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IMDbPro

Basil Radford(1897-1952)

  • Actor
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Basil Radford
Official Trailer
Play trailer1:03
Whiskyä, whiskyä! (1949)
2 Videos
24 Photos
Veddy, veddy British stage and film actor Basil Radford (once dubbed "The Eternal Englishman") would actually become best remembered for his droll work in a couple of US films. Specializing in playing stuffy, mustachioed, well bred gents, he was a delightful presence in light, sophisticated comedies and breezy whodunnits.

He was born Arthur Basil Radford in Chester, England on June 25, 1897. He entered military service in 1915 and would serve as a commissioned officer for the British Army during World War I. He suffered a facial wound in the trenches that would later be obscured by clever camerawork and makeup over the years. Following military duty in 1918, he pursued an acting career and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Making his stage debut in 1924 with "Collusion." he subsequently appeared in such shows as "The Ghost Train," "The Love Pirate," "Night Must Fall," "Spring Tide," "Blind Goddess," "The White Falcon" and "A Man's House." By 1929, Radford was adding film work to his acting resume with his debut in Ain't It the Truth (1929). He subsequently found upper-class support parts in both comedies and dramas -- Seven Days Leave (1930) starring a young Gary Cooper, Just Smith (1933) Foreign Affaires (1935), Broken Blossoms (1936), Dishonour Bright (1936), Jump for Glory (1937) with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Alfred Hitchcock's murder mystery Young and Innocent (1937).

Films became an even stronger focus when Hitchcock rehired Radford and memorably teamed him with actor Naunton Wayne. In one of his early cinematic masterpieces Nainen katoaa (1938), the dry twosome hilariously portrayed a pair of cricket enthusiasts (Charters and Caldicott) who seem much more interested in reading and commenting on their favorite sport than they are concerned with the alarming number of bodies piling up aboard their train. They clicked so well with audiences in this classic whodunnit that they were asked to successfully reprise their roles in two more films: Yöpikajuna (1940) and Crook's Tour (1940) (in the latter the pair were top billed). Radford and Wayne would pair up again in seven more film outings: Sota-avioliitto (1943), Kuolema saapuu yöllä (1945), Kvartetti (1948), Passport to Pimlico (1949), It's Not Cricket (1949) and Stop Press Girl (1949). They also showed up together in wartime shorts and radio programs.

Appearances sans Mr. Wayne include the films Kuolema saapuu yöllä (1945), Tie tähtiin (1945), Unohdettu vanki (1946), Tapaus Winslow (1948) and the comedy Whiskyä, whiskyä! (1949), the last finding himself top billed. Following two top-billed character parts as a pompous boss in the working class comedy Elämän tilaisuus (1950) and the major in the racehorse yarn The Galloping Major (1951), the latter which he also co-wrote, Radford's health went into a severe decline and, by the summer of 1951, was forced to leave the screen. On the verge of a modest return in 1952, he suddenly collapsed from a heart attack on the set of the radio adventure "Rogues' Gallery" (which happened to pair him again with Naunton Wayne. He was taken to a London hospital where he died on October 20, 1952.

Only 55, a marvelous character career was lost much too soon. Long married (from 1926) to Shirley Deuchars, the couple had one son.
BornJune 25, 1897
DiedOctober 20, 1952(55)
BornJune 25, 1897
DiedOctober 20, 1952(55)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank

Photos24

Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne in Yöpikajuna (1940)
Rex Harrison, Basil Radford, and Naunton Wayne in Yöpikajuna (1940)
Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne in Yöpikajuna (1940)
Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne in Yöpikajuna (1940)
Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne in Yöpikajuna (1940)
Basil Radford in Yöpikajuna (1940)
Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne in Yöpikajuna (1940)
Jimmy Hanley, Guy Middleton, and Basil Radford in Unohdettu vanki (1946)
Basil Radford in Unohdettu vanki (1946)
Derek Bond and Basil Radford in Unohdettu vanki (1946)
Derek Bond, Guy Middleton, Basil Radford, Michael Redgrave, and Karel Stepanek in Unohdettu vanki (1946)
Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne in Nainen katoaa (1938)

