Walter Pidgeon of his better known roles was in "The Dark Command", where he portrayed the villain (loosely based on American Civil War guerrilla William C. Quantrill) opposite John Wayne, Claire Trevor, and a young Roy Rogers. It was not until he starred in the Academy Award-winning Best Picture "How Green Was My Valley" (1941) that his popularity returned. He then starred opposite Greer Garson in "Blossoms in the Dust" (1941), "Mrs. Miniver" (1942) (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor) and its sequel, "The Miniver Story" in 1950. He was also nominated in 1944 for "Madame
SS Empire Miniver SS Empire Miniver The SS "Empire Miniver was a British steam merchant ship. She was originally an American merchant, launched in 1918 as SS "West Cobalt. During a brief stint in the United States Navy in 1919, she was known as USS "West Cobalt" (ID-3836). SS "West Cobalt" was built as a steam-powered cargo ship in 1918 for the United States Shipping Board (USSB). She was part of the "West" boats, a series of steel-hulled cargo ships built on the West Coast of the United States for the First World War war effort, and was the 11th ship built at