Wood, with Sherling Oliver, Flora Sheffield, and Hugh Rennie.[130]
	The Giftee		Beechwood Theatre	A new drama by Percival Wilde, staged and produced by Hamilton MacFadden.[131]
	Frail Emma	Admiral Nelson	Cass Theatre[fn 10]	Original comedy by Genevieve Thompson Smith, starred Kinnell and Selena Royle as Emma, Lady Hamilton.[132]
	The Sign of the Leopard	Sutton	Majestic Theatre National Theatre	Mystery by Edgar Wallace, originally produced in the UK as The Squeaker.[59][60]
1929	Young Love	Peter Bird	Touring Company	Kinnell replaced lead James Rennie for the Broadway production road company.[61]
1930	Elizabeth and Essex	Lord Burleigh	Shubert Playhouse Booth Theatre	Between tryout in Wilmington, Delaware and Broadway debut the play was renamed to The Royal Virgin.[63][64]
	The Infinite Shoeblack	Andrew Berwick	Music Box	Los Angeles Civic Repertory production of play by Norman MacOwen starred Kinnell and Olive Meehan.[67]

Filmography

Film (by year of first release)

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1930	Old English	Charles Ventnor	Warner Brothers Vitaphone film premiered August 21, 1930 at the Warner's Theatre in Hollywood. Both Kinnell and his wife Henrietta Goodwin reprised their stage roles in this George Arliss star turn.[66][65]
	The Princess and the Plumber	Lord Worthing	Film premiered on December 18, 1930, at Loew's Hollywood Theater.[69][110]
1931	The Secret Six	Metz - the Dummy	The first of two gangster roles for Kinnell that premiered in April 1931.[70]
	The Public Enemy	Putty Nose	Kinnell's second gangster role also debuted in April 1931.[71]
	The Black Camel	Archie Smith	An unusual role for Kinnell as a derelict one-time gentleman; the film opened in July 1931.[73]
	Honor of the Family	Captain Elek	A now-lost film, it premiered in October 1931.[75]
	Reckless Living	Alf	Racetrack melodrama involving gamblers competing for a young woman.[76]
	The Guilty Generation	Jerry	Racketeering melodrama; Kinnell is uncredited but listed in newspaper reviews.[78]
	The Deceiver	Breckinridge	Critics panned this trite mystery on the backstage murder of a treacherous star.[77] Kinnell played a suave detective.[133]
	Under Eighteen	Peterson (Butler)	Romantic comedy about a teenager's disillusionment with her older sister's marriage.[79]
1932	The Menace	Carr	Based on the Edgar Wallace 1927 novel The Feathered Serpent.[80]
	Freaks	Freakshow Barker	Uncredited
	The Beast of the City	Judge	Uncredited
	The Man Who Played God	King's Aide	Kinnell had recommended Bette Davis to George Arliss for this film.[134]
	The Expert	Smitty (the Fence)	Uncredited
	Are You Listening?	Carson	[135]
	Grand Hotel	Schweimann	[82][83]
	The Mouthpiece	Thompson (Day's Butler)	[84]
	While Paris Sleeps	Escaping Prisoner	Uncredited
	The Purchase Price	Spike Forgan	Kinnell plays a nightclub owner's henchman.[136]
	The Painted Woman	Collins	[137]
	A Successful Calamity	Alfred Curtis, The Broker	Kinnell is George Arliss business rival.[85]
	Secrets of the French Police	Bertillon	One reviewer considered this more of a horror film than a mystery or crime drama.[138]
	Rasputin and the Empress	Professor Kropotkin	Uncredited
	The Match King	Nyberg	[139]
1933	Today We Live	Padre	Uncredited
	Zoo in Budapest	Garbosh
	Damaged Lives	Dr. Vincent Leonard	A controversial film about venereal disease, censors kept it out of New York City until 1937.[86]
	Voltaire	Emile (Voltaire's Servant)
	The Avenger	Cormack
	The Solitaire Man	Inspector Harris	Uncredited
	I Loved a Woman	Davenport
	Ann Vickers	Dr. Slenk (Copperhead Gap Warden)
	From Headquarters	Horton
	If I Were Free	Dr. Clairbourne	Uncredited
	The Women in His Life	1st Defendant	Uncredited