Known for:

Margaret Lockwood in Nainen katoaa (1938)
Nainen katoaa
7.7
  • Charters
  • 1938
Yöpikajuna (1940)
Yöpikajuna
7.2
  • Charters
  • 1940
Joan Greenwood and Basil Radford in Whiskyä, whiskyä! (1949)
Whiskyä, whiskyä!
7.1
  • Captain Paul Waggett
  • 1949
Sota-avioliitto (1943)
Sota-avioliitto
6.8
  • Charters
  • 1943

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • Petula Clark, James Donald, and Googie Withers in White Corridors (1951)
    White Corridors
    7.1
    • Retired Civil Servant
    • 1951
  • The Galloping Major (1951)
    The Galloping Major
    6.2
    • Major Arthur Hill
    • 1951
  • Ha'penny Breeze (1950)
    Ha'penny Breeze
    6.2
    • Shopkeeper (uncredited)
    • 1950
  • Elämän tilaisuus (1950)
    Elämän tilaisuus
    6.8
    • Dickinson
    • 1950
  • Helter Skelter (1949)
    Helter Skelter
    5.2
    • Maj. Bright (uncredited)
    • 1949
  • Joan Greenwood and Basil Radford in Whiskyä, whiskyä! (1949)
    Whiskyä, whiskyä!
    7.1
    • Captain Paul Waggett
    • 1949
  • Stop Press Girl (1949)
    Stop Press Girl
    6.1
    • The Mechanical Type
    • 1949
  • It's Not Cricket (1949)
    It's Not Cricket
    6.0
    • Major Bright
    • 1949
  • Passport to Pimlico (1949)
    Passport to Pimlico
    7.1
    • Gregg
    • 1949
  • Dirk Bogarde in Kvartetti (1948)
    Kvartetti
    7.3
    • Henry Garnet (segment "The Facts of Life")
    • 1948
  • Tapaus Winslow (1948)
    Tapaus Winslow
    7.6
    • Desmond Curry
    • 1948
  • A Girl in a Million (1946)
    A Girl in a Million
    6.5
    • Prendergast
    • 1946
  • Rachel Kempson and Michael Redgrave in Unohdettu vanki (1946)
    Unohdettu vanki
    7.0
    • Major Ossy Dalrymple
    • 1946
  • Kuolema saapuu yöllä (1945)
    Kuolema saapuu yöllä
    7.5
    • George Parratt
    • 1945
  • Tie tähtiin (1945)
    Tie tähtiin
    7.3
    • Tiny Williams
    • 1945

Writer

  • The Galloping Major (1951)
    The Galloping Major
    6.2
    • based on an idea by
    • 1951

Videos2

Whisky Galore!
Trailer 1:03
Whisky Galore!
The Lady Vanishes: The Criterion Collection [Blu-Ray]
Trailer 1:22
The Lady Vanishes: The Criterion Collection [Blu-Ray]

Personal details

Edit
  • Born
    • June 25, 1897
    • Chester, Cheshire, England, UK
  • Died
    • October 20, 1952
    • Westminster, London, England, UK(liver failure due to cirrhosis of the liver)
  • Spouse
    • Evelyn Shirley DeucharsDecember 2, 1926 - October 20, 1952 (his death, 1 child)
  • Other works
    He acted in Emlyn Williams' play, "Night Must Fall," at the Duchess Theatre in London, England with Emlyn Williams, May Whitty, Angela Baddeley, and Kathleen Harrison in the cast. Miles Malleson was director.
  • Publicity listings
    • 4 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Saw active service in the First World War between 1915 and 1918; has a crescent-shaped scar on his right cheek from a wound.
  • Nickname
    • The Eternal Englishman

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