John Roche (actor)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

John Roche (May 6, 1893 – November 10, 1952) was an American actor who worked on stage and in films. Born John Conklin Roche in Penn Yan, New York, he grew up after his father reportedly died before 1900. He studied at the University of Rochester and began acting in stock companies during the 1910s. By 1920 he listed himself as divorced and worked as a motor truck engineer in Manhattan.

Roche entered films in 1922 with a featured role in The Good Provider and also acted on Broadway, including R.U.R. in 1922. He lived in Los Angeles with his partner Newell Vanderhoef by 1930 and stayed there through at least 1950. He acted steadily in films until 1936, while also directing on the stage, notably Mackerel Skies, which had a brief run on Broadway in 1936.

In the 1940s he shifted to other work, including selling jewelry, but returned to films in the early 1940s. His later screen work included We Were Dancing (1942), and his final film appearance was in The Brute Man (1946). Roche died in Hollywood, California, in 1952 and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery. Over his career he appeared in more than 50 films and took part in several Broadway productions.