	I Am Suzanne	Luigi Malatini
1934	The House of Rothschild	James Rothschild	Though he'd changed studios, Arliss continued to cast Kinnell whenever he could.[87]
	Affairs of a Gentleman	Fletcher	"No man is a hero to his valet", as Kinnell's character in this murder mystery could testify.[140]
	Murder in Trinidad	Colonel Bruce Cassell	Nigel Bruce is a detective tasked by Kinnell to uncover diamond smuggling in Trinidad.[141]
	Such Women Are Dangerous	Jan Paris
	Charlie Chan's Courage	Martin Thorne	Kinnell is the first victim this time out.[88]
	Hat, Coat and Glove	The Judge	Courtroom drama about a middle-aged attorney defending his wife's young lover.[142]
	Charlie Chan in London	Phillips	Kinnell as yet another butler, though this time with an unexpected flourish.[89]
	Anne of Green Gables	Mr. Phillips	Kinnell plays a teacher in this popular sentimental story.[90]
	The Silver Streak	Doctor Flynn	Uncredited
1935	Charlie Chan in Paris	Henri Latouche	Kinnell is one-half of a villainous duo that almost does in Charlie Chan and son.[91]
	Cardinal Richelieu	Duke of Lorraine
	Mad Love	Charles	Though supposedly uncredited, Kinnell's name and theater owner character are in newspaper reviews for this improbable horror story.[143]
	The Three Musketeers	Bernajou
	The Last Days of Pompeii	Simon (Judean Peasant)
	Rendezvous	de Segroff
	Fighting Youth	Dean James Churchill	Kinnell plays a college dean in this Red Scare gridiron tale.[144]
	Kind Lady	Doctor
	The Great Impersonation	Seaman
	Captain Blood	Court Clerk	Uncredited
1936	The Witness Chair	Defense Attorney Conrick
	One Rainy Afternoon	Theatre Manager
	Mary of Scotland	Judge
	The Big Game	Dean of Men	Uncredited
	15 Maiden Lane	Fingers	Uncredited
	Make Way for a Lady	Doctor Barnes
	Lloyd's of London	Rev. Nelson	Kinnell plays the father of Lord Nelson in this historical picture.[93]
	Four Days' Wonder	Morris
	Winterset	Prof. Dean Liggett	Uncredited
1937	Outcast	Anthony 'Tony' Stevens	Kinnell plays the father of a local girl in love with the outcast physician.[145]
	The Soldier and the Lady	Peasant	Uncredited
	The Prince and the Pauper	Hugo	Kinnell was an excellent fencer, but his vagabond character is overmatched by Bobby Mauch's Prince Edward.[146]
	Captains Courageous	Minister	Uncredited
	Parnell	Sir Richard Webster	Uncredited[94]
	Think Fast, Mr. Moto	Joseph B. Wilkie	A major part in a Grade B film was Kinnell's last film role.[95]

Notes

1. Cymbeline was dropped from the tour's repertoire after Marlowe's drubbing in it.
2. This actors' society did tryouts of new plays at a small converted theater in Woodstock, New York. The rural area had no electricity at the time, so the troupe used kerosene footlights.
3. Atkinson misspelled Kinnell's surname twice in the review.
4. This was at Kingston upon Thames in the UK.
5. This was in Birmingham, England.
6. This was in Stamford, Connecticut.
7. This was in Montreal, Canada.
8. A converted assembly hall seating 150 in Woodstock, New York.
9. This was in Scarborough, New York.
10. This was in Detroit, Michigan.

References

1. "Murray Kinnell Supports Arliss at the Dominion". The Victoria Daily Times. Victoria, British Columbia. October 16, 1930. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
2. UK, British Army World War I Service Records, 1914-1920 for Murray Kinnell, retrieved from Ancestry.com
3. "Screen Actors Guild Pledges Campaign Aid". Daily News. Los Angeles, California. August 11, 1938. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Murray Kinnell Leaves Actors Guild Office". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. January 8, 1952. p. 26 – via Newspapers.com.
