Search a film or person :
FacebookConnectionRegistration
Rondo Hatton is a Actor American born on 22 april 1894 at Hagerstown (USA)

Rondo Hatton

Rondo Hatton
  • Infos
  • Photos
  • Best films
  • Family
  • Characters
  • Awards
If you like this person, let us know!
Nationality USA
Birth 22 april 1894 at Hagerstown (USA)
Death 2 february 1946 (at 51 years) at Beverly Hills (USA)

Rondo K. Hatton (April 22, 1894 – February 2, 1946) was an American soldier, journalist and occasional actor with a minor career playing thuggish bit and extra parts in Hollywood B-movies, culminating in his elevation to horror movie star-status with Universal Studios in the last two years of his life, and posthumously as a movie cult icon. He was known for his unique facial features which were the result of acromegaly, a syndrome caused by a disorder of the pituitary gland.

Biography

Hatton was born in Hagerstown, Maryland to Stewart Price and Emily Zarring Hatton, a pair of Missouri-born teachers. The Hatton family moved several times during Rondo's youth, to Hickory, North Carolina, and to Charles Town, West Virginia, and at last to Tampa, Florida, where family members owned a business. Following his father's death, Hatton, his mother, and his younger brother Stewart moved in with his maternal grandmother in Tampa. There he obtained work as a sportswriter for the local newspaper. He worked as a journalist until after World War I when the symptoms of acromegaly developed.

Acromegaly distorted the shape of Hatton's head, face, and extremities in a gradual but consistent process. Hatton, who reportedly had been voted the handsomest boy in his class at Hillsborough High School, eventually became severely disfigured by the disease. Because the symptoms developed in adulthood (as is common with the disorder), the disfigurement was incorrectly attributed later by film studio publicity departments to his exposure to a German mustard gas attack during service in World War I. Hatton served in combat and served on the Pancho Villa Expedition along the Mexican border and in France during World War I with the United States Army, from which he was discharged due to his illness.

Director Henry King noticed Hatton when he was working as a reporter with The Tampa Tribune covering the filming of Hell Harbor (1930) and hired him for a small role. After some hesitation, Hatton moved to Hollywood in 1936 to pursue a career playing similar, often uncredited, bit and extra roles. His most notable of these were as a contestant-extra in the "ugly man competition" (which he loses to a heavily made up Charles Laughton) in the RKO production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He had another supporting-character role as Gabe Hart, a member of the lynch mob in the 1943 film of The Ox-Bow Incident.

Universal Studios attempted to exploit Hatton's unusual features to promote him as a horror star after he played the part of The Hoxton Creeper (aka The Hoxton Horror) in its sixth Sherlock Holmes film, The Pearl of Death (1944). He made two films playing "the Creeper", House of Horrors (filmed in 1945 but not released until 1946, after his death) and The Brute Man (1946, also posthumously). Hatton died of a heart attack (a direct result of his acromegalic condition) in 1946.

Usually with

Henry King
Henry King
(6 films)
Thomas Little
Thomas Little
(5 films)
Vera West
Vera West
(5 films)
Lamar Trotti
Lamar Trotti
(4 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Rondo Hatton (27 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

