Portrait Photos of Joseph Calleia in the 1930s and 1940s

Born 1897 in Notabile, Maltese-American actor and singer Joseph Calleia travelled to the United States and began his career on the stage, initially in musical comedy, but later in original Broadway productions such as Broadway (1926), The Front Page (1928), The Last Mile (1930), and Grand Hotel (1930). He became a star with the play Small Miracle (1934), his first real role as a villain, and he was put under contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Calleia excelled as the villain in Hollywood films, but he fought against typecasting and created a succession of darkly mysterious characters edged with humor in films such as Algiers (1938), Five Came Back (1939), Golden Boy (1939), The Glass Key (1942) and Gilda (1946). His performance in Orson Welles’s 1958 film Touch of Evil is regarded as one of the best in his career.

Calleia retired in 1963 to Sliema, Malta. He died in 1975, aged 78, in St. Julian’s. Take a look at these vintage photos to see portraits of Joseph Calleia in the 1930s and 1940s.