Want to know the best Gig Young movies? How about the worst Gig Young movies? Curious about Gig Young box office grosses or which Gig Young movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Gig Young movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Gig Young (1913-1978) was an Oscar®-winning American actor. Young was one of the better character actors of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He was nominated for three Best Supporting Actor Oscars® in his career. He won his Oscar® for 1969’s They Shoot Horses Don’t They? Young’s IMDb page shows 86 acting credits from 1940 to 1978. This page will rank 44 Gig Young movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos, uncredited roles and movies that were not released in North American and a handful of his movies that we could not find box office on, were not included in the rankings.
Gig Young Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Gig Young Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Gig Young movies by his co-stars
- Sort Gig Young movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost.
- Sort Gig Young movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Gig Young movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Gig Young movie received.
- Sort Gig Young movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
Gig Young Worldwide Adjusted Box Office Grosses
Best IMDb Trivia on Gig Young
1. Gig Young was born Byron Elsworth Barr.
2. Gig Young was given his first notable role in the feature film The Gay Sisters (1942) as a character named “Gig Young”. Preview cards praised the actor “Gig Young” and the studio determined that “Gig Young” should become Barr’s stage and professional name.
3. Gig Young’s film career was interrupted by WWII duty with the Coast Guard, serving in the Pacific for three years.
4. Gig Young co-starred with Doris Day in 4 films: Young at Heart (1954), Teacher’s Pet (1958), The Tunnel of Love (1958), and That Touch of Mink (1962).
Check out Gig Young’s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Steve Lensman’s Gig Young You Tube Video
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences. Emmy® and Golden Globe® are also registered trademarks.
Byron Barr gets his UMR page, nice.
I’ve seen 13 of the 44 films on the chart. Favorites include – They Died With Their Boots On, Captains of the Clouds, The Shuttered Room, The Hindenberg, The Killer Elite, Kid Galahad, The Three Musketeers and Game of Death.
Adjusted for inflation That Touch of Mink was a huge hit for Cary and Doris. I must have seen it, can’t remember for sure.
Gig Young was top billed actor on only a few of those films, looking at my posters there are only a couple that I can see with his name at the top – Arena and City That Never Sleeps.
Good stuff Bruce. Vote Up.
HI STEVE You should know by now that I can’t resist responding to any ‘red meat’ thrown to me about billing- it’s sad in fact: we haven’t had a good argument about billing in ages, whereas Bruce used to start them all the time. You are right that Gig got top billed just a few times.
However among the films mentioned above he was also 1st billed in Hunt the Man Down, Holiday for Sinners and last but not least The Shuttered Room based on a short story by August Derleth and H P Lovecraft, the creator of YOUR idols The Great Cthulhu and his grand father Yog-Sothoth.
Gig was as well the male, and top billed, lead in A Ticklish Affair but he was 2nd billed there overall to Shirley Jones.
That once you add in the two you have mentioned is about as good as it got for him though he would at times get 3rd billing or lower in equal sized letters to the stars – eg to Rock and La Lollo in Strange Bedfellows and Kirk and Mitzi Gaynor in For Love or money.
Speak to you later about Ben Affleck. Meanwhile take care.
Hey Bob. I think Mr. Young was very concerned about billing. Not sure he was too happy with being considered a supporting actor. As I just said in my comment to Steve he thought his Oscar was going to open doors. From the outside, it seems after 29 years of making movies one Oscar was not going to change his screen persona. Sadly the reality for him led to tragic results. Good information on billing from you, it is of course greatly appreciated.