House of Horrors, 1h5
Directed by Jean Yarbrough
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Horror
Actors Rondo Hatton, Robert Lowery, Virginia Grey, Martin Kosleck, Bill Goodwin, Alan Napier
Roles The Creeper
Rating61% 3.0510053.0510053.0510053.0510053.051005
Struggling sculptor, Marcel De Lange (Martin Kosleck) is depressed about the events going on in his life, and decides to commit suicide. But just as he's about to kill himself, he spots and saves a madman, named "The Creeper" (Rondo Hatton) from drowning. Shortly afterward, he takes the disfigured man into his care. Marcel also makes the Creeper the subject of his next sculpture and calls it his best creation. But as the reviews begin to break Marcel's last nerve, he has the Creeper start killing the critics.
The Spider Woman Strikes Back, 59minutes
Directed by Arthur Lubin
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror
Actors Gale Sondergaard, Brenda Joyce, Kirby Grant, Rondo Hatton, Milburn Stone, Hobart Cavanaugh
Roles Mario the Monster Man
Rating57% 2.8618952.8618952.8618952.8618952.861895
Une jeune fille va travailler comme concierge chez une vieille femme effrayante. Elle ne sait pas que chaque nuit, la femme lui draine un peu de sang pour nourrir son étrange plante.
The Brute Man, 58minutes
Directed by Jean Yarbrough
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Rondo Hatton, Jane Adams, Poni Adams, Tom Neal, Jan Wiley, Donald MacBride
Roles Hal Moffet AKA 'The Creeper'
Rating44% 2.208422.208422.208422.208422.20842
The police investigate a string of murders committed by the Creeper (Rondo Hatton), a mysterious killer with a hideously disfigured face. The Creeper attacks and murders Professor Cushman (John Hamilton), a professor from the nearby Hampton University. Later that night, the killer approaches a woman named Joan Bemis (Janelle Johnson) in front of her home and identifies himself as Hal Moffet. Joan screams hysterically at the sight of him until he is driven to kill her. When police cars approach, the Creeper climbs the fire escape of a city tenement building to escape and enters the apartment of Helen Paige (Jane Adams), a blind pianist. Unable to see the Creeper's deformed face, Helen is not afraid of the intruder, even when he admits he is fleeing from the police. When officers knock on her door, Helen encourages him to hide in her bedroom, where he escapes through the window.
The Jungle Captive, 1h3
Directed by Harold Young
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Horror
Themes Films about animals, Films about apes
Actors Otto Kruger, Rondo Hatton, Phil Brown, Amelita Ward, Jerome Cowan, Eddie Acuff
Roles Moloch the Brute
Rating51% 2.569562.569562.569562.569562.56956
The film begins in the laboratory of the eminent biochemist Mr. Stendahl (Otto Kruger). As his assistants, Ann Forester (Amelita Ward) and Don Young (Phil Brown) observe, he successfully concludes an experiment to restore life to a dead rabbit.
The Royal Mounted Rides Again
Directed by Ray Taylor, Lewis D. Collins
Origin USA
Genres Action, Western
Actors George Dolenz, Bill Kennedy, Milburn Stone, Robert Armstrong, Rondo Hatton, Addison Richards
Roles Bull Andrews
Rating68% 3.445123.445123.445123.445123.44512
Mine owner Jackson Decker orders his manager to obtain miner Tom Bailey's milling machinery, no matter what the cost. When Bailey is found murdered, suspicion naturally falls on Jackson and his manager. Jackson's son, a Canadian Mountie, is directed to seek out the murderer, or murderers, and bring them to justice.
The Pearl of Death, 1h8
Directed by Roy William Neill
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Themes Sherlock Holmes films, Buddy films
Actors Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Dennis Hoey, Evelyn Ankers, Miles Mander, Ian Wolfe
Roles The Hoxton Creeper
Rating70% 3.547623.547623.547623.547623.54762
Master criminal Giles Conover (Miles Mander) steals the famous "Borgia Pearl" from the Royal Regent Museum under the very nose of Holmes and Watson, but when caught the pearl is not found on him and he is released.
The Princess and the Pirate, 1h34
Directed by David Butler, Samuel Goldwyn, Sidney Lanfield
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Action, Adventure, Romance
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films, Pirate films
Actors Bob Hope, Virginia Mayo, Walter Brennan, Walter Slezak, Victor McLaglen, Marc Lawrence
Roles Gorilla (uncredited)
Rating67% 3.397543.397543.397543.397543.39754
A pirate captain known as the Hook (Victor McLaglen) buries his treasure on an island and kills the map maker so no one else will find it. He and his cut-throat crew go after the Mary Ann, a ship on which Princess Margaret (Virginia Mayo) is running away from her father, the King (Robert Warwick), so she can marry a commoner. The Hook plans to hold her for a large ransom. A cowardly actor, Sylvester the Great (Hope), is in the cabin next door to Margaret. The Hook's ship, The Avenger attacks the Mary Ann and after a big fight, the crew are killed or made to walk the plank by the pirates. Sylvester escapes by disguising himself as a gypsy woman and is taken on board The Avenger with Margaret.
Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore, 1h19
Directed by Joe May
Origin USA
Genres War, Comedy, Romance
Actors Simone Simon, James Ellison, Minna Gombell, Chick Chandler, Alan Dinehart, Sr., Gladys Blake
Roles Graves (uncredited)
Rating56% 2.809382.809382.809382.809382.80938
A young defense worker Kathie Aumont (Simone Simon) comes to Washington DC only to find that her friend Sally, with whom she was going to live, is newly married. This leaves Kathie with nowhere to sleep. Luckily she falls in love with a newly inducted Marine, who gives her the key to his apartment. Unluckily he's also given keys to all his friends.
The Ox-Bow Incident, 1h15
Directed by James Tinling, William A. Wellman
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Western
Themes Films about capital punishment, Children's films
Actors Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn, Harry Morgan, Jane Darwell, William Eythe
Roles Gabe Hart (uncredited)
Rating79% 3.997253.997253.997253.997253.99725
In Bridger's Wells, Nevada in 1885, Art Croft (Harry Morgan) and Gil Carter (Henry Fonda) ride into town and enter Darby's Saloon. The atmosphere is subdued due to recent incidents of cattle-rustling. Art and Gil are suspected to be rustlers because they are rarely seen in town.
Sleepy Lagoon, 1h5
Directed by Joseph Santley
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Musical, Crime
Themes Musical films
Actors Dennis Day, Joe Sawyer, Ernest Truex, Ruth Donnelly, Douglas Fowley, Will Wright
Roles Hunchback (uncredited)
Rating64% 3.2309653.2309653.2309653.2309653.230965
Tales of Manhattan, 2h7
Directed by Julien Duvivier
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Romance
Themes Children's films
Actors Charles Boyer, Rita Hayworth, Ginger Rogers, Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Edward G. Robinson
Roles Party Guest (uncredited)
Rating72% 3.642163.642163.642163.642163.64216
Based on the Mexican writer Francisco Rojas González's novel, Historia de un frac ("Story of a Tailcoat"), the stories follow a black formal tailcoat as it goes from owner to owner, in five otherwise unconnected stories.
The Black Swan, 1h27
Directed by Henry King, Albert R. Broccoli
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Swashbuckler, Action, Adventure, Romance
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films, Pirate films, Children's films
Actors Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, Laird Cregar, Thomas Mitchell, George Sanders, Anthony Quinn
Roles Sailor (uncredited)
Rating66% 3.3461953.3461953.3461953.3461953.346195
After England and Spain make peace, notorious pirate Henry Morgan (Laird Cregar) decides to reform. As a reward, he is made Governor of Jamaica, with a mandate to rid the Caribbean of his former comrades, by persuasion or force if necessary. He replaces the former governor, Lord Denby (George Zucco), but is not trusted by either the lawful residents or the pirates.
The Moon and Sixpence, 1h25
Directed by Albert Lewin, John E. Burch
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Peinture
Actors George Sanders, Herbert Marshall, Eric Blore, Albert Bassermann, Florence Bates, Steven Geray
Roles The Leper (uncredited)
Rating66% 3.341573.341573.341573.341573.34157
Geoffrey Wolfe (Herbert Marshall), a writer similar to Maugham, tells the story of Charles Strickland (George Sanders). A mediocre, seemingly unassuming London stockbroker, Strickland suddenly gives up his career, wife of 17 years (an uncredited Molly Lamont), and children and moves to Paris. Mrs. Strickland asks Wolfe to bring him back. To Wolfe's surprise, Strickland has not run away with another woman (as he had been told), but because Strickland feels compelled to become a painter. He exhibits no remorse or shame about abandoning his family and refuses to return to his old life, whereupon his wife divorces him. Despite his strong disapproval of Strickland's callous behavior, Wolfe is intrigued.
Sin Town
Sin Town (1942)
, 1h13
Directed by Ray Enright
Origin USA
Genres Western
Actors Constance Bennett, Broderick Crawford, Patric Knowles, Anne Gwynne, Leo Carrillo, Andy Devine
Roles Townsman (uncredited)
Rating61% 3.0873153.0873153.0873153.0873153.087315
It Happened in Flatbush, 1h20
Directed by Ray McCarey
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Sports films, Baseball films
Actors Lloyd Nolan, Carole Landis, Sara Allgood, William Frawley, Robert Armstrong, Jane Darwell
Roles Baseball Game Spectator (uncredited)
Rating59% 2.999282.999282.999282.999282.99928