Editing Tyrone Power (section)

==Early career==

===1930s===
[[File:MadeleineCarrollTyronePowerLloydsofLondon.jpg|thumb|[[Madeleine Carroll]] with Power in his first leading role, ''[[Lloyd's of London (film)|Lloyd's of London]]'' (1936)]]

Power joined his father for the summer of 1931, after being separated from him for some years due to his parents' divorce. His father suffered a heart attack in December 1931, dying in his son's arms, while preparing to perform in ''The Miracle Man''. Tyrone Power Jr., as he was then known, decided to continue pursuing an acting career. He tried to find work as an actor, and, while many contacts knew his father well, they offered praise for his father but no work for his son. He appeared in a bit part in 1932 in ''Tom Brown of Culver'', a movie starring actor [[Tom Brown (actor)|Tom Brown]]. Power's experience in that movie did not open any other doors, however, and, except for what amounted to little more than a job as an extra in ''[[Flirtation Walk]]'', he found himself frozen out of the movies but making some appearances in community theater. Discouraged, he took the advice of a friend, Arthur Caesar, to go to New York to gain experience as a stage actor. Among the Broadway plays in which he was cast are ''Flowers of the Forest'', ''[[Saint Joan (play)|Saint Joan]]'', and ''Romeo and Juliet''.{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}} 

Power went to Hollywood in 1936. The director [[Henry King (director)|Henry King]] was impressed with his looks and poise, and he insisted that Power be tested for the lead role in ''[[Lloyd's of London (film)|Lloyd's of London]]'', a role thought already to belong to [[Don Ameche]]. Despite his own reservations, [[Darryl F. Zanuck]] decided to give Power the role, once King and Fox film editor [[Barbara McLean]] convinced him that Power had a greater screen presence than Ameche. Power was billed fourth in the movie but he had by far the most screen time of any member of the cast. He walked into the premiere of the movie an unknown and he walked out a star, which he remained the rest of his career.{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}} 

[[File:Tyrone Power in Marie Antoinette trailer.jpg|thumb|right|[[Trailer (promotion)|Trailer]] for ''[[Marie Antoinette (1938 film)|Marie Antoinette]]'' ([[1938 in film|1938]])]]

Power racked up hit after hit from 1936 until 1943, when his career was interrupted by military service. In these years he starred in romantic comedies such as ''[[Thin Ice (1937 film)|Thin Ice]]'' and ''[[Day-Time Wife]]'', in dramas such as ''[[Suez (film)|Suez]]'', ''[[Blood and Sand (1941 film)|Blood and Sand]]'', ''[[Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake]]'', ''[[The Rains Came]]'' and ''[[In Old Chicago]]''; in musicals ''[[Alexander's Ragtime Band (film)|Alexander's Ragtime Band]]'', ''[[Second Fiddle (1939 film)|Second Fiddle]]'', and ''[[Rose of Washington Square]]''; in the westerns ''[[Jesse James (1939 film)|Jesse James]]'' (1939) and ''[[Brigham Young (film)|Brigham Young]]''; in the war films ''[[A Yank in the R.A.F.]]'' and ''[[This Above All]]''; and the swashbucklers ''[[The Mark of Zorro (1940 film)|The Mark of Zorro]]'' and ''[[The Black Swan (film)|The Black Swan]]''. ''Jesse James'' was a very big hit at the box office, but it did receive some criticism for fictionalizing and glamorizing the famous outlaw. The movie was shot in and around [[Pineville, Missouri]], and was Power's first location shoot and his first [[Technicolor]] movie. (Before his career was over, he had filmed a total of 16 movies in color, including the movie he was filming when he died.) He was loaned out once, to MGM for ''[[Marie Antoinette (1938 film)|Marie Antoinette]]'' (1938). [[Darryl F. Zanuck]] was angry that MGM used Fox's biggest star in what was, despite billing, a supporting role, and he vowed to never again loan him out, though Power's services were requested for the roles of Ashley Wilkes in ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'', Joe Bonaparte in ''[[Golden Boy (1939 film)|Golden Boy]]'',<ref>Spergel, Mark J. (1993) ''Reinventing Reality--The Art and Life of Rouben Mamoulian.'' The Scarecrow Press, Inc.</ref> and Parris in ''[[Kings Row]]''; roles in several films produced by [[Harry Cohn]];<ref name=":0">Christian, Linda (1963). ''Linda, My Own Story''. Dell.</ref> and the role of Monroe Stahr in a planned production by [[Norma Shearer]] of ''[[The Last Tycoon]]''.<ref>Lambert, Gavin (1990) ''Norma Shearer: A Biography''. Knopf.</ref>

Power was named the second biggest box-office draw in 1939, surpassed only by [[Mickey Rooney]].<ref>''International Motion Picture Almanac, 1933-present'' (Annual). Quigley.</ref> His box office numbers are some of the best of all time.<ref>Cogerson, Bruce (2018). ''Top 50 Movie Stars: Statistically Speaking.'' Independently Published</ref>

===1940–1943===
[[File:The Mark of Zorro (1940 title lobby card).jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.3|{{center|Lobby card, 1940}}]]
[[File:Tyrone Power Zorro2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Power and [[Basil Rathbone]] in their duelling scene from ''[[The Mark of Zorro (1940 film)|The Mark of Zorro]]'' (1940) (note: the movie was shot in black and white; this is the colorized version)]]

In 1940, the direction of Power's career took a dramatic turn when his movie ''[[The Mark of Zorro (1940 film)|The Mark of Zorro]]'' was released. Power played the role of Don Diego Vega/Zorro, a fop by day, a bandit hero by night. The role had been performed by Douglas Fairbanks in the 1920 movie of the same title. The film was a hit, and 20th Century-Fox often cast Power in other swashbucklers in the years that followed. Power was a talented swordsman in real life, and the dueling scene in ''The Mark of Zorro'' is highly regarded. The great Hollywood swordsman, [[Basil Rathbone]], who starred with him in ''The Mark of Zorro'', commented, "Power was the most agile man with a sword I've ever faced before a camera. Tyrone could have fenced [[Errol Flynn]] into a cocked hat."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rathbone |first=Basil |title=In and Out of Character |publisher=Limelight Publishers |year=1962 |isbn= |edition=Ebook |location=Lanham, MD |pages=}}</ref>

Power's career was interrupted in 1943 by military service. He reported to the [[United States Marine Corps]] for training in late 1942, but was sent back, at the request of 20th Century-Fox, to complete one more film,{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}} ''[[Crash Dive]]'', a patriotic war movie released in 1943. He was credited in the movie as Tyrone Power, U.S.M.C.R., and the movie served as a recruiting film.{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}}