Editing Gilbert Roland

{{Short description|American actor (1905–1994)}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Gilbert Roland
| image         = Gilbert Roland - 1952.jpg
| imagesize     = 
| caption       = Roland in 1952
| birth_name    = Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1905|12|11}}
| birth_place   = [[Ciudad Juárez]], [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]], Mexico
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1994|5|15|1905|12|11}}
| death_place   = [[Beverly Hills]], [[California]], U.S.
| spouse        = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Constance Bennett]]<br />|1941|1945|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Guillermina Cantu<br />|1954}}
}}
| yearsactive   = 1923–1982
| occupation    = Actor
| children      = 2
| awards        = [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] <br />(Motion Picture [[Hollywood Boulevard|6730 Hollywood Boulevard]])
}}
'''Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso''' (December 11, 1905 – May 15, 1994), known professionally as '''Gilbert Roland''', was a Mexican-born American film and television actor whose career spanned seven decades from the 1920s until the 1980s. He was twice nominated for the [[Golden Globe Award]] in 1952 and 1964 and inducted into the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] in 1960.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.walkoffame.com/gilbert-roland|title=Gilbert Roland| publisher=HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME |access-date=January 1, 2015}}</ref>

==Early years==
[[File:Gilbert Roland in The Bad and the Beautiful trailer.jpg|thumb|left|Gilbert Roland from the trailer for ''[[The Bad and the Beautiful]]'' (1952)]]

There is some discrepancy about his place of birth, since his father, the Spanish [[bullfighter]] Francisco Alonso "Paquiro II", declared to the press that his son was born in [[Bilbao]] and that he had Spanish nationality.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bilbao.eus/bld/bitstream/handle/123456789/28743/35.pdf?sequence=1|title=El actor Gilbert Roland es bilbaino|date=March 1994 |access-date=December 5, 2018|work=www.bilbao.eus}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.deia.eus/contando-historias/2020/01/04/latin-lover-bilbaina-4733036.html|title=Un 'latin lover' a la bilbaina|date=January 4, 2020|access-date=February 5, 2025|work=www.deia.eus}}</ref> Other sources say that he was born in [[Ciudad Juárez]], [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]], Mexico.<ref name="cp">{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Nancy |title=Gilbert Roland Saw Calling Early |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44081388/gilbert_roland/ |access-date=February 12, 2020 |work=Courier-Post |agency=Copley News Service |date=January 11, 1973 |location=New Jersey, Camden |page=63|via = [[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> At first he intended to become a bullfighter like his father and his paternal grandfather.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gilbert Roland Wants Bull-Ring of His Own |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44080170/gilbert_roland/ |access-date=February 12, 2020 |work=Deseret News |date=January 8, 1953 |location=Utah, Salt Lake City |page=41|via = [[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

When [[Pancho Villa]] took control of their town, Roland and his family fled to the United States. He lived in Texas until at age 14 he hopped on a freight train and went to Hollywood. After arriving there, he found menial jobs and slept in a Catholic church. He often lost those jobs because he spent time working as an extra in films. He chose his screen name by combining the names of his favorite actors, [[John Gilbert (actor)|John Gilbert]] and [[Ruth Roland]].<ref name="cp" /> He was often cast in the stereotypical [[Latin lover (stereotype)|Latin lover]] role.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last1=Torre |first1=Marie |title=Gilbert Roland Back |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44079424/gilbert_roland/ |access-date=February 12, 2020 |work=The Decatur Herald |agency=N. Y. Herald Tribune Service |date=October 24, 1960 |location=Illinois, Decatur |page=5|via = [[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

== Career ==
[[File:Gilbert Roland photoplay 1927.jpg|thumb|Gilbert Roland (1927)]]
Roland's first film contract was with Paramount.<ref name="cp" /> His first major role was in the collegiate comedy ''[[The Plastic Age (film)|The Plastic Age]]'' (1925) together with [[Clara Bow]], to whom he became engaged.<ref name="photoplay">"My life, by Clara Bow". Told to and edited by [[Adela Rogers St. Johns]]. Published by ''[[Photoplay]]'' magazine in February, March, and April 1928</ref> In 1926, he played Armand in ''[[Camille (1926 feature film)|Camille]]'' opposite [[Norma Talmadge]], with whom he was romantically involved, and they starred together in several productions. With the advent of sound films, Roland frequently appeared in Spanish language adaptations of American films in romantic lead roles.

In 1933, Roland played a large supporting role in ''[[She Done Him Wrong]]'' as one of [[Mae West]]'s character's lovers, along with rivals [[Cary Grant]], [[Noah Beery Sr.]] and [[Owen Moore]].

