Michael Chekhov

Chekov made his film debut in the very pro-USSR, pre-Cold War romance, "Song of Russia" (1943). With his good speaking voice and accent, he was generally cast as immigrant types, downtrodden "little men" and intellectuals; his role in the wartime drama "In Our Time" (1944) was quite typical. In 1945, Chekov won an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his work as a psychiatrist colleague of Ingrid Bergman's who helps her solve the murder mystery of "Spellbound." His feature work was only occasional and ranged from the routine likes of "Cross My Heart" (1946) and "Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven" (1948) to the good soap opera "Invitation" (1952) to the laughably arty and pretentious "Specter of the Rose" (1946), where Chekhov at least played his over-the-top material to the fullest. His last film role was as a music teacher in the lush and sudsy "Rhapsody" (1954) before his death of a heart attack. Chekhov's film roles were generally modest, but, as with other emigres like Albert Basserman, his work was a testament to the strength of the acting traditions underpinning his early training.