Edmund Purdom

About Edmund Purdom

Who is it?: Actor, Miscellaneous Crew, Director
Birth Day: December 19, 1924
Birth Place:  Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Died On: 1 January 2009(2009-01-01) (aged 84)\nRome, Italy
Birth Sign: Capricorn
Years active: 1950–2001
Spouse(s): Tita Phillips (1951–1956) (divorced) 2 children Alicia Darr (1957–1958) (divorced) Linda Christian (1962–1963) (divorced) Vivienne Purdom (2000–2009) (his death)

Edmund Purdom Net Worth

Edmund Purdom was born on December 19, 1924 in  Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom, is Actor, Miscellaneous Crew, Director. Edmund Purdom was born on December 19, 1924 in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England as Edmund Anthony Cutlar Purdom. He is known for his work on The Egyptian (1954), Mil gritos tiene la noche (1982) and Erode il grande (1959). He was married to Vivienne Purdom, Linda Christian, Alicia Darr and Tita Phillips. He died on January 1, 2009 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.
Edmund Purdom is a member of Actor

💰 Net worth: Under Review

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Biography/Timeline

1946

He began his acting career in 1946 by joining the Northampton Repertory Company, appearing in productions which included Romeo and Juliet and Molière's The Imaginary Invalid. Followed by two years of military Service where he joined the Army Pool of Artists. He then joined the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon for two seasons. He was seen by Laurence Olivier who offered Purdom a chance to tour in the US

1951

In 1951–52, Purdom appeared in small roles with the Laurence Olivier/Vivien Leigh company on Broadway in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra and Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra. His good looks brought him to the attention of Hollywood. Warner Bros wanted to test him and offered him $600 advance to come to Hollywood. He did a screen test directed by Michael Curtiz from a scene from Force of Arms but Warners was not interested. Because Purdom had left his play he did not have the fare to return to Britain so he decided to stay in Hollywood.

1953

He managed to get a small part in Julius Caesar at MGM. George Cukor recommended him to Charles Brackett for the small role of Charles Lightoller in Titanic (1953). This brought Purdom to the attention of executives at MGM who signed him to a long term contract.

1954

Advance word on The Student Prince was promising, and when 20th Century Fox needed an actor at the last minute to replace Marlon Brando as the title character in The Egyptian, their most lavish production of 1954, Purdom was cast. He was chosen over John Derek, John Cassavetes and Cameron Mitchell.

1955

MGM's head of production Dore Schary announced they would build up Purdom as a star. He was cast in three films: another MGM musical, Athena; the title role in the biblical epic The Prodigal, MGM's most lavish production of 1955, opposite Lana Turner; and the swashbuckler The King's Thief (1955), in a role originally meant for Stewart Granger. There was also some talk he would appear in the remake of Ben Hur.

1956

For Allied Artists, Purdom made Strange Intruder (1956) with Ida Lupino. In 1957 he remarried, to Alicia Darr, who later got in a brawl with Christian. He continued to be sued for debts by his ex-wife and his lawyers.

1958

He married for a second time, then went into television, starring as Marco del Monte in Sword of Freedom (1958) (also known as Marco the Magnificent), a swashbuckler made for ITC Entertainment in Italy.

1959

Purdom stayed on in Italy, where the film industry was booming. His films included Herod the Great (1959), The Cossacks (1960), The Loves of Salammbo (1960), Suleiman the Conqueror (1961) and Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile (1961). He also occasionally worked in England on such films as Malaga (1960) and The Comedy Man (1964).

1962

He eventually married Christian in 1962 but they divorced the following year.

1984

He also had roles in TV movies and miniseries, such as Sophia Loren: Her Own Story (as Vittorio De Sica) and The Winds of War. In 1984, he directed his first and only film, Don't Open till Christmas.

2000

In 2000 he married his fourth wife, the Photographer Vivienne Purdom. His daughter Lilan Purdom became a Journalist with the French television channel TF1.

2009

Purdom died from heart failure on 1 January 2009, in Rome.