Roland served in the [[United States Army Air Forces|U.S. Army Air Corps]] during [[World War II]].

Beginning in the 1940s, critics began to take notice of his acting, and he was praised for his supporting roles in [[John Huston]]'s ''[[We Were Strangers]]'' (1949), ''[[The Bad and the Beautiful]]'' (1952), ''[[Thunder Bay (film)|Thunder Bay]]'' (1953), and ''[[Cheyenne Autumn]]'' (1964). He also appeared in a series of films in the mid-1940s as the popular character "[[The Cisco Kid]]". He played Hugo, the agnostic (and fictional) friend of the three shepherd children in ''[[The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima]],'' based on the apparitions of [[Our Lady of Fatima]] in 1917. In 1953, Roland played [[Greek-American]] sponge diver Mike Petrakis in the epic ''[[Beneath the 12-Mile Reef]].''

He also portrayed Howard McMahon on ''[[Bewitched]],''<ref name="etvs">{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7|page=97|edition=2nd}}</ref> acted on ''[[December Bride]]'' and ''[[Playhouse 90]],'' and both wrote the script for and acted in an episode of ''[[Wagon Train]].''<ref name=":0" /> He played Don Domingo Montoya, who inherits Rancho Montoya near the end of the series ''[[The High Chaparral]]''.

His last film appearance was in the 1982 [[Western (genre)|western]] ''[[Barbarosa]].''

==Personal life==
[[File:Gilbert Roland - Constance Bennett.jpg|thumb|right|With [[Constance Bennett]] in ''[[After Tonight]]'' (1933)]]

Roland married actress [[Constance Bennett]] on April 20, 1941, in [[Yuma, Arizona]].<ref>Arizona, County Marriage Records, 1865-1972</ref> They were married until 1946 and had two daughters, Lorinda "Lynda" (b. 1938) and Christina "Gyl" (b. 1941). Bennett won custody of their daughters.<ref>{{cite news |title=Actress Constance Bennett Dies at 59 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12987537/constance_bennett_obituary_2nd_attempt/ |access-date=February 12, 2020 |work=Independent |date=July 26, 1965 |location=California, Long Beach |page=2|via = [[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> He had appeared with Bennett in 1933 as Pepe in George Cukor's ''[[Our Betters]]'', and in the same year, as the romantic lead in ''[[After Tonight]]'', a [[World War I]] drama.

His second marriage to Guillermina Cantú in 1954 lasted until his death 40 years later.

==Death==
Gilbert Roland died of [[cancer]] in [[Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills]], California, in 1994, aged 88. His body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered at sea.

==Accolades==
Roland was nominated twice for a [[Golden Globe Award]], for his roles in ''[[The Bad and the Beautiful]]'' (1952) and ''[[Cheyenne Autumn]]'' (1964).<ref>{{cite web |title=Golden Globe Awards for 'Gilbert Roland' |url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/person/gilbert-roland |website=Golden Globe Awards |publisher=Hollywood Foreign Press Association |access-date=February 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212025835/https://www.goldenglobes.com/person/gilbert-roland |archive-date=February 12, 2020}}</ref> For his contributions to the motion picture industry, Gilbert Roland has a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 6730 Hollywood Boulevard.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gilbert Roland |url=http://www.walkoffame.com/gilbert-roland |website=Hollywood Walk of Fame |date=October 25, 2019 |publisher=Hollywood Chamber of Commerce |access-date=February 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212025444/http://www.walkoffame.com/gilbert-roland |archive-date=February 12, 2020}}</ref>
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==Archives==
The moving-image collection of Gilbert Roland is held at the Academy Film Archive. Home movies make up the bulk of the collection. The film material at the Academy Film Archive is complemented by material in the Gilbert Roland papers at the academy's Margaret Herrick Library.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gilbert Roland Collection|url=http://www.oscars.org/film-archive/collections/gilbert-roland-collection|website=Academy Film Archive}}</ref>

In 1975, El Paso, Texas, held Gilbert Roland Days. Among the recognition given the actor was creation of The Gilbert Roland Newspaper Carrier Scholarships Fund by the Newspaper Printing Corporation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Roland To Receive Sketch |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28314767/el_paso_heraldpost/ |access-date=February 12, 2020 |work=El Paso Herald-Post |date=January 14, 1975 |location=Texas, El Paso |page=12|via = [[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

==Filmography==
[[File:Gilbert_Roland_in_The_French_Line.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Gilbert Roland in ''[[The French Line]]'' (1954).]]
[[File:Norma_Talmadge_(The_Woman_Disputed_-_1928).jpg|thumb|right|250px|Gilbert Roland in ''The Woman Disputed'' (1928), directed by Henry King. Left to right: Gilbert Roland, Norma Talmadge, and [[Arnold Kent]].]]

