Eager young James (aka Jimmy) Cardwell had an auspicious beginning and
showed great promise in 1940s films. Dark-haired and thick-browed with
an earnest, boyish look and set-jawed handsomeness that could remind
someone of a John Garfield type,
he couldn't have started off much better than by playing a young,
heroic war casualty as one of
Fünf Helden (1944) (aka "The
Fighting Sullivans"). By the end of the decade, however, James' film
career did not advance and he ended things negligibly on TV.
Despondency overwhelmed him and on January 31, 1954, he became another
tragic Hollywood statistic, The victim of suicide at age 32, he has
become completely forgotten save for film trivia enthusiasts.
The son of Raymond and Bessie (McCarroll) Cardwell, he was christened
Albert Paine Cardwell after his grandfather, a Philadelphia publishing
editor. Born in Camden, New Jersey, on November 21, 1921 (several
sources give 1920) and raised there, young Cardwell attended Alfred
Cramer Junior High School before transferring to Woodrow Wilson High
School. While there he found himself drawn to acting and, after
appearing in a sophomore play, served as president of the school's
drama club. He also showed athletic prowess on the football field, as
well as in track and field.
Following his graduation in 1940, he toiled about in a few odd jobs
(clerk, laborer, etc.) but continued to prod his interest in acting by
joining the Camden Drama Guild. Committed by this time, he later joined
the Hedgerow Theater Group in Pennsylvania. While there he may ends
meet by working in the shipping department for RCA Victor, meeting and
marrying Esther Borton in June of 1942.
In the summer of 1943, while in New York looking for
representation/work, James was seen by agents scouting out fresh faces
for an upcoming WWII picture about five patriotic soldier-brothers. He
won one of the brothers' roles. His wife, however, had no shared
interest in his fledgling career or move to Los Angeles, and the
marriage quickly ended. Signed up for seven years with Twentieth
Century-Fox, he was renamed James Cardwell for the movies and the young
hopeful made a heart-tugging debut in the war drama
Fünf Helden (1944), a somewhat
fictionalized and sentimental, but nevertheless inspiring true-life
story of five brothers from Iowa (Cardwell played George Sullivan) who
served together (by request) and died on the same torpedoed ship during
WWII.
After this film, James appeared in second leads as various reporters,
rookies and private eye types in Charlie Chan mysteries and other
various "B" level dramas, working throughout the post-war era of the
1940s. Despite his capabilities, he did not move to the top lead status
and many of the films he did appear in were dismissed by the critics.
For every engaging appearance in a strong quality film such as
Landung in Salerno (1945) or
Schritte in der Nacht (1948), one
could count twice as many forgettable ones in lesser pictures
(The Devil on Wheels (1947),
Robin Hood of Texas (1947),
King of the Gamblers (1948),
Down Dakota Way (1949)). His
single male lead in a movie may have dimmed any chances of further
growth after co-starring with Lois Hall in the
absurd Monogram adventure
Daughter of the Jungle (1949),
a distaff Tarzan movie complete with swinging vine scenes and female
animal calls.
Unable to grasp the necessary momentum to advance, he fell further down
the credits list while working on primarily "Poverty Row" studio movie
projects. In the light comedy
Zwei Männer und drei Babies (1949)
and the Bogart war drama
Tokio-Joe (1949), James received no
billing at all, and he was completely overlooked in his last billed
film appearance, a supporting role in the assembly-line
Rex Allen western,
The Arizona Cowboy (1950). Forced to
look at TV as a possible medium, few opportunities came his way with
the exception of a couple of guest parts on a
Rod Cameron crime series. An uncredited role
in the horror film Formicula (1954) occurred
shortly before his death.
In anticipation of his fading career, James started attending UCLA at
night and taking up pre-med courses. At one point he toured Australia
with Joe E. Brown in the top comedian's
vaudeville act and joined a circus comedy acrobatic act called the
Coleano Troupe that toured throughout the U.S. and Europe. Returning to
the States in 1953, depression set in when he couldn't find TV work. On
January 31, 1954, at age 32, with no prospects in sight and debts
mounting, James shot himself in the head in an automobile he borrowed
from a friend in a parking lot near his two-room West Los Angeles
bungalow. He was survived by his parents and buried in his native
Camden.