5. 1891 England Census for Murray Kinnell, London > Lewisham > Sydenham > District 6, retrieved from Ancestry.com
6. 1901 England Census for Murray Kinnell, Sussex > Seaford > All > District 1, retrieved from Ancestry.com
7. "Murray Kinnell, Stage Star, Dead". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Coventry, England. August 14, 1954. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Bath Theater Royal". The Somerset Guardian. Radstock, England. August 6, 1909. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Plymouth Theatre Royal". Western Morning News. Plymouth, Devon, UK. March 21, 1911. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Shakespeare Festival at Kingston". The Surrey Advertiser. Kingston, Surrey, UK. February 15, 1911. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Johnson, Julian (September 5, 1912). "In the Big Play-World". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. 34 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Music and Drama". The Winnipeg Tribune. Winnipeg, Manitoba. November 5, 1912. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Goldsmith Play Is Well Given". Star-Gazette. Elmira, New York. February 24, 1913. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Old English Comedy Company". The Noblesville Ledger. Noblesville, Indiana. April 12, 1913. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Wins As Lady Teazle". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. December 26, 1913. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
16. Murray Kinnell in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. Marriage Index, 1885-1951, retrieved from Ancestry.com
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18. "'Garden of Paradise' Ends". The New York Times. New York, New York. December 9, 1914. p. 13 – via NYTimes.com.
19. "A Shakespeare Week". Birmingham Gazette. Birmingham, England. December 7, 1915. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
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26. "Stage Society". The Daily Telegraph. London, England. January 20, 1920. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
27. "'Marriage A La Mode'". Evening Standard. London, England. February 10, 1920. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
28. "The Phoenix Society". The Guardian. Manchester, England. April 13, 1920. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
29. "Mr. Ainley in 'The Jest'". The Times. London, England. August 5, 1920. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
30. ""The Jest" At The Opera House, Middlesbrough". The North Star. October 23, 1920. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
31. "Theatrical Cards - Gentlemen". The Daily Telegraph. London, England. January 13, 1921. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
32. "Prince's Theatre". The Guardian. Manchester, England. June 1, 1921. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
33. "Shakespeare Theatre". Liverpool Post and Mercury. Liverpool, England. November 29, 1922. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
34. "Hamlet Indeed Undone". Daily Herald. London, England. January 11, 1922. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
35. "Before the Footlights". The Daily Mail. Hull, England. May 1, 1923. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
36. "The Theater". The Indianapolis Star. Indianapolis, Indiana. September 19, 1923. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
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38. "Southern-Marlowe Tour". Evening Star. Washington, D.C. November 18, 1923. p. 57 – via Newspapers.com.
39. ""Simon Called Peter"". Brooklyn Life. Brooklyn, New York. March 29, 1924. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
40. "Wimbledon Theatre". The Daily Telegraph. London, England. July 29, 1924. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
41. ""Hassan" Has Premiere Soon". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. September 7, 1924. p. 65 – via Newspapers.com.
42. Broun, Heywood (September 28, 1924). "'Hassan' Not Good Enough to Last Long". Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
43. Carey, Ralph W. (February 15, 1925). "Among the New York Theaters". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. p. 26 – via Newspapers.com.
44. "At Orpheum Theatre". The Gazette. Montreal, Canada. May 16, 1925. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
45. "Arliss Returns in Galsworthy Role". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. September 29, 1925. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
46. "This Week at the Theatres". Buffalo Morning Express. Buffalo, New York. January 5, 1926. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
47. Creelman, Eileen (January 17, 1926). "Eastern Movie News". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, Ohio. p. 98 – via Newspapers.com.
48. ""One Man's Woman" Has Its Premiere at Werba's Tomorrow; Arliss in "Old English" - Majestic". Brooklyn Citizen. Brooklyn, New York. May 16, 1926. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
49. "Arliss Arrives From England". Tulsa World. Tulsa, Oklahoma. September 26, 1926. p. 38 – via Newspapers.com.