Thanks for the added info Bob. Somewhere in this vast site is your original review and my reply to the Gig Young video. Will they ever be rediscovered? Maybe we should keep copies of our lengthy posts on actors that have yet to get UMR pages for future use. 🙂
Hey Steve. As always thanks for the feedback. Our totals are pretty close 13 for you and 10 for me. That of course is nothing compared to Flora. Our combined total of 23 is still six movies behind her. From what I’ve read about Mr. Young he was pretty despondent and that there was never a movie that really featured him. His fourth wife said he was very depressed that after winning his Oscar, starring roles did not start coming home. Seems this really led him down a bad path. One that included alcohol in eventually his tragic passing which took his fifth wife with him. That Touch of Mink had two of the most popular stars in the world. Cary Grant and Doris Day we’re at the top of their box of his glory. That is even more impressive for Grant who was near the end of his career. I’ve seen that movie a few times but it is far from being a favorite. As always good stuff.
Bruce, forgot to mention in my first post, thanks for the video share!
Gig Young was never on the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list; these are the actors on the current list he has appeared with.
30 ANTHONY QUINN They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
40 ROBERT DUVALL The Killer Elite (1975)
62 JAMES CAAN The Killer Elite (1975)
79 BRUCE DERN They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969)
109 DAVID NIVEN Ask Any Girl (1959)
112 SHIRLEY MACLAINE Ask Any Girl (1959)
141 KIRK DOUGLAS For Love or Money (1963)
182 BURGESS MEREDITH The Hindenburg (1975)
192 KRIS KRISTOFFERSON Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
227 KEENAN WYNN Holiday for Sinners (1952)
227 KEENAN WYNN The Three Musketeers (1948)
229 CHARLES DURNING The Hindenburg (1975)
230 JEFF COREY Only the Valiant (1951)
230 JEFF COREY Wake of the Red Witch (1948)
232 ANGELA LANSBURY The Three Musketeers (1948)
269 JOHN WAYNE Wake of the Red Witch (1948)
281 CLORIS LEACHMAN Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
291 ANNE BANCROFT The Hindenburg (1975)
297 HENRY FONDA The Male Animal (1942)
302 GREGORY PECK Only the Valiant (1951)
308 GLENN FORD Lust for Gold (1949)
339 SOPHIA LOREN Five Miles to Midnight (1962)
341 CHARLES BRONSON Kid Galahad (1962)
344 MAKO The Killer Elite (1975)
359 DIANE KEATON Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
374 ANTHONY PERKINS Five Miles to Midnight (1962)
390 BURT YOUNG The Killer Elite (1975)
428 RICHARD WIDMARK The Tunnel of Love (1958)
467 PAUL FIX Wake of the Red Witch (1948)
469 VINCENT PRICE The Three Musketeers (1948)
495 BO HOPKINS The Killer Elite (1975)
496 ARTHUR KENNEDY Air Force (1943)
496 ARTHUR KENNEDY The Desperate Hours (1955)
496 ARTHUR KENNEDY They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
511 TERRY-THOMAS Strange Bedfellows (1965)
537 KATHLEEN FREEMAN Come Fill the Cup (1951)
591 JEAN-PIERRE AUMONT Five Miles to Midnight (1962)
600 JANE FONDA They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969)
625 ROD TAYLOR Ask Any Girl (1959)
646 ELIZABETH TAYLOR The Girl Who Had Everything (1953)
661 ANN DORAN Air Force (1943)
661 ANN DORAN Dive Bomber (1941)
661 ANN DORAN Old Acquaintance (1943)
661 ANN DORAN The Desperate Hours (1955)
664 SUSANNAH YORK They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969)
687 FRANK SINATRA Young at Heart (1954)
688 ROBERT WEBBER Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
715 LEE VAN CLEEF Arena (1953)
734 JAMES WHITMORE The Girl Who Had Everything (1953)
785 JAMES BROWN AIR FORCE (1943)
801 BETTE DAVIS Old Acquaintance (1943)
801 BETTE DAVIS The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)
805 CHARLES LANE Teacher’s Pet (1958)
811 WARREN OATES Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
812 GEORGE C. SCOTT The Hindenburg (1975)
831 COLLEEN CAMP The Game of Death (1978)
867 PETER LAWFORD You for Me (1952)
869 RICHARD ANDERSON Holiday for Sinners (1952)
891 RENE AUBERJONOIS The Hindenburg (1975)
904 JACK ALBERTSON TEACHER’S PET (1958)
909 JAMES STEWART Rear Window (1954)
921 RICHARD BRIGHT Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
927 HUGH GRIFFITH The Story on Page One (1959)
966 JIM BACKUS Ask Any Girl (1959)
999 JERRY STILLER LOVERS AND OTHER STRANGERS (1970)
Gig actually appeared with 36 Oscar winners with no all star studio musicals or appearances with Jane Darwell who seems to have been with everyone back in the golden age of Hollywood to help.
