Prot-a-gonist* The secret of charm | Tyrone Power, 1914-1958

Tyrone Power 1930s 2 — Tyrone Power, 1930s

“The secret of charm is bullshit.”

“Some day I will show all the [people] who say I was a success just because of my pretty face. Sometimes I wish I had a really bad car accident so my face would get smashed up and I’d look like Eddie Constantine.”

Tyrone Power The Mark of Zorro 1940 — Tyrone Power, The Mark of Zorro, 1940

Tyrone Power Thin Ice 1937 — Tyrone Power, Thin Ice, 1937

“I’ve done an awful lot of stuff that’s a monument to public patience.”

“I’m sick of all these knights in shining armor parts, I want to do something worthwhile like plays and films that have something to say.”

Tyrone Power and Rita Hayworth in a publicity portrait for Blood and Sand 1941. — Tyrone Power and Rita Hayworth in a publicity portrait for Blood and Sand, 1941

Tyrone Power and Linda Christian in Rome photographed by Jean Howard 1949 — Tyrone Power and Linda Christian in Rome / photo by Jean Howard, 1949

“I’m not sure what faith is. If by it is meant a blind acceptance of “things not seen,” then I think that perhaps I am a man without faith. On the other hand, there was a poet who said: “There lives more faith in honest doubt, believe me, than in half the creeds.” By that definition I am a man of great faith, for I have many honest doubts.“

Tyrone Power Jesse James 1939 — Tyrone Power, Jesse James, 1939

Tyrone Power during a make up test for Nightmare Alley 1947 — Tyrone Power during a make up test for Nightmare Alley, 1947

“I have been asked whether I believe that World War II is the last war. Let me answer by a question: Do you think human beings are any better today than they have been?”

Tyrone Power and his Irish Setter dog 1940 1 — Tyrone Power and his Irish Setter dog, 1940

“Tyrone Power was one of the genuine professionals among the actors I’ve dealt with. I suppose “craftsman” might be another proper term.”

“People always seem to remember Ty with sword in hand, although he once told me he wanted to be a character actor. He actually was quite good — among the best swordsmen in films.”

Henry King (director of 11 of Ty’s films and personal friend)

“There was one absolutely gorgeous man in Hollywood I had admired from afar for several years. When I saw him in a nightclub or at a motion picture function, I would just stare. And when I was told that Twentieth Century-Fox wanted to borrow me for a film with this dream man, I nearly fainted. At last I was going to work with — and more than likely, be kissed by — Tyrone Power. Of course I tried to be very sophisticated, but privately, on the inside, I was very excited. As I began to know Ty, I decided the word “devil” certainly suited him. Not only was he more handsome off screen than on (and that took some doing), but he was one of the funniest men I ever met.”

Dorothy Lamour

Tyrone Power Nightmare Alley 1947 — Tyrone Power, Nightmare Alley, 1947

“He was the most beautiful man I ever saw. No question.”

Anne Baxter in The Razor’s Edge, 1946

“He had an aura about him that set him apart from everybody else. I had an enormous crush on him and felt his feet never touched the earth.”

Coleen Gray (leading lady in Nightmare Alley, 1947)

“Ty was warm and considerate. He had a beautiful face.”

Gene Tierney (leading lady in Son of Fury, The Razor’s Edge, and That Wonderful Urge)

“Working with Ty Power was exciting. In those days, he was the biggest romantic swashbuckler in the world. Murderously handsome! But what I loved most about Ty Power was his wicked sense of humor.”

Maureen O’Hara (leading lady for The Black Swan and The Long Gray Line)

Tyrone Power. King of 20th Century Gox

Also:

The Book & the Movie: Nightmare Alley | William Lindsay Gresham,1946 / Edmund Goulding, 1947

The Book & the Movie: The Razor’s Edge (1944) / W. Somerset Maugham | Edmund Goulding (1946)