Herbert Rudley

Who was Herbert Rudley?

Herbert Rudley, was a prolific character actor who appeared on stage, in films and on television.

Rudley was born in 1910 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and attended Temple University. He left Temple after winning a scholarship to Eva Le Gallienne's Civic Repertory Theatre.

He began appearing on stage in 1926. His Broadway debut was in Did I Say No in 1931. He also appeared in stage productions of The Threepenny Opera, Abe Lincoln in Illinois and Macbeth.

In 1940, he appeared in the film version of Abe Lincoln in Illinois. For the next four decades, he appeared in dozens of supporting film roles, including The Seventh Cross and Rhapsody in Blue, the film biography of George Gershwin, in which he portrayed Ira Gershwin. He also appeared in A Walk in the Sun, in which he played a World War II sergeant who experiences a psychological breakdown in combat; Joan of Arc; and The Young Lions, in which he played an unsympathetic Army officer.

On television, he appeared both in dramas, often as a military man, and comedies. He also appeared on My Friend Flicka. In 1957, he guest starred as a Prussian cavalry officer in an episode of the syndicated western series, Boots and Saddles.