Jeffrey Lynn

He was at the center of the Gone with the Wind (1939) casting controversy: he was the top contender to play Ashley Wilkes but the director eventually chose Leslie Howard. Lynn was asked to join James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart in The Roaring Twenties (1939), a gangster noir that garnered him critical praise. His success continued with such films as The Fighting 69th (1940) in which he portrayed poet-soldier Joyce Kilmer opposite Cagney, It All Came True (1940), All This, and Heaven Too (1940) and Million Dollar Baby (1941). His movie career was put on hold for World War II draft, where he received a Bronze Star for his service in Italy and Austria as a combat intelligence captain. He returned to the screen in 1948 and was in the popular A Letter to Three Wives (1949), which went on to be nominated for best picture in the 1950 prime time Academy Awards. A year later he joined that cast of Home Town Story (1951) billed alongside Marilyn Monroe. His later film career credits include: BUtterfield 8 (1960) along with Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey, and Tony Rome (1967) with Frank Sinatra. Lynn also began to act on Broadway and was featured in such plays as Any Wednesday (1966) and Dinner at Eight (1967). Later on in his career he found mixed critical success television starring in hit shows such as Robert Montgomery Presents, Your Show of Shows, My Son Jeep (with young Martin Huston), and Lux Video Theatre. He died in November 1995 in Burbank, California from natural causes and was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills. Actor Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum is named in honor of Jeffrey Lynn.

• Name — Jeffrey Lynn • Birth Name — Ragnar Godfrey Lind • Born — February 16, 1909 • Birthplace — Auburn, Massachusetts, U.S. • Place of death — Burbank, California, U.S. • Resting Place — Forest Lawn Memorial Park Hollywood Hills, California, U.S. • Education — Bates College • Occupation — Actor, film producer • Years Active — 1935–1990

Ragnar Godfrey Lind was born in Auburn, Massachusetts. He attended Bates College in Lewiston, Maine and graduated in 1930 with a B.A. degree in education. While in college, he was a part of the secret society, Nova Scotia, and participated in the 1930 Penn Relays where he was part of the winning two-mile track & field relay team. His interest in acting developed in college. At one time he intended to go into law school but decided to enter the workplace instead. He worked for the New England Telephone Co. and later taught English, speech and drama in high school, then decided to try acting as a career.

Lynn started acting professionally at the Barter Theater in Abingdon, Virginia. He got small parts on Broadway and in road companies, supplementing his earnings with part-time jobs. including department store clerk, and movie usher. Lynn was appearing in a production of Brother Rat in Chicago. He was spotted by a Warners talent scout and given a screen test. In January 1938 they signed him to a long-term contract.

• Illustration — Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, and Jeffrey Lynn in The Roaring Twenties (1939) Lynn made his film debut in short Out Where the Stars Begin (1938). He had a supporting role in When Were You Born (1938) with Anna May Wong and a bit part in Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938) with Dick Powell. In April 1938 Lynn was cast in a role originally turned down by Errol Flynn: one of the romantic male love interests in Four Daughters (1938) (first called Sister Act). Lynn appeared alongside the Lane Sisters, Claude Rains and John Garfield. Lynn was promptly reteamed with Priscilla Lane in Yes, My Darling Daughter (1939) and then Daughters Courageous (1939), a film with the same director and stars as Four Daughters but a different storyline. After the success of Four Daughters, Lynn was screen tested for the role of Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind (1939). He was considered to be the front runner for the role, partly due to his physical resemblance to the character as written. Lynn was used extensively during the "Search for Scarlett" playing Ashley in the screen tests for many of the actresses who tried out for the part. David O. Selznick eventually cast the more experienced and popular Leslie Howard. It was during this time that he received typecasting as "the handsome romantic husband or boyfriend," "the attractive, reliable love interest of the heroine," and "the tall, stalwart hero." Warners gave him the third lead in Espionage Agent (1939) alongside Joel McCrea and Brenda Marshall, and a lead role in The Roaring Twenties (1939), a gangster film that reunited him with Four Daughters star Priscilla Lane, as well as James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. As one of a trio of friends, and the only one not to "go bad", Lynn won excellent reviews. Lynn reprised his Four Daughters role in Four Wives (1939). He was the male lead in A Child Is Born (1939) co-starring with Geraldine Fitzgerald, and he was reunited with Cagney in The Fighting 69th (1940), though billed beneath Pat O'Brien and George Brent. He played poet-soldier Joyce Kilmer. Lynn was Ann Sheridan's love interest in It All Came True (1940), battling Humphrey Bogart, and was third billed in All This, and Heaven Too (1940) with Bette Davis and Charles Boyer. Lynn was Olivia de Havilland's leading man in My Love Came Back (1940), replacing George Brent. He was top billed in Money and the Woman (1940), a crime drama with Brenda Marshall. Lynn did a second sequel to Four Daughters, Four Mothers (1941), and was reunited with Fitzgerald in Flight from Destiny (1941). Lynn was offered a role in Singapore (also Jinx Woman) but turned it down and was put on suspension. It was lifted in December 1940 when he agreed to make Miss Pinkerton with Fitzgerald. He starred in Million Dollar Baby (1941) with Priscilla Lane and Ronald Reagan, was top billed in the war film Underground (1941), and was Constance Bennett's leading man in Law of the Tropics (1941). He was tested for the lead in Kings Row but the studio cast Robert Cummings. Lynn's final film before entering the Air Corps was the comedy The Body Disappears (1941), with Jane Wyman; Lynn was top billed. In 1941, Lynn was voted 7th in the "Top Ten Stars of Tomorrow" two spots behind then-actor and future U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