=== Cinema ===
*''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' ([[1923 in film|1923]]) as Extra (uncredited)
*''[[The Lost World (1925 film)|The Lost World]]'' ([[1925 in film|1925]]) as Extra (uncredited)
*''[[The Spaniard (film)|The Spaniard]]'' (1925) as Matador (uncredited)
*''[[The Lady Who Lied]]'' (1925)
*''The Lawful Cheater'' (1925) (uncredited)
*''[[The Midshipman]]'' (1925) (uncredited)
*''[[The Plastic Age (film)|The Plastic Age]]'' (1925) as Carl Peters
*''[[The Campus Flirt]]'' ([[1926 in film|1926]]) as Graham Stearns
*''[[The Blonde Saint]]'' (1926) as Annibale
*''[[Camille (1926 feature film)|Camille]]'' (1926) as Armand Duval
*''[[Rose of the Golden West]]'' ([[1927 in film|1927]]) as Juan
*''[[The Love Mart]]'' (1927) as Victor Jallot
*''[[The Dove (1927 film)|The Dove]]'' (1927) as Johnny Powell
*''[[The Woman Disputed]]'' ([[1928 in film|1928]]) as Paul Hartman
*''[[New York Nights (film)|New York Nights]]'' ([[1929 in film|1929]]) as Fred Deverne
*''[[Men of the North]]'' (1930) (Spanish and French version also filmed) as Louis La Bey aka Monsieur Le Fox
*''[[Resurrection (1931 Spanish-language film)|Resurrección]]'' ([[1931 in film|1931]]) (Spanish version of ''[[Resurrection (1931 English-language film)|Resurrection]]'') as Prince Dmitri Nekhludov 
*''[[The Passionate Plumber]]'' ([[1932 in film|1932]]) as Tony Lagorce
*''Hombres de mi vida'' (1932) (Spanish version of ''[[Men in Her Life]]'') as Jaime Gilman
*''[[The Woman in Room 13 (1932 film)|The Woman in Room 13]]'' (1932) as Victor Legrand
*''[[Life Begins (1932 film)|Life Begins]] '' (1932) as Tony, Rita's Husband (uncredited)
*''[[No Living Witness]]'' (1932) as Jerry Bennett
*''[[A Parisian Romance (film)|A Parisian Romance]]'' (1932) as Victor
*''[[Call Her Savage]]'' (1932) as Moonglow
*''[[She Done Him Wrong]]'' ([[1933 in film|1933]]) as Serge Stanieff
*''[[Our Betters]]'' (1933) as Pepi D'Costa
*''The Romantic Widow'' (1933) as Luis Felipe de Córdoba aka Prudencio González
*''[[Tarnished Youth]]'' (1933) (UK version of ''[[Gigolettes of Paris]]'') as Antoine 'Tony' Ferrand
*''[[After Tonight]]'' (1933) as Captain Rudolph "Rudy" Ritter
*''Yo, tú y ella'' (1933) as Gabriel Villalba
*''[[Elinor Norton]]'' ([[1934 in film|1934]]) as Rene Alba
*''[[Mystery Woman (film)|Mystery Woman]]'' ([[1935 in film|1935]]) as Juan Santanda
*''Juliet Buys a Baby'' (1935) as Jack Aranda
*''[[Ladies Love Danger]]'' (1935) as Ricardo Souchet aka Alonzo
*''[[Midnight Taxi (1937 film)|Midnight Taxi]]'' ([[1937 in film|1937]]) as Flash Dillon
*''[[The Last Train from Madrid]]'' (1937) as Eduardo de Soto
*''[[Thunder Trail]]'' (1937) as Dick Ames aka Arizona Lopez
*''La vida bohemia'' ([[1938 in film|1938]]) as Rodolfo
*''[[Gateway (film)|Gateway]]'' (1938) as Tony Cadona
*''[[Juarez (1939 film)|Juarez]]'' ([[1939 in film|1939]]) as Colonel Miguel Lopez
*''[[Isle of Destiny]]'' ([[1940 in film|1940]]) as Oliver Barton
*''[[Gambling on the High Seas]]'' (1940) as Greg Morella
*''[[The Sea Hawk (1940 film)|The Sea Hawk]]'' (1940) as Captain Lopez
*''[[Rangers of Fortune]]'' (1940) as Antonio Hernandez Sierra
*''[[Angels with Broken Wings]]'' ([[1941 in film|1941]]) as Don Pablo Vincente
*''[[My Life with Caroline]]'' (1941) as Paco Del Valle
*''[[Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen]]'' (1942) as Paul Gillette
*''[[Isle of Missing Men]]'' (1942) as Thomas 'Dan' Bentley aka Curtis
*''[[The Desert Hawk (serial)|The Desert Hawk]]'' (1944) as Kasim, The Desert Hawk / Hassan, The Evil Twin Brother
*''[[Captain Kidd (1945 film)|Captain Kidd]]'' (1945) as Jose Lorenzo
*''[[The Gay Cavalier (film)|The Gay Cavalier]]'' (1946) as The Cisco Kid
*''[[The Cisco Kid|South of Monterey]]'' (1946) as The Cisco Kid
