My favourite male actor voices
The voice is an actor's most important tool. Here is a list of the best, most unique and coolest actors voices ever in the history of film and television. Non-English names are German and Danish, primarily.
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Although Richard Kiley's rich baritone and strong vocal talent was much in evidence and received due respect with his award of a Tony for "Man of La Mancha", it was little used in his television and movie appearances. Won two Tony Awards as Best Actor (Musical): in 1959 for "Redhead" and in 1966 for his signature role, "Man of La Mancha". He was also nominated in the same category in 1962 for "No Strings" and, in 1987, as as Best Actor (Play) for a revival of Arthur Miller's "All My Sons".- Actor
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Gaunt, wavy-haired Sicilian-American character actor Joseph Campanella seemed to pop up in just about every second TV series and telemovie of the 1960s and 70s. A tireless veteran of stage and screen, he remained very much in demand well into his eighties. His older brother Frank was also an actor. The son of a musician, Campanella began his flirtation with show biz as a teenage sports announcer for a small Pennsylvania radio station. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Second World War, where, at 18, he commanded a landing craft. Campanella initially studied architecture, earned a Bachelor of Arts in English literature and studied for a Master's Degree in speech and drama at Columbia University. His stage career began at the Colonial Theatre in Boston in 1954. He subsequently relocated from New York to Hollywood. Beginning with anthology television in 1952, he amassed numerous guest credits and even had a recurring role as Lew Wickersham (the suave, scientifically-minded head of the Intertect detective agency) in Mannix (1967), for which he received an Emmy Award nomination. For the better part of his career, Campanella was cast as priests (a standout role was that of Father Corelli in The Invaders (1967) episode "Storm"), police officers or doctors. He had a knack for playing characters of a volatile or tortured disposition. Campanella appeared on many daytime soap operas, including a lengthy spell on The Bold and the Beautiful (1987) and the short-lived Dynasty spin-off The Colbys (1985). As narrator, he provided the voice for National Geographic specials (for each episode some eight hours of voice-over were taped, though only fifty minutes were actually used), as well as doing commercials for BMW and the National Automotive Parts Association. On Broadway his roles have included "Captain and the Kings," "Hot Spot," "Born Yesterday," and "The Caine Mutiny".- Actor
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For a while he worked on the management side of his father's sporting goods firm in Belfast, but by the mid fifties he was in the chorus of an amateur dramatic and operatic society. He'd fallen for a girl member so joined the society to get to know her. While he soon got over her, he'd become fascinated by acting. He sang in 'Annie Get Your Gun', played Judd in 'Oklahoma', then later joined the local repertory company. In 1959 moved to London where he quickly made a reputation as a character actor moving from theatre to films.- Actor
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Born on April 30, 1938 in Venice, California, Gary Collins was one of the most versatile actors in the entertainment industry. Gary attended Santa Monica City College and then enlisted in the United States Army for two years. While in uniform, Gary discovered acting and performed as a radio and television personality for the Armed Forces Network. A talented and diverse actor, he portrayed a variety of characters in films, television movies, miniseries, television series and on stage. In addition to these roles, Gary was also well known for his easygoing style and warmth as a Host. Gary was married to actress, television personality and former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley. He and his wife were involved with the March of Dimes for more than 20 years and they were active volunteers in relief organizations to end world hunger. They were also involved with the National Foundation for Ileitis and Colitis. Gary Collins died at age 74 of natural causes on October 13, 2012 in Biloxi, Mississippi.- Patrick Allen was born on 17 March 1927 in Nyasaland [now Malawi]. He was an actor, known for Dial M for Murder (1954), Glencannon (1959) and UFO (1970). He was married to Sarah Lawson. He died on 28 July 2006 in London, England, UK.
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Kenneth Gilbert More C.B.E. (20 September 1914 - 12 July 1982) was one of Britain's most successful and highest paid actors of his generation, with a multi award-winning career in theatre, film and television spanning over 4 decades.
At the height of his fame during the 1950's More appeared in some of the most memorable feature films of the decade including Genevieve (1953), Doctor in the House (1954), The Deep Blue Sea (1955), Reach for the Sky (1956), Paradise Lagoon (1957), A Night to Remember (1958), The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1958), North West Frontier (1959) and The 39 Steps (1959).
Starting out as the lovable, happy-go-lucky gentleman with boyhood charm and cheerful optimism, he would later refine his acting style into a leading man who could articulate a whole range of emotions in serious dramatic performances. More managed to embody courage and a sense of moral certitude with a relaxed, informal manner that made audiences warm to him immediately.
From very early on in his career More was very conscious of his talents, what parts suited him as an actor and what did not. More would have been the first to admit there were other actors that could better perform the works of Shakespeare than he. More was probably being self-deprecating. He had more range than he sometimes gave himself credit for, but he knew how best to appeal to an audience.
Born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, Kenneth More was the son of a civil engineer, a profession he initially pursued but with little success. More was not a trained actor and had not gone into show business to tread the boards. He was merely looking for work and happened to walk past the Windmill Theatre in London's West End one day and saw a sign above the door 'General Manager - Vivian Van Damm'. More had remembered that a man called Van Damm had known his father and so he asked for a job. More was soon a stagehand earning two pounds and ten shillings a week, shifting scenery and helping to get the nude female performers off the stage during their risqué performances. One day he was called upon to help comic Ken Douglas on stage with a sketch, More playing the small part of a Policeman. It was this experience and the subsequent taste of the audience's laughter which made him want to pursue a career in acting. He was soon an actor in his own right appearing on stage as Ken More in comedy sketches. Following 2 years at the Windmill he moved into repertory theatre with seasons at Byker's, Grand Theatre in Newcastle, and the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton.
With the outbreak of war, and following a stint with the Merchant Navy, More joined Royal Navy cruiser HMS Aurora (R12) . It would end up having the greatest impact on his character and his acting style during wartime. As ship's Action Commentator he found an opportunity to hone his craft as an actor, keeping steady nerves when reporting action during conflict to the crew below decks. He also got on well with his shipmates by helping them to write wonderfully romantic love letters home to their ladies. Aurora would journey across the Atlantic and Mediterranean seeing its fair share of action. Wartime missions aboard Aurora, and later with aircraft carrier HMS Victorious (R38) would lead him to receive medals, including campaign stars for Africa, Italy, the Atlantic and Pacific.