50. "Broadway Actors Trying Out Plays Up In Woodstock". Daily News. New York, New York. August 1, 1926. p. 174 – via Newspapers.com.
51. Lathrop, Monroe (December 28, 1926). "Arliss Holds His Audience In Rapt Spell". Los Angeles Evening Express. Los Angeles, California. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
52. "George Arliss Is Seen Again In "Old English"". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. May 3, 1927. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
53. "Plays In Brooklyn". Times Union. Brooklyn, New York. September 20, 1927. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
54. ""Constant Wife" At The Wilbur". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. November 1, 1927. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
55. "Shubert Theatre New Haven (ad)". Meriden Record. Meriden, Connecticut. January 7, 1928. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
56. Atkinson, J. Brooks (January 17, 1928). "The Play". The New York Times. New York, New York. p. 22 – via NYTimes.com.
57. McKay, Cele M. (March 9, 1928). "The New York Theatres". The Yonkers Herald. Yonkers, New York. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
58. "Tarrytown". The Yonkers Herald. Yonkers, New York. June 28, 1928. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
59. ""Sign of the Leopard"". Times Union. Brooklyn, New York. November 20, 1928. p. 64 – via Newspapers.com.
60. Mantle, Burns (December 12, 1928). "'Sign of the Leopard' a Bit Spotty". Daily News. New York, New York. p. 486 – via Newspapers.com.
61. Longacre, Betty (March 4, 1929). "Gossip of the Theatre". The Standard Union. Brooklyn, New York. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
62. "Please Stand By". The Tribune. Scranton, Pennsylvania. July 13, 1929. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
63. "'Elizabeth and Essex' Charms". The Evening Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. February 22, 1930. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
64. ""The Royal Virgin" Is Stately Drama". The New York Times. New York, New York. March 18, 1930. p. 4 – via NYTimes.com.
65. Stein, Edwin C. (August 22, 1930). "Arliss Scores Again". The Standard Union. Brooklyn, New York. p. 39 – via Newspapers.com.
66. "Arliss and Barrymore Films in Warner Jubilee". Los Angeles Evening Express. Los Angeles, California. August 5, 1930. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
67. Schallert, Edwin (November 26, 1930). "Theme Unusual At Repertory". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
68. Barnes, Eleanor (November 25, 1930). "Poignant Drama New Offering at Civic Repertory". Daily News. Los Angeles, California. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
69. "Holiday Week To Open At Loew's With Novelties". Daily News. Los Angeles, California. December 18, 1930. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.
70. "Johnny Burke, Film Comedian, On Stage". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. February 9, 1931. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
71. Thirer, Irene (April 24, 1931). "'Born To Love' Bennett Hit". Daily News. New York, New York. p. 741 – via Newspapers.com.
72. Lusk, Norbert (May 3, 1931). "New Gangster Film Clicks". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. 48 – via Newspapers.com.
73. "Black Camel Company En Route To Hawaii". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. May 3, 1931. p. 42 – via Newspapers.com.
74. Aydelotte, Winifred (July 16, 1931). "Chan Mystery Is Exciting". The Los Angeles Record. Los Angeles, California. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
75. Barnes, Eleanor (October 30, 1931). "Novel Film At Warner's". Daily News. Los Angeles, California. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
76. Mines, Harry (November 27, 1931). "'Reckless Living' Is 'Mello'". Daily News. Los Angeles, California. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
77. Cameron, Kate (November 22, 1931). "The Deceiver". Daily News. New York, New York. p. 202 – via Newspapers.com.
78. Babcock, Muriel (January 19, 1932). "Bullets Fly In Film At Hillstreet". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.
79. Thirer, Irene (December 26, 1931). "'Under Eighteen' Is Charming Picture". Daily News. New York, New York. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.
