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Tyrone Power's father was Frederick Tyrone Power, born May 2, 1869, in London, England. The son of Harold Power, an accomplished concert pianist, Frederick Tyrone was also raised and educated in England. When he became an actor, he began using the stage name, Tyrone Power II.
In 1898, he married Edith Crane, a noted stage actress. They were married for fourteen years, until her death in 1912.
When she died, he was grief-stricken and lost interest in his stage career for several months.
He married Helen Emma Reaume (stage name after marriage was Patia Power), who had been a friend of his first wife, Edith Creane, in 1912 or 1913. On May 5, 1914, she presented him with a baby boy, Tyrone Edmund Power. Just over a year later, their daughter, Anne was born. Power Sr. was busy with his career and spent months away from his family, appearing in different stage productions across the country. The marriage became strained, and, in the fall of 1920, the Powers were divorced.
On February 17, 1921, just a few months after the Powers divorced, Tyrone Power, Sr. married for the third time, at his home in Union Hill, N.J.. The 51-year-old groom's bride, Bertha Knight, was 34.
Power was a highly respected Shakespearean actor, though he also played other types of stage roles. He made
his first Broadway appearance in 1899 in Becky Sharp at a theater known as Fifth Avenue Theatre (demolished in 1939). Throughout his long career, Tyrone Power, Sr. appeared in twenty-five Broadway productions, with his most famous role as Marcus Brutus in Julius Cesar. His last Broadway role was in The Merchant of Venice, at the Royale Theater, shortly before his death in 1931. In addition to a fine stage career, he also had a successful career in silent films. He broke into films in 1914, in the silent film, Aristocracy. He played leading roles and, later, character roles. Power appeared in forty films, only one of which, The Big Trail, was a sound film. The Big Trail starred John Wayne. In December 1931, Tyrone Power suffered a fatal heart attack while in Hollywood to film The Miracle Man . Historians have given him the name Tyrone Power, Sr. to distinguish him from his even more famous son, film star of the 1930's-1950's, Tyrone Power III.
During the last six months of his life, Tyrone Power, Sr. and his son got to know one another, trying to make up for lost time. After his graduation from Purcell High School in 1931, Ty joined his dad in Quebec, for a summer of coaching in Shakespearean acting.
They crammed a lot into those six months. In September, Power Sr. and his son went to Chicago. There, Tyrone Power, Sr. asked his good friend, Fritz Lieber, to give Ty a job in his Shakespearean company. Ty, Jr. was assigned to a very small role in The Merchant of Venice, in which Power Sr. played Duke of Venice, at Chicago's Civic Auditorium. By November Mr. Power was playing in
in The Merchant of Venice, for six performances on Broadway, at the Royale Theater. It was then to Hollywood, where the senior Power
began work on the movie The Miracle Man. Tyrone Power, Sr. never finished the movie. About six weeks into the film's production, he became seriously ill. On
December 30, 1931, he was at his rooms at the Hollywood Athletic Club, when he suffered a massive heart attack, collapsed, and died in Ty's arms.
On January 2, 1932, funeral services were held for Tyrone Power, Sr. His ashes were to be buried at Isle Aux Noix, Quebec, his former home.
Tyrone, Jr., as he was then called, was very proud of his father's accomplishments and ability as an actor. He also took with him months of advice and encouragement about the pursuit of acting career from his father. When Tyrone got his hands and feet in cement at Grauman's theater, he wrote: "To Sid - Following in my father's footsteps."
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