After being demobbed from the Navy More returned to England and signed with agent Harry Dubens, who was seeking actors who had served in the forces. More went into 'The Crimson Harvest' (1946) at the Gateway Theatre in Notting Hill, and it was there that BBC producer Michael Barry saw him and offered him a contract to play in small television roles at the Alexandra Palace to help restart the BBC.
Jenny Laird and John Fernald's 'And No Birds Can Sing' (1946) marked More's West End debut at the Aldwych Theatre, playing the part of the Reverend Arthur Platt. Within a year he was back on stage in 'Power Without Glory' (1947) by Michael Clayton Hutton at the New Lindsey, Notting Hill Gate. It was so well received that it led to a live version being broadcast on the BBC. That same year Noël Coward cast More as a British Resistance Leader in 'Peace in Our Time' at the Lyric Theatre; a story of what might have happened if Britain had lost the Second World War. More and Coward got on well and stayed friends throughout their lives. 1950 saw More in 'The Way Things Go' by Frederick Lonsdale at the Phoenix Theatre, alongside a cast which included Michael Gough, Glynis Johns, Ronald Squire and Janet Burnell.
His first breakthrough came on stage at The Duchess Theatre in 1952 playing the role of Freddie Page alongside Peggy Ashcroft in Terence Rattigan's 'The Deep Blue Sea'. It was noted actor Roland Culver who had put More forward for the part having known Rattigan. The production was an enormous success and Kenneth More received great critical acclaim. He would often cite it as his favourite stage performance.
It was whilst More was performing in 'The Deep Blue Sea' that filmmaker Henry Cornelius came back stage to offer him a part which would change his career forever, the role of Ambrose Claverhouse in a film called Genevieve (1953). Cornelius had remembered More from a screen test he had directed him in for the part of Lt. E.G.R. (Teddy) Evans in Scott of the Antarctic (1948). This had been More's first attempt to break into cinema which had not come to fruition although plenty of film work followed. Cornelius was sure More was the Claverhouse he needed for 'Genevieve' and he was not disappointed. More's perfect comic timing was made for the part and he won the audience immediately making him a rising star overnight. 'Genevieve' was the second most popular movie that year and went onto become a British comedy classic, winning Best British Film at the British Film Academy Awards.
More channelled the same energy and zest for life he had shown as Claverhouse in his next performance as student Doctor Richard Grimsdake in the first of the much-loved Doctor in the House (1954) film series. It was a winning formula becoming the most popular film at the box office in 1954 securing More Best Actor at the British Film Academy Awards.
1955 saw More returning to the role of Freddie Page in a big screen version of Terence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea, playing alongside Vivien Leigh. Incidentally, he had brought the role back to life the previous year for BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950) series. The screen adaptation was produced by Alexander Korda and directed by Anatole Litvak. More's performance was once again praised by audiences and critics alike, leading to being awarded the prestigious Volpi cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival, as well as nominations for Best Actor at the British Film Academy Awards. Further honours were bestowed by the Variety Club of Great Britain as Most Promising International Star of 1955. He had finally made his mark.
It was a serious leading role initially turned down by Richard Burton which would make More a major star. Playing the legless, real-life fighter pilot Douglas Bader in Reach for the Sky (1956) was the role of a lifetime. He felt the part of Bader was one he was born to play as he mentioned in his autobiography, 'More or Less': "Bader's philosophy was my philosophy. His whole attitude to life was mine." More had met Bader at Gleneagles where they played a round of golf together, Bader winning each time. They got on well which was somewhat surprising in that Bader was not that keen on actors. Not wanting to caricature him More kept his distance whilst preparing for the role, only meeting him on a handful of occasions for dinner with his friend, actor Ronald Squire. 'Reach for the Sky' became a smash hit upon release and the most popular British film of 1956, winning a British Film Academy award for Best Film. Playing Bader also garnered a Best Actor award for More from popular cinema publication, Picturegoer magazine.
'Reach for the Sky' did something much greater for his career, it showed British audiences that Kenneth More was not just suited to comic roles, he had range as a leading man in dramatic performances. In later years More called several of his films 'favourites' in the press, but it is the belief that 'Reach for the Sky' remained his preferred choice and greatest accomplishment on screen.
Hugely popular films The Admirable Crichton (1957), A Night to Remember (1958), The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1958), North West Frontier (1959) and The 39 Steps (1959) galvanized his status as one of Britain's most sought-after actors of the decade. Once he was a £5 a week actor in rep, now he was commanding £50,000 a film.
At the height of his fame More was offered several opportunities to go to Hollywood but with the success he was enjoying at home he did not see the point, or even what he had to offer Tinseltown at this juncture.
The 1960s saw More continue as a leading man in Sink the Bismarck! (1960), Loss of Innocence (1961) and We Joined the Navy (1962). He would cite The Comedy Man (1964) as one of his most favourite roles playing down and out middle-aged actor Chick Byrd. This character resonated with him on two levels. The first was how it represented the experiences he had as a struggling young actor, the second was how he was coming to terms with the present, his own age and the shifting trends of the industry. It would be More's last leading role on the silver screen. Further successes on film came but in cameo or supporting roles, including The Longest Day (1962), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Battle of Britain (1969), Scrooge (1970) and The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella (1976).
More finally achieved worldwide fame as leading man on the small screen in a BBC adaptation of John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga (1967). He had been working steadily on television throughout the 1960's in starring roles, but The Forsyte Saga caught the world's imagination and was a huge, phenomenal success. The series managed to achieve that rare cult-like status and helped introduce Kenneth More to a whole new audience, many who had not seen his earlier work. Several years late More took on another famous literary character playing the part of a Catholic priest who was adept at solving mysteries in G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown (1974). The TV Times awarded him Best Actor for his performance.
Kenneth More had returned to the theatre as early as 1963, playing the part of Peter Pounce alongside Celia Johnson in Giles Cooper's 'Out of the Crocodile' at the Phoenix Theatre. A year later he appeared in a musical version of 'The Admirable Crichton' co-starring with Millicent Martin in 'Our Man Crichton' at the Shaftesbury Theatre. By the end of the 1960s he had received great critical praise as Hugh in a production of 'The Secretary Bird' (1968) by William Douglas-Home at the Savoy Theatre. It turned out to be the biggest stage success of his career. Terence Rattigan's 'The Winslow Boy' (1970), Alan Bennett's award-winning 'Getting On' (1971), Jeremy Kingston's 'Sign of the Times' (1973) and Frederick Lonsdale's 'On Approval' (1977) followed, all of which reinforced More's popularity in his later years.
