Wesley Ruggles: Movies, Awards & Filmography

Wesley Ruggles (June 11, 1889 – January 8, 1972) was an American film director, producer and occasional actor whose career spanned the silent era through the golden age of Hollywood. Born in Los Angeles, California, he was the younger brother of comic actor Charlie Ruggles, and entered the motion‑picture business in 1915, initially appearing in a handful of silent shorts where he often took uncredited bit parts alongside legends such as Charlie Chaplin. By 1917 he had shifted his focus behind the camera, directing more than fifty films and quickly establishing a reputation for efficient storytelling and an ability to handle both drama and comedy. His breakthrough came with the 1931 adaptation of Edna Ferber’s novel Cimarron, a sweeping western that earned the Academy Award for Best Picture and made Ruggles one of the few directors to helm an Oscar‑winning film; the picture is still noted for being the first western to receive that honor. Following this success he directed a string of popular comedies, including No Man of Her Own (1932) starring Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, the racy I’m No Angel (1933) with Mae West and Cary Grant, and the musical‑tinged College Humor (1933) featuring Bing Crosby. In 1946 he ventured to Britain to produce and direct the Technicolor musical London Town for the Rank Organisation, a project that proved to be a critical and commercial disaster and became his final film, later re‑released in the United States as My Heart Goes Crazy. Ruggles married three times—to Virginia Caldwell (1920‑1924), Arline Judge (1931‑1937) and Marcelle Rogez (from 1940)—but left no known children. He died in Santa Monica, California, and was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, beside his brother. For his contributions to cinema, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6400 Hollywood Boulevard, cementing his legacy as a versatile filmmaker who helped shape early Hollywood storytelling.