*''[[The Cisco Kid|Beauty and the Bandit]]'' (1946) as The Cisco Kid
*''[[Riding the California Trail]]'' ([[1947 in film|1947]]) as The Cisco Kid posing as Don Luis Salazar
*''[[The Other Love]]'' (1947) as Croupier
*''[[High Conquest]]'' (1947) as Hugo Lanier
*''[[Robin Hood of Monterey]]'' (1947) as The Cisco Kid
*''[[Pirates of Monterey]]'' (1947) as Major de Rojas
* ''[[King of the Bandits]]'' (1947) as the Cisco Kid aka Ramon Mojica
*''[[The Dude Goes West]]'' ([[1948 in film|1948]]) as Pecos Kid
*''The Rebellion of the Ghosts'' ([[1949 in film|1949]]) as Arturo del Rosal
*''[[We Were Strangers]]'' (1949) as Guillermo Montilla
*''[[Malaya (film)|Malaya]]'' (1949) as Romano
*''[[The Torch (film)|The Torch]]'' ([[1950 in film|1950]]) as Father Sierra
*''[[Crisis (1950 film)|Crisis]]'' (1950) as Roland Gonzales
*''[[The Furies (1950 film)|The Furies]]'' (1950) as Juan Herrera
*''[[Bullfighter and the Lady]]'' ([[1951 in film|1951]]) as Manolo Estrada
*''[[The Mark of the Renegade]]'' (1951) as Don Pedro Garcia
*''[[Ten Tall Men]]'' (1951) as Corporal Luis Delgado
*''[[My Six Convicts]]'' ([[1952 in film|1952]]) as Punch Pinero
*''[[Glory Alley]]'' (1952) as Peppi Donnato
*''[[The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima]]'' (1952) as Hugo da Silva
*''[[Apache War Smoke]]'' (1952) as Peso Herrera
*''[[The Bad and the Beautiful]]'' (1952) as Victor 'Gaucho' Ribero
*''[[Thunder Bay (film)|Thunder Bay]]'' ([[1953 in film|1953]]) as Teche Bossier
*''[[The Diamond Queen (1953 film)|The Diamond Queen]]'' (1953) as Baron Paul de Cabannes
*''[[Beneath the 12-Mile Reef]]'' (1953) as Mike Petrakis
*''[[The French Line]]'' (1953) as Pierre DuQuesne
*''[[The Racers]]'' ([[1955 in film|1955]]) as Dell'Oro
*''[[Underwater!]]'' (1955) as Dominic Quesada
*''[[That Lady]]'' (1955) as Antonio Perez
*''[[The Treasure of Pancho Villa]]'' (1955) as Colonel Juan Castro
*''[[Bandido (1956 film)|Bandido]]'' ([[1956 in film|1956]]) as Colonel José Escobar
*''[[Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film)|Around the World in 80 Days]]'' (1956) as Achmed Abdullah
*''[[Three Violent People]]'' (1956) as Innocencio Ortega
*''[[The Midnight Story]]'' ([[1957 in film|1957]]) as Sylvio Malatesta
*''[[The Last of the Fast Guns]]'' ([[1958 in film|1958]]) as Miles Lang
*''[[The Wild and the Innocent]]'' ([[1959 in film|1959]]) as Paul
*''[[The Big Circus]]'' (1959) as Zach Colino
*''[[Catch Me If You Can (1959 film)|Catch Me If You Can]]'' (1959) (unreleased)
*''[[Guns of the Timberland]]'' ([[1960 in film|1960]]) as Monty Walker
*''[[Samar (1962 film)|Samar]]'' ([[1962 in film|1962]]) as Colonel Juan Sebastian Salazar
*''[[Cheyenne Autumn]]'' ([[1964 in film|1964]]) as Dull Knife
*''[[The Reward (1965 film)|The Reward]]'' ([[1965 in film|1965]]) as Captain Carbajal
*''[[The Poppy Is Also a Flower]]'' ([[1966 in film|1966]]) as Serge Marko
*''[[Any Gun Can Play]]'' ([[1967 in film|1967]]) as Monetero
*''[[The Ruthless Four]]'' ([[1968 in film|1968]]) as Mason
*''[[Between God, the Devil and a Winchester]]'' (1968) as Horace
*''[[Johnny Hamlet]]'' (1968) as Juan Chasquisdo
*''[[Sartana Does Not Forgive]]'' (1968) as Kirchner
*''[[The Christian Licorice Store]]'' ([[1971 in film|1971]]) as Jonathan 'JC' Carruthers
*''[[Running Wild (1973 film)|Running Wild]]'' ([[1973 in film|1973]]) as Chief Tomacito
*''[[Treasure of Tayopa]]'' ([[1974 in film|1974]]) as Himself - Host
*''[[The Pacific Connection]]'' (1974) as Alan
*''[[Islands in the Stream (film)|Islands in the Stream]]'' ([[1977 in film|1977]]) as Captain Ralph
*''[[The Black Pearl (film)|The Black Pearl]] '' (1977)
*''[[Caboblanco]]'' ([[1980 in film|1980]]) as Dr. Rudolfo Ramirez
*''[[Barbarosa]]'' ([[1982 in film|1982]]) as Don Braulio (final film role)

