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IMDbPro

Leslie Howard(1893-1943)

  • Actor
  • Producer
  • Director
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Leslie Howard
Aircraft designer/patriot R. J. Mitchell, alarmed at growing German militarism, works to perfect a defense against the German Messerschmidt at the cost of his health.
Play trailer3:09
Spitfire (1942)
10 Videos
99+ Photos
Leslie Howard Steiner was born in London, to Lilian (Blumberg) and Ferdinand "Frank" Steiner. His father was a Hungarian Jewish immigrant, and his English mother was of German Jewish, and mostly English, descent. Leslie went to Dulwich College. After school, he worked as a bank clerk until the outbreak of World War I, when he went into the army. In 1917, diagnosed as shell-shocked, he was invalided out and advised to take up acting as therapy. In a few years, his name was famous on the stages of London and New York. He made his first movie in 1914 (The Heroine of Mons (1914)). He became known as the perfect Englishman (slim, tall, intellectual and sensitive), a part that he played in many movies, and a part women would dream about. His first sound movie came in 1930, Outward Bound (1930), an adaptation of the stage play in which he starred. In Never the Twain Shall Meet (1931) and Smilin' Through (1932), he played the Englishman role to the hilt. His screen persona could perhaps best be summed up by his role as Sir Percy Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), a foppish member of society.

It was Howard who insisted that Humphrey Bogart get the role of Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest (1936), a role that Bogart had played in the stage production. As he became more successful, he also became quite picky about which roles he would do, and usually performed in only two films a year. In 1939, he played the character that will always be associated with him, that of Ashley Wilkes, the honor-bound disillusioned intellectual Southern gentleman in Gone with the Wind (1939).

However, war clouds were gathering over England, and he devoted all his energy on behalf of the war effort. He directed films, wrote articles and made radio broadcasts. He died in 1943, when the KLM plane he was in was shot down by German fighters over the Bay of Biscay.
BornApril 3, 1893
DiedJune 1, 1943(50)
BornApril 3, 1893
DiedJune 1, 1943(50)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Nominated for 2 Oscars

Photos300

Leslie Howard in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
Leslie Howard and Heather Angel in Berkeley Square (1933)
Leslie Howard and Kay Francis in British Agent (1934)
Leslie Howard and Kay Francis in British Agent (1934)
Leslie Howard and William Gargan in British Agent (1934)
Leslie Howard, Cesar Romero, William Gargan, and Phillip Reed in British Agent (1934)
Leslie Howard, Cesar Romero, William Gargan, and Phillip Reed in British Agent (1934)
Leslie Howard and William Gargan in British Agent (1934)
Leslie Howard, Cesar Romero, and Phillip Reed in British Agent (1934)
Leslie Howard and Kay Francis in British Agent (1934)
Leslie Howard and Ivan F. Simpson in British Agent (1934)
Leslie Howard and Kay Francis in British Agent (1934)

Known for

Leslie Howard in Pygmalion (1938)
Pygmalion
7.8
  • Professor Henry Higgins
  • 1938
Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939)
Gone with the Wind
8.2
  • Ashley - His Son
  • 1939
'Pimpernel' Smith (1941)
'Pimpernel' Smith
7.2
  • Professor Horatio Smith
  • 1941
Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
The Scarlet Pimpernel
7.3
  • Sir Percy Blakeney
  • 1934

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • The Gentle Sex (1943)
    The Gentle Sex
    • (voice)
  • Noël Coward in In Which We Serve (1942)
    In Which We Serve
    • (voice, uncredited)
  • Spitfire (1942)
    Spitfire
  • Laurence Olivier and Leslie Howard in 49th Parallel (1941)
    49th Parallel
  • 'Pimpernel' Smith (1941)
    'Pimpernel' Smith
  • Common Heritage
    • (voice)
  • Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939)
    Gone with the Wind
  • Ingrid Bergman and Leslie Howard in Intermezzo (1939)
    Intermezzo
  • Leslie Howard in Pygmalion (1938)
    Pygmalion
  • Joan Blondell and Leslie Howard in Stand-In (1937)
    Stand-In
  • Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, and Leslie Howard in It's Love I'm After (1937)
    It's Love I'm After
  • Romeo and Juliet (1936)
    Romeo and Juliet
  • Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, and Leslie Howard in The Petrified Forest (1936)
    The Petrified Forest
  • Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
    The Scarlet Pimpernel
  • Leslie Howard and Kay Francis in British Agent (1934)
    British Agent

Producer

  • The Lamp Still Burns (1943)
    The Lamp Still Burns
  • The Gentle Sex (1943)
    The Gentle Sex
  • Spitfire (1942)
    Spitfire
  • 'Pimpernel' Smith (1941)
    'Pimpernel' Smith
  • Ingrid Bergman and Leslie Howard in Intermezzo (1939)
    Intermezzo
  • The Temporary Lady
  • Too Many Cooks
  • Twice Two
  • Five Pounds Reward
  • The Bump
  • Bookworms

Director

  • The Lamp Still Burns (1943)
    The Lamp Still Burns
    • (uncredited)
  • The Gentle Sex (1943)
    The Gentle Sex
  • Spitfire (1942)
    Spitfire
  • 'Pimpernel' Smith (1941)
    'Pimpernel' Smith
  • Leslie Howard in Pygmalion (1938)
    Pygmalion

Videos10

Trailer
Trailer 2:52
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:09
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:53
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:43
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:24
Official Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:11
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:35
Official Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:03
Trailer
Romeo and Juliet
Trailer 3:36
Romeo and Juliet
The Petrified Forest
Trailer 4:13
The Petrified Forest

Personal details

Edit
    • April 3, 1893
    • Forest Hill, London, England, UK
    • June 1, 1943
    • Bay of Biscay(casualty of war)
    • March 1916 - June 1, 1943 (his death, 2 children)
    • Michael Howard(Niece or Nephew)
  • Other works
    Stage: Appeared (as "Hon. Sir Calverton Shiplay"; Broadway debut) in "Just Suppose" on Broadway. Comedy. Written by A.E. Thomas. Henry Miller's Theatre: 1 Nov 1920-Jan 1921 (closing date unknown/88 performances). Cast: Patricia Collinge (as "Linda Lee Stafford"), Laurence Eddinger, William Keighley (as "Montgomery Warren"), Fred Kerr, Geoffrey Kerr, George Pauncefort, Mrs. Thomas Whiffen (as "Mrs. Carter Stafford").
  • Publicity listings
    • 5 Print Biographies
    • 4 Portrayals
    • 8 Articles
    • 1 Pictorial
    • 2 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Died while a passenger on board British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) Flight #777-A, a Douglas Aircraft DC-3 named "Ibis," with four crew members and 13 other passengers, on a flight from Portela Airport in Lisbon, Portugal, to Whitchurch Airport near Bristol, England, on June 1, 1943 when it was attacked and shot down by eight German Junkers Ju 88 fighter planes of KG 40 off the north coast of Spain. It crashed into the Bay of Biscay killing all 17 on board.
  • Quotes
    [Describing one of his Gone with the Wind (1939) costumes]: I look like that sissy doorman at the Beverly Wilshire, a fine thing at my age.
    • 49th Parallel
      (1941)
      £2,000 (for 2 weeks)

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