He was made a CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in the Queen's New Year's Honours list of 1970. The Kenneth More Theatre, a regional playhouse named in his honour opened in Redbridge in 1974. The Variety Club of Great Britain bestowed More with a special silver heart in 1975 for 40 years in show business. He had been a great supporter of the club over the years taking part in a great deal of charitable events. A special, televised ceremony was held in the Lancaster ballroom of the Savoy Hotel and was attended by many of the industry's best-known names, including Sir. Douglas Bader who More had remained friends with throughout the years.
1978 saw the release of his autobiography 'More or Less', reported to have sold 100,000 copies almost immediately upon release. It received widespread critical and public praise and showed that his appeal had not diminished after 4 decades in the business, despite how times had changed. More was considered an 'institution in British entertainment' according to presenter Michael Parkinson whilst introducing him on his chat show in 1978.
More announced his retirement in 1980 due to illness, at the time he was diagnosed with Parkinson's. It is now very likely that he was suffering from Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), due in part to the age of onset and the speed at which the condition progressed. Kenneth More passed away on July 12th, 1982. His wife Angela Douglas was by his side having nursed him in his final years.
Kenneth More's memorial service was held at St Martin-in-the-Fields on 20 September 1982, which also marked his birthday. The service was packed with family and friends alike, including Lauren Bacall, Dame Anna Neagle and Lady Joan Bader, widow of Sir Douglas Bader who had passed away the same year. A plaque was erected at St. Paul's Church Covent Garden, known more commonly as the Actor's Church.
It is almost 40 years since his passing, yet Kenneth More's performances have endured, continuing to screen worldwide on television and home entertainment. What greater legacy can there be for an actor than to be able to continue to thrill audiences long after one has taken their final bow.- Actor
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"Straight Shooting" -- whether skeet shooting, or portraying Eliot Ness -- Robert Stack always told it like it was, and shot straight. Born in Los Angeles, California, the younger son of James Langford Stack (1860-1928), the owner of an advertising agency, and Mary Elizabeth Modini Wood (1891-1975), he was originally named Charles Langford Modini Stack at birth by his mother but his father soon changed the name to Robert Langford Stack. (The name Robert reportedly referred to no one in particular.) His elder brother and only sibling was James Langford Stack (1916-2006).
His parents had divorced when he was one-year-old, and his mother took him to Europe when he was three. He did not learn to speak English until he was six years old. His brother, James Langford Stack Jr., stayed in the United States with their father. Young Robert spoke fluent Italian and French, but had to learn English when they returned to Los Angeles. His mother and father remarried in 1928. Robert took drama courses at USC. He was not interested in team sports, so he took up skeet shooting. In 1935, he came in second in the National Skeet Shooting Championship (held in Cleveland) and, in 1936, his 5-man team broke the standing record at the National Skeet Championships (held in St. Louis).
Stack arrived at Universal City Studios in 1939, when the movie studio (once riding high on the successes of movies such as Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931)) was in financial trouble, and looking for a superstar. That superstar was Deanna Durbin (acquired from MGM), and Stack made his screen debut as her lover in First Love (1939). At first, he did not want to listen to the makeup man who had told him, "no blond has ever made it as a leading man", and insisted on dyeing his hair black and uncurling it. That makeup man was genius and Oscar winner, Jack P. Pierce (who had done all the monsters for Universal), and Stack became a matinee idol, overnight. After two more movies, he was teamed with Durbin again, in Nice Girl? (1941). he was now a bona-fide star, but Universal was still only paying him $150 a week. For the next 10 years, Stack did Westerns, war movies and romantic comedies.
Stack had fond memories for Bullfighter and the Lady (1951), a movie produced by his friend, John Wayne, which meant 12 weeks filming in sunny Mexico. The movie had a great script; unfortunately, two bullfighters were gored while filming. There were several weeks of delays, they could not get a crew or a sound stage, until they realized that, in Mexico, it is necessary to bribe the local union; some money was passed and filming started, immediately. There were wild times, and lots of tequila. Robert became a local legend; when some Mexicans asked him what he did in the War, Robert said: "I taught machine gun." The rumor spread: "Roberto teaches chingas!" (that's Spanish for "hookers"). In 1952, he made movie history (much like Al Jolson had done in 1927, being in the first "talkie") -- he starred in Bwana Devil (1952), the first 3-D movie. This gave startling effects to the story, which was based on real-life lion attacks in Africa.
Stack attended the premiere, and recalled people's reactions to the 3-D lion scenes: "People in the audience jumped out of their seats, some even fainted." The movie broke box office records, and immediately started the demand to film more movies in 3-D (such as House of Wax (1953)). Around 1955, Robert (Hollywood's most eligible bachelor) was introduced to Rosemarie Bowe, by mutual agent Bill Shiffrin. Rosemarie had been under contract to MGM and Columbia, making such movies as Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) and The Golden Mistress (1954). The couple wed two years later and had two children: Elizabeth Stack and Charles Stack. The former perennial bachelor found out he liked being married and being a father. His onscreen fame had grown and, for Written on the Wind (1956), he received an Academy Award nomination. Unfortunately, this did not sit well with 20th-Century Fox, which had him under contract, and had lent him to Universal for this picture. His contract with Fox came to an end. Stack made the transition to the new medium that was sweeping the country: television. He delivered breakout performances in his signature role as T-man (Treasury agent) Eliot Ness on The Untouchables (1959) which, after the pilot, ran for four seasons (118 episodes). And there was also the television movie, The Scarface Mob (1959).
There were some funny behind-the-scenes anecdotes, such as this one: there is no scene which stood out more as the most potentially evil, and risky in terms of audience acceptance, as the "bacio di morte" ("kiss of death"), the Sicilian gesture whenever a Capo (Neville Brand) kissed a Mafia soldier (Frank DeKova) to send him out as an executioner. The two actors were nervous enough about this scene (two guys had never kissed on television before), but then some crewman decided to be a prankster and told each star, in private, just before filming, "look out -- your co-star likes kissing guys" (a complete deception, of course). There were some unfortunate anecdotes: Joseph Wiseman was a fine actor, but trained to work on the New York stage with props; he was not accustomed to real Hollywood sets. In a 1960 episode of "The Untouchables", Stack was supposed to take an axe and smash up a brewery. He hit a real pipe, the axe ricocheted off the metal, and cut through his Achilles tendon. "I never felt so sorry for anyone in my life", Stack commented. They wrote a role for Wiseman as a crippled, renegade chemist a few weeks later in "The Antidote", which Stack noted, "was one of our half-dozen top shows". Stack went on to do television series, such as The Name of the Game (1968) alternating lead with Gene Barry and Anthony Franciosa, then later Most Wanted (1976), and he pleasantly surprised everyone with his flair for comedies in movies like 1941 (1979) and Airplane! (1980).