=== Television ===
*''[[Zorro (1957 TV series)|Zorro]]'', episodes "El Bandido" and "Adios El Cuchillo" (1960) as El Cuchillo / The Knife
*''[[Gunsmoke]]'', episodes "Extradition"/"Extradition: Part 2" (1963) as Lieutenant Julio Chavez
*''[[Death Valley Days]]'', episode "A Kingdom for a Horse" (1963) as Emperor Dom Pedro
*''[[The Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]'' (1963) (Season 1 Episode 27: "Death and the Joyful Woman") as Luis Aguilar
*''[[The Fugitive (1963 TV series)|The Fugitive]]'', episode "Somebody to Remember" (1964) as Gus Priamos; 
*''[[Combat!]]'', episode "The Convict" (1965) as Boulanger
*''[[Bonanza]]'', episode "The Lonely Runner" (1965) as Jim Acton
*''[[The Fugitive (1963 TV series)|The Fugitive]]'', episode "The Savage Street" (1967) as Jose Anza
*''[[The High Chaparral]]'', episode "The New Lion of Sonora" (1971) as Don Domingo Montoya
*''[[Night Gallery]]'', segment "The Waiting Room" (1972) as The Bartender 
*''[[Incident on a Dark Street]]'' (1973, TV Movie) as Dominic Leopold
*''[[Kung Fu (1972 TV series)]]'', episode "The Chalice" (1973)
*''[[Barnaby Jones]]'', episode "Rendezvous with Terror" (1974)
*''[[The Mark of Zorro (1974 film)|The Mark of Zorro]]'' (1974, TV Movie) as Don Alejandro Vega
*''[[The Sacketts]]'' (1979, TV Movie) as Don Luis
*''[[Hart to Hart]]'', episode "The Raid" (1980) as Jorge

=== Short subjects ===
*''[[La Fiesta de Santa Barbara]]'' ([[1935 in film|1935]])
*''Screen Snapshots Series 15, No. 8'' ([[1936 in film|1936]])
*''Picture People No. 2: Hollywood Sports'' ([[1941 in film|1941]])
*''Wings Up'' ([[1943 in film|1943]])

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*Monush, Barry. ''The Encyclopedia of Film Actors From The Silent Era to 1965''. New York: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 2003.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{IMDb name|id= 0738042}}
*[http://www.greta-garbo.de/Greta-Garbo-und-ihre-Autogramme/#gilbert Original letter from Greta Garbo to Gilbert Roland (1943)]
*[http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=8619 Photographs and literature]

{{Portalbar|Biography|Mexico|Los Angeles|California|Film|Television}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Roland, Gilbert}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:American male actors of Mexican descent]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American male silent film actors]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in California]]
[[Category:Hispanic and Latino American male actors]]
[[Category:Hispanic and Latino American military personnel]]
[[Category:Male actors from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Male Western (genre) film actors]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players]]
[[Category:Mexican emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Mexican male film actors]]
[[Category:Military personnel from California]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:People from Ciudad Juárez]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II]]