He found fame on Broadway and naturally gravitated to Hollywood. He shared the screen and locked lips with movie stars like Clara Bow, Bette Davis, and Joan Crawford. His brief, but intense film career ended suddenly in 1937 with his death at the age of thirty-six. Rumors about him and his mysterious demise have accumulated in the decades since his passing, but Monroe Owsley’s name has become an obscure part of cinema history.
The Ace of Cads was best known for playing sneering villains and drunken playboys, but who was he? What really happened to him?
For the first time ever, Monroe Owsley’s life, stage and film career, and tragic death are woven together in a single biography filled with commentary from the author and forty photographs.
alt text: Cover for Ace of Cads: The Monroe Owsley Story by Chase Lloyd. Cover has a black and white publicity shot of the actor Monroe Owsley smiling capriciously while wearing a coat and scarf.
Ace of Cads: The Monroe Owsley Story contains the following:
- Discussion of heavy alcohol use and mental illness
- Discussion of early deaths involving both children and adults, including family members
- References to violence, murder, sexual assault, suicide, racism, sexism, and homophobia in Hollywood and cinema
- Discussion of heavy alcohol use and mental illness
- Discussion of early deaths involving both children and adults, including family members
- References to violence, murder, sexual assault, suicide, racism, sexism, and homophobia in Hollywood and cinema