Theatre After studying at Theodora Irvine's Studio of the Theatre, Wilde began appearing in plays in stock and in New York. He made his Broadway debut in 1935 in
Moon Over Mulberry Street. He also appeared in
Love Is Not So Simple,
Daughters of Etreus, and
Having Wonderful Time. He did the illustrations for
Fencing, a 1936 textbook on fencing and wrote a fencing play,
Touché, under the pseudonym of Clark Wales in 1937. He toured with
Tallulah Bankhead in a production of
Antony and Cleopatra; during the run he married his co-star Patricia Knight. Acting jobs were sporadic over the next few years. Wilde supplemented his income with exhibition fencing matches; his wife also did modelling work. Wilde wrote plays, some of which were performed by the New York Drama Guild. Wilde was hired as a fencing teacher by
Laurence Olivier for his 1940 Broadway production of
Romeo and Juliet and was given the role of Tybalt in the production. Although the show had only a small run, his performance in this role netted him a Hollywood film contract with
Warner Bros. Signed by
20th Century Fox, he got above-title billing in
The Perfect Snob (1941); studio publicity falsely claimed it was his first film. It was followed by a war movie
Manila Calling (1942). He was the romantic male lead in
Life Begins at Eight-Thirty (1942), supporting
Monty Woolley, and supported
Sonja Henie in
Wintertime (1943). In 1945,
Columbia Pictures began a search for someone to play the role of
Frédéric Chopin in
A Song to Remember. They eventually tested Wilde, and agreed to cast him in the role after some negotiation with Fox, who agreed to lend him to Columbia and one film a year for several years. Part of the deal involved Fox borrowing
Alexander Knox from Columbia to appear in
Wilson (1944).
A Song to Remember was a big hit, made Wilde a star and earned him a nomination for an
Academy Award for Best Actor. and as the son of
Robin Hood in
The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (made 1945, released 1946). Back at Fox, he played the male lead in
Leave Her to Heaven (1945), with
Gene Tierney and
Jeanne Crain, an enormous hit at the box office.
Bandit was also a big hit when it was released. In 1946, Wilde was voted the 18th-most popular star in the United States, and in 1947 the 25th-. Fox announced him for
Enchanted Voyage. It ended up not being made; instead he was reunited with Crain in Fox's musical
Centennial Summer (1946). In January 1946, Wilde was suspended by Fox for refusing the male lead in
Margie (1946). This suspension was soon lifted so Wilde could play the male lead in the studio's big budget version of
Forever Amber (1947). Filming started, then was halted when the studio decided to replace
Peggy Cummins, the female star. In October 1946, Wilde refused to return to work unless he was paid more; his salary was $3,000 a week, with six years to run – he wanted $150,000 per film for two films per year. The parties came to an agreement and filming resumed. He was in a comedy at Columbia with
Ginger Rogers,
It Had to Be You (1947). At Fox he turned down a role in
That Lady in Ermine (1948). Not wanting to go on suspension again he agreed to make
The Walls of Jericho (1948), from the same director as
Leave Her to Heaven but less popular.
Road House (1948), for Fox, was a highly regarded
film noir and a decent-sized hit. He then left Fox, which he later regarded as a mistake.
Freelance '' (1952) |alt=Frame from a film showing the torso of a bare-chested man standing on a circus trapeze; the man's arms are extended outwards from his body, and he's facing somewhat left of the camera. At Columbia, Wilde was in
Shockproof (1949), another noir, with his then-wife Patricia Knight. They appeared together in
Western Wind, a play at the Cape Playhouse. Wilde starred opposite
Simone Signoret in
Swiss Tour, aka ''Four Days' Leave
(1949), a romantic comedy about American servicemen in Switzerland. He returned to Fox for Two Flags West (1950), then went to RKO for At Sword's Point'' (filmed in 1949, but not released until 1952), a swashbuckler with Maureen O'Hara. Cast in a leading role, he played a trapeze artist in
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) for
Cecil B. de Mille, an enormous ensemble cast hit. He went over to Warner Bros. for
Operation Secret (1952), then was back at Fox for
Treasure of the Golden Condor (1952). He focused on adventure stories:
Saadia (1953) for MGM,
Star of India (1954) for United Artists. He had a part in the all-star executive drama ''
Woman's World (1954) for Fox, then went back to action and adventure with Passion'' (1954) for RKO. ==Producer and director==