Stack hosted Unsolved Mysteries (1987) and did more zany humor in Caddyshack II (1988), Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996) and BASEketball (1998). He also provided the voice of the character Ultra Magnus in The Transformers: The Movie (1986). He portrayed the no-nonsense G-man Ness again in The Return of Eliot Ness (1991). Stack was being treated for prostate cancer when he died at age 84 on May 14, 2003 at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, after suffering a heart attack.- Actor
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Joseph Maher was born on 29 December 1933 in Westport, County Mayo, Ireland. He was an actor, known for In & Out (1997), I.Q. (1994) and Heaven Can Wait (1978). He died on 17 July 1998 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
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James Mason was born in Huddersfield and had a film career spanning over 50 years during which he appeared in over 100 films in England and America but never won an Oscar. Whatever role he played, from the wounded Belfast gunman in Odd Man Out to Rommel in The Desert Fox, his creamy velvet voice gave him away. Like Charlie Chaplin James left the screen to spend his later life living in Switzerland. His first marriage had been to Pamela Kellino, a Yorkshire mill owner's daughter and his second to Australian actress Clarissa Kaye.- Actor
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Anthony Quayle was born in Ainsdale, Southport, Lancashire, England in September 1913. He completed his education at Rugby School and had a brief spell at RADA, before treading the boards for the first time as the straight man in a music hall comedy act in 1931. Tall, burly, round-faced and possessed of a powerful and resonant voice, he was mentored early on in his career by the well-known stage director Tyrone Guthrie. Letters of introduction led to steady employment with the Old Vic Company by September 1932, and a succession of small roles in classical parts. Quayle's reputation as an actor grew steadily, and, in 1936, he appeared on Broadway opposite Ruth Gordon in 'The Country Wife'. For the next few years, he consolidated his position as a Shakespearean actor. When the Second World War began, he was among the first in his profession to enlist, serving with the Royal Artillery and rising to the rank of major. Some of his wartime experiences, such as coordinating operations with Albanian partisans as part of the secret Special Operations Executive, were destined to be paralleled by his fictional post-war screen exploits as incisive army officers or spies. With the war still fresh in his mind, he subsequently published two novels (respectively in 1945, and in 1947), 'Eight Hours from England' and 'On Such a Night'.
In 1946, Quayle also made his debut as a theatrical director with a London production of 'Crime and Punishment'. Between 1948 and 1956, he had a distinguished tenure as director of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, bringing into the company some of the biggest stars of the stage, including Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud. Though acting in films from 1938, the theatre remained his favorite medium. He played diverse roles with great intensity and professionalism, achieving critical acclaim as Petruchio and Falstaff, Tamburlaine and Galileo (on Broadway) and the original role of Andrew Wyke in Anthony Shaffer's play 'Sleuth' (played in the first screen version by Olivier). In motion pictures Quayle tended to portray tough, dependable authority figures. He was good value for money as Commodore Harwood in Pursuit of the Graf Spee (1956), as the enigmatic Afrikaner captain in Ice Cold in Alex (1958) and as the stuffy, by-the-book Colonel Harry Brighton, who nonetheless appears to have a degree of admiration for Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Due to his classical training, Quayle was often used in historical epics, giving one of his best performances as Cardinal Wolsey in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), earning him an Academy Award nomination. His voice was heard as narrator of The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970) and on radio in anything from 'The Ballad of Robin Hood' to Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Purloined Letter'.
The year prior to receiving his knighthood, Quayle founded the touring Compass Theatre Company, and served as its director until a few months before his death from cancer in October 1989.- His father was the Judge of Mayence (Mainz) and his mother, who was half-English, was a singing teacher. Since the family was Jewish, the teenage Ferdinand was sent to England to stay with his aunt Lee Hutchinson, a noted photographer and sculptress. His parents were briefly interned in Buchenwald, but his mother's English connections enabled them also to get to England before war broke out.
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One of Britain's most recognizable (and most larger-than-life) character actors, Tom Baker is best known for his record-setting seven-year stint as the Fourth Doctor in Doctor Who (1963). He was born in 1934 in Liverpool, to Mary Jane (Fleming) and John Stewart Baker. His father was of English and Scottish descent, while his mother's family was originally from Ireland. Tom, along with his younger sister, Lulu, and younger brother, John, was raised in a poor Catholic community by his mother, a house-cleaner and barmaid, who was a devout Catholic, and his father, a sailor, who was rarely at home.
At age fifteen, Baker left school to become a monk with the Brothers of Ploermel on the island of Jersey. Six years later, he abandoned the monastic life and performed his National Service in the Royal Army Medical Corps., where he became interested in acting. Baker then served on the Queen Mary for seven months as a sailor in the Merchant Navy before attending Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in Kent, England, on scholarship.
Baker acted in repertory theaters around Britain until the late 1960s when he joined up with the National Theatre, where he performed with such respected actors as Maggie Smith, Anthony Hopkins and Laurence Olivier, who helped him get his first prominent film role as Rasputin in Nicholas and Alexandra (1971). His performance in this film earned him two Golden Globe Award nominations, one for best actor in a supporting role and another for best new star of the year. A couple of years earlier, Baker had made his theatrical film debut in The Winter's Tale (1967).
Despite appearances in a spate of films, including The Canterbury Tales (1972), The Vault of Horror (1973), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973) and The Mutations (1974), Baker found himself in a career lull and working as a labourer at a building site. However, the BBC's Head of Serials, William Slater, who had directed Baker in BBC Play of the Month (1965), recommended him to producer Barry Letts, who was looking for a replacement for Jon Pertwee as the Fourth Doctor in Doctor Who (1963). Baker's performance in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973) convinced Letts that he was right for it. It brought Baker international fame and popularity. He played the role for seven years, longer than any actor before or since.
