Cornelius Keefe

{{short description|American actor}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Cornelius Keefe | image = Cornelius Keefe (1900–1972).png | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1900|07|13}} | birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts <br> United States | death_date = {{Death date and age|1972|12|11|1900|07|13}} | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1924–1958 (film & TV) }} '''Cornelius Keefe''' (July 13, 1900 – December 11, 1972) was an American film actor.<ref>Pitts p. 297</ref>

Keefe was born in Boston. He attended Brookline High School and Newton High School.<ref>{{cite news |title=Answers to Queries of the Fans |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe/146535698/ |access-date=2025-02-21 |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=January 20, 1934 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503162532/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe/146535698/ |url-status=live |archive-date=May 3, 2024|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref>

==Career== [[File:Dione Ellis and Cornelius Keefe (1927) (cropped).png|thumb|right|200px|Keefe (left) and Diane Ellis in the 1927 production of ''Hook and Ladder No. 9'']]

Keefe played in ''The Poor Nut'' on stage and was the only member of that cast to appear in the film adaptation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Brookline High Grad |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe/146536251/ |access-date=May 3, 2024 |work=The Boston Globe |date=November 19, 1927 |page=20|via = Newspapers.com }}</ref> After playing romantic leads in silent films, by 1941 Keefe had changed to "a new career as a character actor".<ref name="bg">{{cite news |title=Boston Singer to Take Part in Radio Holy Week Drama |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-cornelius-keefe/146534761/ |access-date=May 3, 2024 |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=April 8, 1941 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503161004/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-cornelius-keefe/146534761/ |archive-date=May 3, 2024 |page=33|via = Newspapers.com }}</ref> He also acted on radio.<ref name=bg/>

==In popular culture== Keefe was the focus of the ''Homer Hoopee'' comc strip on February 24, 1940. One of the female characters sought to get her husband to pay more attention to her by going out with Keefe, her old schoolmate who had become a film star.<ref>{{cite news |title=Homer Hoopee |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bangor-daily-news-cornelius-keefe/146533610/ |access-date=2025-02-21 |newspaper=The Bangor Daily News |date=February 24, 1940 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240503154730/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bangor-daily-news-cornelius-keefe/146533610/ |url-status=live |archive-date=May 3, 2024 |page=27|via = Newspapers.com }}</ref>

==Selected filmography== * ''A Society Scandal'' (1924) * ''Those Who Judge'' (1924) * ''Lend Me Your Husband'' (1924) *''The Law and the Lady'' (1924) * ''The Unguarded Hour'' (1925) * ''The Nut Job'' (1927) * ''Three's a Crowd'' (1927) * ''Satan and the Woman'' (1928) * ''The Man from Headquarters'' (1928) * ''Hearts of Men'' (1928) * ''Thundergod'' (1928) * ''The Cohens and the Kellys in Atlantic City'' (1929) * ''Disorderly Conduct'' (1932) * ''Mystery Liner'' (1934) * ''Thunder in the Night'' (1934) * ''Death from a Distance'' (1935) * ''Western Courage'' (1935) * ''Hong Kong Nights'' (1935) * ''Telephone Operator'' (1937) * ''My Old Kentucky Home'' (1938)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== * Pitts, Michael R. ''Western Movies: A Guide to 5,105 Feature Films''. McFarland, 2012.

==External links== *{{commons category-inline}} *{{IMDb name|0444379}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keefe, Cornelius}} Category:1900 births Category:1972 deaths Category:American male film actors Category:20th-century American male actors