80. Cameron, Kate (January 30, 1932). "The Menace". Daily News. New York, New York. p. 173 – via Newspapers.com.
81. Davis, Bette (August 21, 1938). "Goodbye Forever Missed Bette By Mere Whisker". The Spokesman Review. Spokane, Washington. p. 33 – via Newspapers.com.
82. Thirer, Irene (April 14, 1932). "'Suberb' Is Verdict for 'Grand Hotel'". Daily News. New York, New York. p. 357 – via Newspapers.com.
83. Hall, Mordaunt (April 13, 1932). "The Screen". The New York Times. New York, New York. p. 23 – via NYTimes.com.
84. Cameron, Kate (April 22, 1932). "Warner's "The Mouthpiece" Full Of Color And Drama". Daily News. New York, New York. p. 532 – via Newspapers.com.
85. Dickstein, Martin (September 23, 1932). "The Screen". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
86. Hale, Wanda (June 13, 1937). ""Damaged Lives" Courageous Film". Daily News. New York, New York. p. 167 – via Newspapers.com.
87. Dickstein, Martin (March 15, 1934). "The Screen". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. p. 27 – via Newspapers.com.
88. "Charlie Chan Film On West Coast Screen". Santa Ana Register. Santa Ana, California. July 21, 1934. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
89. Hale, Wanda (September 12, 1934). "Charlie Chan's Fans Have Treat at Mayfair". Daily News. New York, New York. p. 503 – via Newspapers.com.
90. Knox, Charles Victor (December 3, 1934). "Hipp Shows Anne Of Green Gables". The Buffalo News. Buffalo, New York. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
91. Churchill, Douglas W. (January 13, 1935). "Previews of the New Films". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. p. 59 – via Newspapers.com.
92. ""Richelieu" Cast Ready for Cameras". Times Union. Brooklyn, New York. January 26, 1935. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
93. Cameron, Kate (November 27, 1936). "Historical Pageant Filmed At The Astor". Daily News. New York, New York. p. 405 – via Newspapers.com.
94. "Myrna Loy And Clark Gable In "Parnell" At Banning Theatre". The Desert Sun. Palm Springs, California. July 2, 1937. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
95. "Century Offers Wild and Woolly". The Buffalo News. Buffalo, New York. September 13, 1937. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
96. Cameron, Kate (August 2, 1936). "Screen Actors' Guild Active". Daily News. New York, New York. p. 30 – via Newspapers.com.
97. Kester, Marshall (January 3, 1937). "Screen Actors' Guild Appoints Committees". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. 58 – via Newspapers.com.
98. Gammock, Gordon (January 19, 1938). "Week In Movies A Crazy Dream". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. pp. 1, 13 – via Newspapers.com.
99. "Arbitration Group Ready". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. January 25, 1939. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
100. "Experienced Extras Favored". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. October 8, 1940. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
101. "Film guild files demand for pay hikes". Daily News. Los Angeles, California. October 13, 1943. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
102. "Some Extras Get High Pay". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. April 11, 1944. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
103. "SAG Approves New Contract". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. Hollywood, California. November 4, 1949. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
104. "Actor Murray Kinnell Dies". The Courier-Journal. Kentucky, Louisville. Associated Press. August 13, 1954. p. 8. Retrieved December 12, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
105. California, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1843-1999 for Murray Kinnell, retrieved from Ancestry.com
106. "Tacoma Actress Is Wife of English Star". The Tacoma Daily Ledger. Tacoma, Washington. January 6, 1926. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
107. "Boy, 9, Crosses Ocean". Daily News. New York, New York. August 12, 1925. p. 110 – via Newspapers.com.
108. Harrison, R. M. (March 5, 1928). "The Theatre and Its People". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.