After leaving Doctor Who (1963) in 1981, Baker returned to theatre and made occasional television and film appearances, playing Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1982), Puddleglum in The Chronicles of Narnia story The Silver Chair (1990) and Hallvarth, Clan Leader of the Hunter Elves, in Dungeons & Dragons (2000).- Actor
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British leading man who achieved some success in American films, as well. Born in Ireland as the son of a British officer, Todd grew up in Devon and (for a brief time) in India and attended Shrewsbury Public School. His interest in theatre led him to small roles in stock in England and Scotland and three tiny film roles, following which he helped found the Dundee Repertory Theatre in 1939. He served with distinction as a paratrooper in the Second World War and returned to considerably more prominent theatre roles, culminating in the role of "Lachie" in John Patrick's "The Hasty Heart", in which he played in London and then followed Richard Basehart in the Broadway production. He made his first major film appearance in 1948, and the next year was again cast as "Lachie", this time in the film version of The Hasty Heart (1949). His performance, a truly star-making and moving piece of work, earned him an Oscar nomination as Best Actor. He followed it with a role in Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright (1950), but although he continued to play leading roles, often in quite good films, he never again achieved the prominence and acclaim he had had with The Hasty Heart (1949). He was quite effective in such roles as "Robin Hood" and "Rob Roy", and very touching as "Peter Marshall" in A Man Called Peter (1955). In The Longest Day (1962), he portrayed his own superior officer at the Pegasus Bridge fight, with another actor portraying Todd himself in a recreation of his own experiences. Ultimately, Todd's starring roles dwindled, but he continued as a stalwart character actor, primarily in British films.- Actor
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Robert Powell was born on Thursday, June 1st, 1944, five days before D-Day, on Tuesday, June 6th, 1944, in Salford, Greater Manchester, England. In 1964, he started his acting career while attending Manchester University. In 1967, he made his film debut, and later landed his first starring role in The Italian Job (1969). Some of his well-known movies include Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth (1977), Ken Russell's Tommy (1975) and Mahler (1974), the sequel or remake of The Thirty Nine Steps (1978), and the popular TV series, Doomwatch (1970). Robert ended his bachelor life, when he married Barbara "Babs" Lord, on Friday, August, 29th, 1975. They are parents of two children (1 son & 1 daughter). In 1982, Robert won the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival for his performance in Imperative (1982). He won the best actor award at the Paris Film Festival for Harlequin (1980). For his portrayal of Jesus in Jesus of Nazareth he received best actor awards from TV Times and Italian TV Times, the international arts prize at the Fiuggi Film Festival, grand prize at the Saint-Vincent Film Festival, and a nomination as best actor from The Irish Academy of Film and Television arts. In reference to his role as Jesus in Jesus of Nazareth, Robert said, "I hope Jesus Christ will be the last in my line of sensitive young men for quite a while."- The great, great nephew of the renowned French scientist Louis Pasteur developed into a strangely handsome dark haired, pale complexioned English actor. Ralph Bates was born in 1940 in Bristol, England and attended the University of Dublin and studied at the Yale Drama School. His dramatic talents first came to audiences attention playing the evil Emperor Caligula in the well received BBC TV series The Caesars (1968). However, the Hammer studios resurrection of the horror genre was then in full stride, and Bates was soon engulfed in the swirling cloak of Hammer's success as he appeared in several horror films in quick succession. Firstly in a support role as demonic Lord Courtley in Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970), followed as the lead character Baron Frankenstein in The Horror of Frankenstein (1970), then as Giles Barton in the sexy Lust for a Vampire (1971) and as the well meaning Dr. Jekyll in an unusual spin on the Robert Louis Stevenson story in Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971), Bates brought a new zest to Hammer and with his stylish dialogue delivery and film acting methods, he quickly won himself quite a few fans in both critics and regular film goers!
Unfortunately, by the early 1970s there had been a downturn in Hammer studios fortunes, and Bates then found himself turning to more traditional character work in other production houses and he appeared in several films before snaring other superb villainous role as George Warleggan in the 18th century period piece Poldark (1975).
After Poldark, Bates himself kept busy in a few forgettable UK made TV shows and television film roles which did not really do justice to his remarkable talents. In the late 1980s his health rapidly deteriorated, and he passed away from cancer aged only 51 on 27th March 1991. - Actor
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Henry Hull, the actor who created the role of Jeeter on Broadway in "Tobacco Road," was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on October 13, 1890, the son of a drama critic. Originally intending to become an engineer, Hull became an actor and made his Broadway debut in "Green Stockings" less than two weeks before his 21st birthday, on October 2, 1911. Two years later he appeared again on Broadway in support of John Barrymore in "Believe Me, Xantippe." He then quit the stage to go prospecting for gold, using his skills as a mining engineer. When he failed to find his El Dorado, Hull turned back to acting, appearing in "The Man Who Came Back" in 1916. He made his first films at the nearby World Pictures in 1917, most famously starring as the ill-fated Aleksandr Kerensky in Rasputin, the Black Monk (1917). The following year he appeared in the second film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's famous novel Little Women (1918).
Although he appeared in about a dozen films from just after World War One to the mid '30s, Hull concentrated on the stage until he went to Hollywood to appear as Magwitch in Great Expectations (1934). He even had a play he wrote produced on Broadway, "Manhattan," which made its debut on August 15, 1922, at the Playhouse Theatre and ran for a respectable (for the time) 86 performances.
Hull made his mark in the history of the horror film, one of Hollywood's most venerable genres, by appearing in the title role in Werewolf of London (1935). Six feet tall and slender, Hull had a rich and cultured voice, which put him in demand as a supporting player in the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was, however, somewhat of a mannered actor in a style that went out of favor after the death of John Barrymore, and he often gave a performance, such as that of the newspaper editor in The Return of Frank James (1940), that was a thick slice of ham. However, his mannerisms and plummy voice were perfect for certain roles such as the obnoxious millionaire conceived by populist John Steinbeck for Lifeboat (1944).
Hull's greatest success as an actor was on Broadway, limning Erskine Caldwell's Jeeter in "Tobacco Road," which still ranks as the longest-running drama in the Great White Way's history, opening on December 4, 1933, and closing on May 31, 1941, after 3,182 total performances. (Hull, of course, did not play the entire run; Jeeter was also played by James Barton and Will Geer). By early 1936 Hull was starring on Broadway in Maxwell Anderson's "The Masque of Kings". When John Ford went looking to cast roles in his film version of the play Tobacco Road (1941), he chose lovable old coot Charley Grapewin for Jeeter; Grapewin had been memorable as Grandpa Joad the year before in Ford's classic adaptation of Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath (1940).