His movie career was interrupted by service during World War II, with Lynn joining the United States Army Air Forces in February 1942. He served with a bomber unit and in May 1945 was promoted to captain. Lynn earned a bronze star as a combat intelligence captain in Italy and Austria, and was discharged in 1946 as Special Intelligence Officer. While in service, Lynn often worked as a bartender in his unit's Officer's Club. He legally changed his name to his stage name while in service, as he noted "that he wanted to serve his country during World War II under the name that had become popular." Lynn returned to Hollywood in November 1946. In April 1947, Lynn was about to begin work on his first post-war picture when he was in a car accident with his first wife at the Donner Pass while coming back from a ski trip. That same year, he signed with Columbia to make Let's Fall in Love, but the picture was made as Slightly French without him.

Lynn made his television debut in an episode of Suspense (1949) and an adaptation of Miracle in the Rain for Studio One in Hollywood (1950) under the direction of Franklin J. Schaffner. He went on to appear in episodes of Lights Out, Faith Baldwin Romance Theatre, Cameo Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, The Clock, and Family Theatre. Lynn had a support role in Up Front (1951) and the lead in Home Town Story (1951). He appeared on Broadway in The Long Days (1951) which only ran three performances, and Lo and Behold! (1951–52) which ran for 38 performances under the direction of Burgess Meredith. Lynn guest starred on episodes of Schlitz Playhouse, Tales of Tomorrow, The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, Checkmate (a TV movie), Goodyear Playhouse, Philip Morris Playhouse, Suspense again, The Elgin Hour, Danger, Robert Montgomery Presents, Justice, and Appointment with Adventure. He had a recurring role in a series My Son Jeep (1953) which only ran 11 episodes. He worked extensively in summer stock. Lynn returned to features with Lost Lagoon (1957) and was in The United States Steel Hour. In 1957 he appeared in Arms and the Man in Michigan.

Lynn married his first wife Robin Chandler in 1946 and divorced in 1958. He married his second wife Patricia, in 1965; she died in 1974. He married Helen in 1986, and they remained married until his death.

Lynn died at St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank, California, aged 89, and was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. His New York Times obituary cited him as "the handsome leading man in a string of Warner Brothers films." Denis Gifford of The Independent noted that "his good looks and sincere playing won him a place in the memories of all film fans of Hollywood's golden age."

• Year — Film — Role — Director — Notes • 1938 — Out Where the Stars Begin — Short • When Were You Born — Reporter Davis — William C. McGann — Gemini • Cowboy from Brooklyn — Chronicle Reporter — Lloyd Bacon • Four Daughters — Felix Deitz — Michael Curtiz • 1939 — Yes, My Darling Daughter — Douglas Hall — William Keighley • Daughters Courageous — John S. 'Johnny' Heming — Michael Curtiz • Espionage Agent — Lowell Warrington — Lloyd Bacon • The Roaring Twenties — Lloyd Hart — Raoul Walsh • A Child Is Born — Jed Sutton — Lloyd Bacon • Four Wives — Felix Dietz — Michael Curtiz • 1940 — The Fighting 69th — Joyce Kilmer — William Keighley • It All Came True — Tommy Taylor — Lewis Seiler • All This, and Heaven Too — Henry Martyn Field — Anatole Litvak • My Love Came Back — Tony Baldwin — Curtis Bernhardt • Money and the Woman — Dave Bennett — William K. Howard — Bennet in Newspaper Story • 1941 — Four Mothers — Felix Deitz — William Keighley • Flight from Destiny — Michael Farroway — Vincent Sherman • Million Dollar Baby — James Amory — Curtis Bernhardt • Underground — Kurt Franken — Vincent Sherman • Law of the Tropics — Jim Conwoy — Ray Enright • The Body Disappears — Peter DeHaven — D. Ross Lederman • 1948 — Black Bart — Lance Hardeen — George Sherman • For the Love of Mary — Phillip Manning — Frederick de Cordova • Whiplash — Dr. Arnold Vincent — Lewis Seiler • 1949 — A Letter to Three Wives — Brad Bishop — Joseph L. Mankiewicz • Strange Bargain — Sam Wilson — Will Price • 1950 — Captain China — Capt. George Brendensen — Lewis R. Foster • 1951 — Up Front — Capt. Ralph Johnson — Alexander Hall • Home Town Story — Blake Washburn — Arthur Pierson • 1953 — Checkmate — TV movie • Main Street to Broadway — First Nighter — Tay Garnett — Uncredited • 1954 — Doorway to Suspicion — Paul Stapleton • 1957 — Lost Lagoon — Charlie Walker • 1960 — BUtterfield 8 — Bingham Smith — Daniel Mann • 1961 — The Spiral Staircase — Doctor Parry — TV movie • 1967 — Tony Rome — Adam Boyd — Gordon Douglas

The authorities additionally record the heading Ragnar Godfrey Lind. His recorded language was English. He married Robin Chandler Duke.

Jeffrey Lynn is recorded as teacher, actor, film producer and screenwriter.