109. "One Second Interviews with the Arliss Actors". Goodwin's Weekly. Salt Lake City, Utah. January 22, 1927. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
110. "Warner's Offers Murray Kinnell". The Pasadena Post. Pasadena, California. March 6, 1931. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
111. "Favorite Stars Seen At Games". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan. May 22, 1938. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
112. Foster, C. R. (July 2, 1938). "Four Thousand Turn Out for Gala Opening of Jubilee Cricket Week". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
113. Holliger, Martha (December 10, 1946). "Birmingham Vets". The Valley Times. North Hollywood, California. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
114. "Local Amusements". The Staffordshire Sentinel. Stoke-on-Trent, England. August 10, 1909. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
115. "At The Playhouses". The Minneapolis Morning Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. November 18, 1912. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
116. ""Pomander Walk" Truly Is a Comedy of Happiness". The St. Louis Star and Times. St. Louis, Missouri. December 9, 1912. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
117. "At the Play". The Observer. London, England. December 26, 1915. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
118. "Mr. F. R. Benson's Visit". The Daily Record. Glasgow, Scotland. March 23, 1916. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
119. "The Theatre Royal". Newcastle Daily Journal and Courant. Newcastle, England. March 30, 1916. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
120. "The Theatre Royal". Newcastle Daily Journal and Courant. Newcastle, England. March 31, 1916. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
121. "Amusements in Bristol". The Western Daily Press. Bristol, England. June 14, 1921. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
122. "Prince's Theater". The Western Daily Press. Bristol, England. June 18, 1921. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
123. ""The School For Scandal"". The Evening Despatch. Birmingham, England. July 29, 1921. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
124. "Elizabethan Drama". Daily Herald. London, England. June 26, 1923. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
125. "Nine New Plays". The New York Times. New York, New York. October 10, 1923. p. 26 – via NYTimes.com.
126. ""Twelfth Night" Revived". The New York Times. New York, New York. October 23, 1923. p. 17 – via NYTimes.com.
127. "At Theatres Next Week". The Gazette. Montreal, Canada. March 26, 1925. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
128. "At Orpheum Theatre". The Gazette. Montreal, Canada. May 2, 1925. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
129. "At Orpheum Theatre". The Gazette. Montreal, Canada. May 9, 1925. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
130. "Suburban Drama Is Interesting". Daily News. New York, New York. July 9, 1928. p. 25 – via Newspapers.com.
131. "Newsy Items About Theater From Broadway and Beyond". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. August 5, 1928. p. 60 – via Newspapers.com.
132. Shaw, Len G. (September 10, 1928). "The Theater". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
133. "Movies". Petaluma Argus-Courier. Petaluma, California. February 25, 1932. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
134. Miller, Llewellyn (February 10, 1932). "Arliss Film Is Well Done". The Los Angeles Record. Los Angeles, California. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
135. "Film Exposes Radio Racket". Visalia Times-Delta. Visalia, California. May 17, 1932. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
136. Cameron, Kate (July 16, 1932). "Stanwyck and Brent In Saga Of Soil At Strand". Daily News. New York, New York. p. 128 – via Newspapers.com.
137. "'The Painted Woman' Coming Tomorrow". The Press Democrat. Santa Rosa, California. September 4, 1932. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
138. "Previews". The Los Angeles Record. Los Angeles, California. October 29, 1932. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
139. "Drama of "The Match King" Booked By Warners". The Los Angeles Record. Los Angeles, California. December 20, 1932. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
140. Cameron, Kate (July 1, 1934). ""Affairs of a Gentleman"". Daily News. New York, New York. p. 59 – via Newspapers.com.
141. "More Murder Comes Next Week". Modoc County Times. Alturas, California. July 19, 1934. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
142. Cameron, Kate (July 27, 1934). "Cortez Is Good In Murder Mystery". Daily News. New York, New York. p. 198 – via Newspapers.com.
143. Palmer, Rollin (July 26, 1935). "Century Picture Has New Villain". The Buffalo News. Buffalo, New York. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
144. "Football Film Due Thursday at the Capitol". Press and Sun-Bulletin. Binghamton, New York. October 1935. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
145. "Double Bill At Hipp Is Topped By Outcast". The Buffalo News. Buffalo, New York. April 19, 1937. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
146. Palmer, Rollin (May 10, 1937). "Mauch Brothers At Great Lakes". The Buffalo News. Buffalo, New York. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Murray Kinnell at IMDb