Henry Hull's last film appearance was as a sort of chorus along with Jocelyn Brando in The Chase (1966). He was the brother of actor Shelly Hull, the brother-in-law of Shelly's wife Josephine Hull and the father of producer Shelley Hull with his wife, actress Juliet Fremont, with whom he had appeared on Broadway in 1916 in "The Man Who Came Back." Their son Henry Hull Jr. had a minor career on Broadway, appearing in and serving as assistant stage manager in his father's "The Masque of Kings," as well as appearing in the ensemble in the legendary "Hamlet" of John Gielgud that was on Broadway in 1936.- Actor
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Born in Ipswich in 1942 to a father who was in the RAF so his early life was spent in various RAF bases. After obtaining a history degree at Cambridge he spent 2 years in Repertory and made his West End debut in 'The Rivals' at London's Haymarket Theatre. he made his name in the television series Poldark.- Peter Howell was an English actor born in London to Owen, a solicitor, and his wife Nora, née Mally, on 25 October 1919. He attended Winchester College and began studying Law at Christ Church, Oxford but left when he was called up for wartime service in 1939. Invalided out of the army in 1943 as a result of dysentery he became interested in acting through his sister Gillian, who was training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). At this point of the war RADA was looking for men to act in productions to replace those away on active service.
Howell then joined the Old Vic Company which had relocated to the New Theatre, London following the bombing of it's own location. Whist there he gained valuable experience with small parts alongside the likes of Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and Sybil Thorndike. This would provide the foundation for a stage and screen career that would eventually last for over fifty years.
Since then he played many roles on stage and television, notably in long-running hospital soap 'Emergency Ward 10'. He was also an active member of Equity, the actors' union, and the Labour Party. Married to Susan , who died in 1992, he died on April 20 2015 and is survived by three daughters and a son. - John Zaremba was born on 22 October 1908 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) and The Time Tunnel (1966). He was married to Elinor Deck Suter. He died on 15 December 1986 in Newport Beach, California, USA.
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One of stage, screen and TV's finest transatlantic talents, slight, gravel-voiced, pasty-looking John Vincent Hurt was born on January 22, 1940, in Shirebrook, a coal mining village, in Derbyshire, England. The youngest child of Phyllis (Massey), an engineer and one-time actress, and Reverend Arnould Herbert Hurt, an Anglican clergyman and mathematician, his quiet shyness betrayed an early passion for acting. First enrolled at the Grimsby Art School and St. Martin's School of Art, his focus invariably turned from painting to acting.
Accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1960, John made his stage debut in "Infanticide in the House of Fred Ginger" followed by "The Dwarfs." Elsewhere, he continued to build upon his 60's theatrical career with theatre roles in "Chips with Everything" at the Vaudeville, the title role in "Hamp" at the Edinburgh Festival, "Inadmissible Evidence" at Wyndham's and "Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs" at the Garrick. His movie debut occurred that same year with a supporting role in the "angry young man" British drama Young and Willing (1962), followed by small roles in Appuntamento in Riviera (1962), A Man for All Seasons (1966) and The Sailor from Gibraltar (1967).
A somber, freckled, ravaged-looking gent, Hurt found his more compelling early work in offbeat theatrical characterizations with notable roles such as Malcolm in "Macbeth" (1967), Octavius in "Man and Superman" (1969), Peter in "Ride a Cock Horse" (1972), Mike in '"The Caretaker" (1972) and Ben in "The Dumb Waiter" (1973). At the same time he gained more prominence in a spray of film and support roles such as a junior officer in Before Winter Comes (1968), the title highwayman in Sinful Davey (1969), a morose little brother in In Search of Gregory (1969), a dim, murderous truck driver in 10 Rillington Place (1971), a skirt-chasing, penguin-studying biologist in Cry of the Penguins (1971), the unappetizing son of a baron in The Pied Piper (1972) and a repeat of his title stage role as Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs (1974).
Hurt shot to international stardom, however, on TV where he was allowed to display his true, fearless range. He reaped widespread acclaim for his embodiment of the tormented gay writer and raconteur Quentin Crisp in the landmark television play The Naked Civil Servant (1975), adapted from Crisp's autobiography. Hurt's bold, unabashed approach on the flamboyant and controversial gent who dared to be different was rewarded with the BAFTA (British TV Award). This triumph led to the equally fascinating success as the cruel and crazed Roman emperor Caligula in the epic television masterpiece I, Claudius (1976), followed by another compelling interpretation as murderous student Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment (1979).
A resurgence occurred on film as a result. Among other unsurpassed portraits on his unique pallet, the chameleon in him displayed a polar side as the gentle, pathetically disfigured title role in The Elephant Man (1980), and as a tortured Turkish prison inmate who befriends Brad Davis in the intense drama Midnight Express (1978) earning Oscar nominations for both. Mainstream box-office films were offered as well as art films. He made the most of his role as a crew member whose body becomes host to an unearthly predator in Alien (1979). With this new rush of fame came a few misguided ventures as well that were generally unworthy of his talent. Such brilliant work as his steeple chase jockey in Champions (1984) or kidnapper in The Hit (1984) was occasionally offset by such drivel as the comedy misfire Partners (1982) with Ryan O'Neal in which Hurt looked enervated and embarrassed. For the most part, the craggy-faced actor continued to draw extraordinary notices. Tops on the list includes his prurient governmental gadfly who triggers the Christine Keeler political sex scandal in the aptly-titled Scandal (1989); the cultivated gay writer aroused and obsessed with struggling "pretty-boy" actor Jason Priestley in Love and Death on Long Island (1997); and the Catholic priest embroiled in the Rwanda atrocities in Shooting Dogs (2005).
Latter parts of memorable interpretations included Dr. Iannis in Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001), the recurring role of the benign wand-maker Mr. Ollivander in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), the tyrannical dictator Adam Sutler in V for Vendetta (2005) and the voice of The Dragon in Merlin (2008). Among Hurt's final film appearances were as a terminally ill screenwriter in That Good Night (2017) and a lesser role in the mystery thriller Damascus Cover (2017). Hurt's voice was also tapped into animated features and documentaries, often serving as narrator. He also returned to the theatre performing in such shows as "The Seagull", "A Month in the Country" (1994), "Afterplay" (2002) and "Krapp's Last Tape", the latter for which he received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award.
A recovered alcoholic who married four times, Hurt was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the Queen in 2004, and Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in 2015. That same year (2015) he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In July of 2016, he was forced to bow out of the father role of Billy Rice in a then-upcoming London stage production of "The Entertainer" opposite Kenneth Branagh due to ill health that he described as an "intestinal ailment". Hurt died several months later at his home in Cromer, Norfolk, England on January 15, 2017, three days after his 77th birthday.- Actor
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Anton Diffring was a character actor who worked continuously in motion pictures due to his aristocratic face and cool, clipped diction, making him ideal for typecasting in British and later American motion pictures as Nazis and other vile, despicable characters. What was ironic about his typecasting as a Nazi is that Diffring, born in Koblenz, Germany, on October 20, 1916, fled Nazi Germany in 1939.
