Etienne Girardot

Etienne Girardot

Of Anglo/French parentage, birdlike comic actor Etienne Girardot was an established theatrical favorite long before the turn of the century. One of Girardot's best-loved stage roles was Lord Fancourt Babberly in Charley's Aunt; a production photo of the actor in female drag appeared for years in the Collier's Encyclopedia entry on "Theatre." He entered films in 1912 as star of Vitagraph's The Violin of Monsieur. Then it was back to the stage, where in 1933 he scored a personal success as balmy self-styled millionaire Mr. Clark in Hecht and MacArthur's Twentieth Century. It was this role that brought Girardot back to movies on a full-time basis, where he remained until his death in 1939. Etienne Girardot's film roles included crabby coroner Dr. Doremus in two "Philo Vance" mysteries; orphanage official Wyckoff in Curly Top (1935), who endures the indignity of being imitated (quite well) by star Shirley Temple; and King Louis' senile physician in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide