Clifton Webb
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The ThumbScore for Clifton Webb (81.0%) is the average audience approval rating across 3 films. Each movie's ThumbScore represents the percentage of real audiences who rated it positively. A higher score means more of Clifton's films are well-received by everyday viewers.
Webb Parmelee Hollenbeck (November 19, 1889 – October 13, 1966), known professionally as Clifton Webb, was an American actor, singer, and dancer. He worked extensively and was known for his stage appearances in the plays of Noël Coward, including Blithe Spirit, as well as appearances on Broadway in a number of successful musical revues. As a film actor, he was nominated for three Academy Awards — Best Supporting Actor for Laura (1944) and The Razor's Edge (1946), and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Sitting Pretty (1948).
Webb was born Webb Parmelee Hollenbeck in Indianapolis, Indiana, the only child of Jacob Grant Hollenbeck (1867 – May 2, 1939), the ticket-clerk son of a grocer from an Indiana farming family, and his wife, Mabel A. (née Parmelee, March 24, 1869 – October 17, 1960), the daughter of David Parmelee, a railroad conductor, and his wife, Grace (née Saville). Webb's parents married in Kankakee, Illinois on January 18, 1888, and separated in 1891, shortly after their son's birth. According to Marion County, Indiana, records, the marriage took place in Indianapolis. In 1892, Webb's mother, now styling herself "Mabelle", moved to New York City with her beloved "little Webb", as she called him for the remainder of her life. She dismissed questions about her husband, Jacob, who like her father, worked for the Indianapolis-St. Louis Railroad, by saying, "We never speak of him.
In 1909, using his new stage name, 19-year-old Clifton Webb had become a professional ballroom dancer, often partnering with "exceedingly decorative" star dancer Bonnie Glass (she would eventually replace him with Rudolph Valentino); they would perform in about two dozen operettas. His debut on Broadway began when The Purple Road opened at the Liberty Theatre on April 7, 1913; he played the role of Bosco for the 136 performances before closing in August. His mother (billed as Mabel Parmalee) was listed in the program as a member of the opening-night cast. His next musical was an Al Jolson vehicle, Sigmund Romberg's Dancing Around, which opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on October 10, 1914, ran for 145 performances, and closed in the following February. Later in 1915, Webb was cast in the all-star revue Ned Wayburn's Town Topics, which boasted 117 famous performers, including Will Rogers, as listed in the Century Theatre opening-night program for September 23, 1915. It closed 68 performances later on November 20, 1915.
Born 1889-11-19 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Died 1966-10-13.
On ThumbScore, Clifton Webb appears in 3 films with an average audience score of 81.0%, most frequently in the Drama genre.