He was the son of Bertha (Diffring) and Solomon/Samuel Pollack, a Jewish shop owner. He was born into a family that boasted generations of actors, and studied drama in Berlin and Vienna. At the outbreak of World War II, he fled Germany and wound up in Canada, where he was interned as an enemy alien for the duration of the war. It was in Canada where he began his acting career after World War II, working primarily there and in the US before moving to Britain in 1950.
He became popular playing Nazis in the postwar period, as the British film industry turned out film after film about the war, which created a great demand for actors who could convincingly play Nazis, the nastier the better. Diffring could play nasty, and his career as a character actor soared. He was still going at it in the 1960s, when he began appearing in American and international co-productions as German soldiers from both WW I and WW II, including The Blue Max (1966), Counterpoint (1967) and that Turner Network Television staple, Where Eagles Dare (1968). He was still going at it in the 1970s and 1980s, as he continued a nearly 40-year-long acting career that was terminated only by his death.
He was a much better actor than most of his roles required. Diffring broadened his range as an actor with stage and television work, but the movies continually beckoned, as casting agents were hooked on him when it came to Nazi roles. It was that face that did it; it was both his blessing and his curse. He had the light hair, the piercing blue eyes and the chiseled face of the haughty aristocrat, the German Junker, but it was a face that could telegraph much in the few seconds that was the average shot of a motion picture. As a character actor, he got much done with less (time).
In François Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451 (1966) he was cast in all likelihood as a counterpart to the Austrian actor Oskar Werner, so that Werner's own Teutonicness in the English setting wouldn't be as arch. He excelled as Werner's nemesis, as he could create a mood or signal an entire story line with just a look; dialog didn't matter (he likely would have been a superstar in silent films, when it was "the faces" that mattered).
Diffring tried to break out of those silken villain roles, moving to Rome in 1968, but producers turned to him again and again to fill their needs for a foreign heavy. He appeared as one of the most infamous Nazis of all, Adolf Hitler's hangman Reinhard Heydrich, in Operation Daybreak (1975), and as Hitler's foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop in the American mini-series The Winds of War (1983). It made him a good living and it made him known, even if it did not fulfill his artistic ambitions.
What made his career such a success in terms of its longevity and fecundity was that Diffring was an actor who was enjoyable to watch. From Jack Clayton's I Am a Camera (1955) to Terence Fisher's The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959), from Samuel Fuller's Tote Taube in der Beethovenstraße (1972) to Ken Russell's Valentino (1977), Diffring gave memorable performances, sandwiched in with all the Nazi heavies one career could possibly bear.
Anton Diffring died at his home in Chateauneuf-de-Grasse, France, on May 20, 1989. He was 72 years old.- A stalwart, subtle presence of British stage and screen, Gerald Sim's work was both prolific and varied. Nonetheless, he will be best remembered by the majority of viewers as the wily rector of To the Manor Born (1979). The son of a Barings Bank employee, Gerald was born in Liverpool on June 4, 1925. His elder sister was the actress Sheila Sim. After schooling in Kent he was trained at RADA, apparently having become enamored with acting after listening to a 1943 radio broadcast of John Gielgud (entitled "The Great Ship"). Then followed extensive repertory experience, both in England, and in Durban, South Africa (1954, with the McNeale Company). Beginning with a small role in Fame Is the Spur (1947), Sim was to eventually become one of Britain's most reliable, yet ever-so-discreet screen character players, his profile firmly established in several films directed by Bryan Forbes, including Whistle Down the Wind (1961), King Rat (1965) and The Wrong Box (1966).
He was most often featured as bumptious upper crusts (suitably convincing because of his clear voice and precise diction), obtuse vicars, police inspectors, barristers and very British stiff-upper-lip military types. He appeared in seven films directed by his brother-in-law Richard Attenborough: Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Young Winston (1972), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Gandhi (1982), Cry Freedom (1987), Chaplin (1992) and Shadowlands (1993). After repeated guest roles in such prime time shows as Dixon of Dock Green (1955) and The Avengers (1961), Sim became firmly entrenched in the medium and never looked back. He briefly returned to the stage in 1979 and made one final TV appearance in 2007 in a 25th anniversary special of To the Manor Born (1979). - Actor
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Peter Wilton Cushing was born on May 26, 1913 in Kenley, Surrey, England, to Nellie Maria (King) and George Edward Cushing, a quantity surveyor. He and his older brother David were raised first in Dulwich Village, a south London suburb, and then later back in Surrey. At an early age, Cushing was attracted to acting, inspired by his favorite aunt, who was a stage actress. While at school, Cushing pursued his acting interest in acting and also drawing, a talent he put to good use later in his first job as a government surveyor's assistant in Surrey. At this time, he also dabbled in local amateur theater until moving to London to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on scholarship. He then performed in repertory theater in Worthing, deciding in 1939 to head for Hollywood, where he made his film debut in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939). Other Hollywood films included A Chump at Oxford (1940) with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Vigil in the Night (1940) and They Dare Not Love (1941). However, after a short stay, he returned to England by way of New York (making brief appearances on Broadway) and Canada. Back in his homeland, he contributed to the war effort during World War II by joining the Entertainment National Services Association.
After the war, he performed in the West End and had his big break appearing with Laurence Olivier in Hamlet (1948), in which Cushing's future partner-in-horror Christopher Lee had a bit part. Both actors also appeared in Moulin Rouge (1952) but did not meet until their later horror films. During the 1950s, Cushing became a familiar face on British television, appearing in numerous teleplays, such as 1984 (1954) and Beau Brummell (1954), until the end of the decade when he began his legendary association with Hammer Film Productions in its remakes of the 1930s Universal horror classics. His first Hammer roles included Dr. Frankenstein in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dr. Van Helsing in Horror of Dracula (1958), and Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959).
Cushing continued playing the roles of Drs. Frankenstein and Van Helsing, as well as taking on other horror characters, in Hammer films over the next 20 years. He also appeared in films for the other major horror producer of the time, Amicus Productions, including Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) and its later horror anthologies, a couple of Dr. Who films (1965, 1966), I, Monster (1971), and others. By the mid-1970s, these companies had stopped production, but Cushing, firmly established as a horror star, continued in the genre for some time thereafter.
