Romaine Callender

Alfred Romaine Callender, more commonly referred to as Romaine Callender and also known professionally as A. Romaine Callendar and Alfred Callender (February 17, 1883,·Sheffield, England – February 5, 1976, New York City) was an English born American actor of stage and screen. He should not be confused with several other men in his family also known publicly as Romaine Callendar, including his father, the stage actor Edwin Romaine Callendar (1845-1922), and his uncle, the music educator, conductor, composer, organ builder, and book author William Romaine Callendar (1859-1930).

Callender began his career as a stage actor in 1906 performing with Robert B. Mantell's Shakespeare company. He had a prolific career as an actor on Broadway from 1910 through 1935. He simultaneously worked periodically in film; making his screen debut in the silent film My Wife in 1918. While predominantly a stage actor during the silent film era, in 1935 he transitioned away from the theatre and became am actor in sound films under contract with Columbia Pictures; starring as a character actor in almost 50 feature films from 1935-1945.^[1]

Alfred Romaine Callender was born on 17 February 1883 in Sheffield, England. He was the son of actor Edward Romaine Callender and Florence Callender (nee Chapman).^[2] His father was known as Romaine Callender and E. Romaine Callendar on the stage.^[3] His uncle, the composer, conductor, and music educator William Romaine Callendar, was the director of the Metropolitan College of Music in Philadelphia and was also known publicly as Romaine Callendar.^[4] When his uncle died in 1930, it was initially incorrectly reported in the press that the actor Alfred Romaine Callender was the one who died because both men were known publicly as Romaine Callender.^[4]

Callender began performing on the stage as Alfred Callendar in 1906 with Robert B. Mantell's theatre company for performances in Montreal, Buffalo, New York, and Boston. He made his debut with that company at His Majesty's Theatre, Montreal as the Duke of Albany in William Shakespeare's King Lear on September 5, 1906.^[5] Other roles he portrayed with that company in the 1906-1907 season included Gratiano in Othello,^[6] Sir Robert Brackenbury in Richard III,^[7][8] Salanio in The Merchant of Venice,^[9] and Tillius Cimber in Julius Caesar.^[10]

When Callender made his Broadway debut at the Empire Theatre in 1910 as Rideout in Arthur Wing Pinero's Mid-Channel he was now billed as A. Romaine Callender.^[11] Following this production he joined William Gillette's theatre troupe; portraying the role of Gordon Hayne in a national tour of Gillette's five act war drama Held by the Enemy.^[12] He returned to Broadway as Don Mackenzie in Thompson Buchanan's The Rack (1911, Playhouse Theatre).^[13] Bonnaire in Pierre Wolff's Les Marionnettes (1911-1912, Lyceum Theatre),^[14] Ibrahim in J. B. Fagan's Bella Donna (1912, Empire Theatre; 1913, Wallack's Theatre)^[15] and Achille in Edward Sheldon's The Song of Songs (1914-1915, Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre).^[16]

In 1918 Callendar enlisted in the United States Navy and was in service during the latter part of World War I.^[17] After the war he returned to Broadway in Arnold Bennett's Sacred and Profane Love (1920, Morosco Theatre), as El Nacional in Tom Cushing's Blood and Sand (1921, Empire Theatre), and as J. Sloane Henshaw in George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly's Merton of the Movies (1922-1923, Cort Theatre).

Callender continued to appear on the stage as A. Romaine Callender until after the death of his father in 1922. Not long after this he took his father's stage name of Romaine Callender; first appearing on Broadway under that name as Snake in the 1925 revival of The School for Scandal at the Knickerbocker Theatre. In 1927 he portrayed Asst. State's Attorney Welch in the original production of Bartlett Cormack's The Racket at the Ambassador Theatre. His other later Broadway credits include the roles of Malacoda in Mima (1928), Dr. Otternschlag in Grand Hotel (1930), Fernand Demoncey in The Man Who Reclaimed His Head (1932), Dr. Frederick Swan in Keeper of the Keys (1933), Cesar Poustiano in Another Love (1934), General Michael Rakovski in Judgment Day (1934), and Wesley Cartwright Post Road (1934-1935).

In 1935, Callender left New York City for Hollywood and became a contract player with Columbia Pictures.^[1] His first film with Columbia was the 1935 screwball comedy If You Could Only Cook in which he portrayed Jennings, the butler. Film historian and The Washington Post critic John Dileo wrote that this film's "droll highpoint has Marsall seeking instruction from his own butler (well-named Romaine Callender) on how to be a butler; it's a memorably civilized bit of role reversal."^[18] Callender portrayed butlers, often with humorous impact, in several more Columbia pictures; including the films The Music Goes 'Round (1936),^[19] Pepper (1936),^[20] Life Begins with Love (1937),^[21] The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938),^[22] Wuthering Heights (1939),^[23] and It's a Date (1940). As a character actor, Callender starred in almost 50 feature films from 1935-1945; most of them for Columbia.^[1]

Romaine Callender died in New York City on February 5, 1976.^[24]

• American Film Institute (1993). The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States; Feature Films, 1931-1940. R.R. Bowker Company.
• Ankerich, Michael G. (2011). The Sound of Silence: Conversations with 16 Film and Stage Personalities Who Bridged the Gap Between Silents and Talkies. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786485345.
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• Katchmer, George A. (1991). Eighty Silent Film Stars: Biographies and Filmographies of the Obscure to the Well Known. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780899504940.
• Langman, Larry; Finn, Daniel (1995). A guide to American crime films of the thirties. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9780313295324.
• Lowe, Barry (2024). Deanna Durbin in Hollywood: Her Life, Films and Music. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9781476685335.
• Martin, Len D. (1991). The Columbia Checklist: The Feature Films, Serials, Cartoons, and Short Subjects of Columbia Pictures Corporation, 1922-1988. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780899505565.
• Mason, Hamilton (1940). French Theatre in New York: A List of Plays, 1899-1939. Columbia University Press.
• Nash, Jay Robert; Ross, Stanley Ralph (1987). The Motion Picture Guide. Cinebooks.
• Ness, Richard (1997). From Headline Hunter to Superman: A Journalism Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810832916.
• Parish, James Robert (1978). "Callender, Romaine". Hollywood Character Actors. Arlington House Publishers. ISBN 9780870003844.
• Pitts, Michael R. (2012). Western Movies: A Guide to 5,105 Feature Films, 2d Ed. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9781476600901.
• Ramsaye, Terry, ed. (1942). "Callender, Romaine". Motion Picture Almanac. Quigley Publishing Company.

• Romaine Callender at IMDb
• Romaine Callender at the Internet Broadway Database