Dean Jagger Movies and Career Information

Dean Jagger (November 7, 1903 – February 5, 1991) was an Academy Award winning American film actor. Born Ira Dean Jagger in Columbus Grove, Ohio, Jagger made his film debut in The Woman from Hell (1929) with Mary Astor. He became a successful character actor, without becoming a major star, and appeared in almost 100 films in a career that lasted until shortly before his death. Jagger made his breakthrough to major roles in film with his portrayal of Brigham Young in Brigham Young (1940). According to George D. Pyper, a technical consultant on the film who had personally known Brigham Young, said that Jagger not only resembled Young, he also spoke like him and had many of his mannerisms. Jagger then played prominent roles in Western Union (1941), Sister Kenny (1946) and Raoul Walsh's Western neo-noir Pursued (1947). He received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Twelve O'Clock High (1949). In the film he played the middle-aged adjutant Major Stovall, who acts as an advisor to the commander General Savage (Gregory Peck), and is tasked with writing letters to the next of kin of slain airmen. He appeared in the biblical epic The Robe (1953) as the weaver Justus