He made his Broadway debut 1932 and soon after worked in Hollywood. Speaking with a soft, slow drawl, he specialized in the role of the stubbornly honest, ordinary American in such films as Mr Smith Goes to Washington 1939, The Philadelphia Story 1940 (Academy Award), It's a Wonderful Life 1946, Harvey 1950, The Man from Laramie 1955, and Anatomy of a Murder 1959. His films with director Alfred Hitchcock include Rope 1948, Rear Window 1954, The Man Who Knew Too Much 1956, and Vertigo 1958.
