James Craig (born James Henry Meador, February 4, 1912 – June 27, 1985) was an American actor. He is best known for appearances in films like Kitty Foyle (1940) and The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), and his stint as a leading man at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1940s where he appeared in films like The Human Comedy (1943). Biography He was born in Nashville, Tennessee and studied at the Rice Institute, planning a career in medicine. After graduation he worked for a time as a professional football player, and a debt collector. A visit to Hollywood made him decide to become an actor. He returned home and worked in theatre for a year, then went back to Hollywood. He did a screen test for Paramount, which offered him a contract. Paramount He began appearing in films at Paramount, originally using the name James Mead. He appeared mostly in B-movies and serials. His early credits included Sophie Lang Goes West (1937), This Way Please (1937), Thunder Trail (1937), Born to the West (1937), The Buccaneer (1938), The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938), and Swing, Teacher, Swing (1938). He was in Pride of the West (1938). Craig left Hollywood and went to New York. He appeared on Broadway in Missouri Legend (1938), which re-ignited Hollywood's interest in him. Columbia Craig tested for the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind and had the lead in North of Shanghai (1939) for Columbia. He was in The Lone Wolf's Daughter (1939) and the serial Flying G-Men (1939). He was in Blondie Meets the Boss (1939), Romance of the Redwoods (1939), Blind Alley (1939), Outside These Walls (1939), and Missing Daughters (1939). He was in a Buster Keaton short, Pest from the West (1939), then Good Girls Go to Paris (1939) and the serial Overland with Kit Carson (1939). He did a short with Andy Clyde, Trouble Finds Andy Clyde (1939), then Behind Prison Gates (1939), The Man They Could Not Hang (1939), and Konga (1939). Craig was in some Charley Chase shorts, Skinny the Moocher (1939) and Static in the Attic (1939). After A Woman Is the Judge (1939) he appeared in the Three Stooges film Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise. Craig followed this with Taming of the West (1939), Scandal Sheet (1939), Forestalled (1939), and Cafe Hostess (1940). Universal Craig signed with Universal in November 1939. The studio announced it