ANNE BANCROFT The Hindenburg (1975)
ANTHONY QUINN They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
BETTE DAVIS Old Acquaintance (1943)
BETTE DAVIS The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)
CLARK GABLE Teacher’s Pet (1958)
CLORIS LEACHMAN Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
DAVID NIVEN Ask Any Girl (1959)
DEAN JAGGER The Game of Death (1978)
DIANE KEATON Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
DOROTHY MALONE Young at Heart (1954)
ELIZABETH TAYLOR The Girl Who Had Everything (1953)
ETHEL BARRYMORE Young at Heart (1954)
FRANK SINATRA Young at Heart (1954)
FREDRIC MARCH One Foot in Heaven (1941)
FREDRIC MARCH The Desperate Hours (1955)
GARY COOPER Sergeant York (1941)
GEORGE C. SCOTT The Hindenburg (1975)
GRACE KELLY Rear Window (1954)
GREGORY PECK Only the Valiant (1951)
HATTIE MCDANIEL THE MALE ANIMAL (1942)
HATTIE MCDANIEL THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON (1941)
HENRY FONDA The Male Animal (1942)
HUMPHREY BOGART The Desperate Hours (1955)
JAMES CAGNEY Captains of the Clouds (1942)
JAMES CAGNEY Come Fill the Cup (1951)
JAMES STEWART Rear Window (1954)
JANE FONDA They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969)
JANE WYMAN You’re in the Army Now (1941)
JOAN CRAWFORD Torch Song (1953)
JOHN WAYNE Wake of the Red Witch (1948)
KATHARINE HEPBURN Desk Set (1957)
OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
RED BUTTONS A Ticklish Affair (1963)
RED BUTTONS They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969)
ROBERT DUVALL The Killer Elite (1975)
SHIRLEY JONES A Ticklish Affair (1963)
SHIRLEY MACLAINE Ask Any Girl (1959)
SOPHIA LOREN Five Miles to Midnight (1962)
SPENCER TRACY Desk Set (1957)
VAN HEFLIN The Three Musketeers (1948)
WALTER BRENNAN Sergeant York (1941)
Hey Dan. Kudos to you for putting these two lists together. As always they offer up a serious amount of trivia for movie buffs. Can’t say I’m surprised that he’s not on the Oracle top 1000. Looking at the first list I see lots of favorite actors and actresses. Ann Doran (who I do not recall) is his most frequent co-star on first list. 36 Oscar winning co-stars is a good but not spectacular total. Great information as always.
I have seen 29 Gig Young movies, including 8 of his top 10, 16 of his top 20, and 24 of his top 30 titles.
The HIGHEST rated movie I have seen is Air Force, an ensemble picture more than a starring vehicle for John Garfield.
The HIGHEST rated movie I have NOT seen is They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? I’m not sure why I have not seen this yet.
The LOWEST rated movie I have seen is Slaughter Trail.
Favourite Gig Young Movies I ave Seen:
The Three Musketeers
They Died With Their Boots On
Air Force
Old Acquaintance
Captain of the Clouds
Young at Heart
That Touch of Mink
The Desperate Hours
Desk Set
Teacher’s Pet
City That Never Sleeps
The Gay Sisters
Lust For Gold
Escape Me Never
The Woman in White
Other Gig Young Movies I Have Seen:
The Hindenburg
Ask any Girl
Too Young to Kiss
Only the Valiant – Peck’s least favourite of his movies
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Kid Galahad
The Tunnel of Love – sadly, Richard Widmark was miscast
The Story on Page One
Strange Bedfellows
Torch Song
Five Miles to Midnight
The Girl Who Had Everything
You For Me
Slaughter Trail
Hey Flora. Thanks for your comment, visit and tally count. Your total of 29 movies almost tripled my total of 10. I have seen four of your favorite movies though cannot say I really loved any of those. Even his movie with Cary Grant is not a favorite. Teacher’s Pet is my favorite Gig movie. They Shoot Horses Don’t They? has a great cast but is hardly a fun movie to watch. 24 of his Top 30 is very very impressive. Good feedback.
I gave the impression by clumsy wording in my previous post that [indeed as I used to believe] d’Artagnan was one of Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, whereas in Dumas’ novels the 3 are described as friends of d’Artagnan who is their protagonist -ie their leader.
In the 1948 film where Eugene is in my view the definitive d’Artagnan the 3 Musketeers are in fact-
Porthos/Gig Young
Athos/Van Heflin
Aramis/ Robert Coote.
In the 1998 DiCaprio version-
Porthos/Gerard Depardieu
Athos/John Malkovich
Aramis/Jeremy Irons
Gabriel Byrne was d’Artagnan
Apologies for misleading anyone
Hey Bob. Thanks for your clarification on the previous post. Shockingly I have not seen Gene Kelly’s the three musketeers. But your comment makes sense thanks again.
It is fitting and topical that Gig’s new page should appear as we are still writing about and celebrating The Great Eugene’s birthday yesterday, because in 1948’s The Three Musketeers Gig played Porthos to Gene’s d’Artagnan , both men in rollicking form along with Van Heflin as the 3rd member of that legendary trio.
As a supporting actor, Gig won, considerably contrastingly , an Oscar and nomination for high drama [Shoot Horses and Come Fill the Cup respectively] and a nom for Teacher’s Pet. He stole the show from my Doris and King Gable in that one and did it again when he appeared with Doris and Al Leach in That Touch of Mink.
I found him very relaxing to watch and always found it ironic that one of his greatest roles -ie Come Fill the Cup- had him as an alcoholic when in later real-life alcohol addiction ruined his career.
I didn’t see many of his pre-1948 movies but from that year onward I saw 12 of them and those were the years in which I think he was at his peak. Among them my faves were if I remember correctly Young at Heart [again supporting my Doris along with Sinatra this time] City that Never Sleeps and Slaughter Trail.
The former Bruce rightly gives a fine 71% rating and the latter wasn’t up to much as WH’s 43% rating suggests but I was aged 11, wasn’t hard to please with a western, Brian Donlevy from Portadown over here where I grew up was the star and it had a stirring theme song that captivated me at the time-
You could only hear the sound
Of the hoof-beats on the ground
As the wagon wheels went round
On Slaughter Trail.
Historically Gig is associated with a first: his 1953 Arena was the first western in the 3 Dimension process brought in at that time for a while along with Cinemascope [The Robe] and VistaVision [White Christmas] to help Hollywood compete with television. His net worth at the time of his tragic death from suicide in 1978 was $1.3 million, approx. $5 million in today’s money. Tennis historians often dub Ivan Lendl “The greatest player never to win Wimbledon,” and for me Gig is among the greatest comedy and dramatic performers who didn’t have that extra mysterious ‘something’ that it takes to achieve major stardom, so obviously this new page is greatly welcomed by me.
Hey Bob. Thanks for the comment and feedback on this page. Good feedback on Mr. Young. I bow to your knowledge on him, I have been aware of him for years. Yet, reading your comment shows I knew very little about him. I like the comparison between Young and Lendl. Though I of course give Mats that title. Good stuff,
HI BRUCE
Interesting thoughts from you about Gig’s mindset about his career post Oscar. I hadn’t realised that it had gotten to him that much his career not advancing and had assumed that his decline was related to private lifestyle problems.
F Murray Abraham was another actor for whom even a main actor Oscar didn’t do much for at least in terms of securing top stardom.