Perhaps his best-known appearance outside of horror films was as Grand Moff Tarkin in George Lucas' phenomenally successful science fiction film Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). Biggles: Adventures in Time (1986) was Cushing's last film before his retirement, during which he made a few television appearances, wrote two autobiographies and pursued his hobbies of bird watching and painting. In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his contributions to the acting profession in Britain and worldwide. Peter Cushing died at age 81 of prostate cancer on August 11, 1994.- Actor
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Walter Pidgeon, a handsome, tall and dark-haired man, began his career studying voice at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He then did theater, mainly stage musicals. He went to Hollywood in the early 1920s, where he made silent films, including Mannequin (1926) and Sumuru (1927). When talkies arrived, Pidgeon made some musicals, but he never received top billing or recognition in these. In 1937 MGM put him under contract, but only in supporting roles and "the other man" roles, such as in Saratoga (1937) opposite Jean Harlow and Clark Gable and in The Girl of the Golden West (1938) opposite Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. Although these two films were big successes, Pidgeon was overlooked for his contributions to them. MGM lent him out to Fox, where he finally had top billing, in How Green Was My Valley (1941). When he returned to MGM the studio tried to give him bigger roles, and he was cast opposite his frequent co-star Greer Garson. However, Garson seemed to come up on top in Blossoms in the Dust (1941) and Mrs. Miniver (1942), although Pidgeon did receive an Academy Award nomination for his role in the latter film.
Pidgeon remained with MGM through the mid-'50s, making films like Dream Wife (1953) and Hit the Deck (1955) with Jane Powell and old pal Gene Raymond. In 1956 Pidgeon left the movies to do some work in the theater, but he returned to film in 1961.
Pidgeon retired from acting in 1977. He suffered from several strokes that eventually led to his death in 1984.- Keith has said that his fear of a sadistic school teacher turned him to acting as to get out of school he joined an amateur drama group then became a student at Sheffield Playhouse otherwise he would have very likely joined his family's wholesale business, At the playhouse he met Mary who was a scene painter They married and had a son and at one point used to own a restaurant.
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Whit Bissell came to Hollywood in the 1940s, and by the time he retired he had appeared in more than 200 movies and scores of TV series. He is best known for playing the evil scientist who turned Michael Landon into a half beast in the 1957 cult classic film I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957). Bissell specialized in playing doctors, military officers and other authority figures. On television he was a regular on Bachelor Father (1957) and The Time Tunnel (1966). He also served on the Screen Actors Guild board of directors for 18 years and represented the actors branch in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences board of governors.- Tony Award-winning English actor Michael Gough, best known for playing the butler Alfred Pennyworth in the first four Batman (1989, 1992, 1995 & 1997) movies and for playing the arch-criminal Dr. Clement Armstrong in The Avengers (1961) episode "The Cybernauts", was an accomplished performer on both stage and screen. He was nominated twice for Tony Awards, in 1979 for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Alan Ayckbourn's "Bedroom Farce" and in 1988 in the same category for Hugh Whitemore's "Breaking the Code", winning in 1979. Though he never achieved on the small screen and silver screen what he did in the theater, Gough's career in television and movies spanned sixty-plus years over eight decades. Michael Gough died at age 94 on March 17, 2011 at his home near Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.
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Vic Morrow was born in the Bronx, New York, to Jean (Kress) and Harry Morrow, an electrical engineer. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. Morrow dropped out of high school at 17 to join the U.S. Navy. When he left the Navy, he used the G.I. Bill to study pre-law at Florida State. While Morrow was working on his degree in Law, he also took part in a school play and found that he preferred stage acting to courtroom acting. When he went to New York, Morrow enrolled in the Actors' Workshop to improve his skills. After graduating, he was cast in the summer stock production of "A Streetcar Named Desire". His screen debut came when he was signed by MGM to play a tough-talking, surly street punk in Blackboard Jungle (1955). The good news was that he was now in the movies, but the bad news was that he became typecast as a heavy. Disappointed with this situation, Morrow left MGM after a few years and headed back to school to study directing at USC. He made some appearances on television and in 1962 found a role that brought him fame and made him the "hero": the TV series Combat! (1962), in which he played Sgt. Chip Saunders, veteran squad leader. Due to his demands, the show quickly went from an alternating showcase between platoon leader Lt. Hanley (Rick Jason) and Sgt. Saunders to one featuring mainly Saunders. With the success of the show, Morrow put to use what he had learned at USC and directed some episodes. In 1965 he and his wife divorced, and two years later the series ended. These two events put him into a personal and professional slide. By 1969 he began almost a decade of making made-for-TV movies, with an occasional foray into features. Most of his roles, though, put him back as a "heavy", although he did have a good part as a tough L.A. cop going up against out-of-town mobsters in a two-part episode of Police Story (1973) that was later released as a telefeature. While he worked in the theater and looked forward to the big screen, most of his roles were in "B" pictures such as Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974) and Treasure of Matecumbe (1976). He got good reviews playing Walter Matthau's nemesis in the hit comedy The Bad News Bears (1976), but was not involved in any of the following sequels, and he seemed to be stuck in a rut of "B" features and average made-for-TV films. With the failure of his second marriage, the death of his mother and the scarcity of good parts, Morrow hit the bottle, which did his career even less good. In 1982, however, he refocused his drive and made a comeback in Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), but was unfortunately killed on the early morning hours of July 23, 1982 in a tragic, freak accident on the set while filming a scene involving a helicopter which crashed right on top of him and two young children.
Vic was the father of Carrie Ann Morrow and actress Jennifer Jason Leigh.- Actor
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Clive Francis was born on 26 June 1946 in Eastbourne, Sussex, England, UK. He is an actor, known for A Clockwork Orange (1971), Official Secrets (2019) and The Lost City of Z (2016). He has been married to Natalie Ogle since May 1989. They have two children. He was previously married to Polly James.- Poul Thomsen was born on 15 February 1922 in Præstø, Denmark. He was an actor, known for Huset på Christianshavn (1970), Indbildt hanrej (1971) and Henrik IV (1968). He was married to Åse Scharling, Toni Bjerring, Kirsten Aller and Lone Luther. He died on 16 December 1988 in Denmark.
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Peter Barkworth was born on 14 January 1929 in Margate, Kent, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Where Eagles Dare (1968), Patton (1970) and The Price (1985). He died on 21 October 2006 in Hampstead, London, England, UK.- Tall, virile American TV leading man of the 1960s and 70s, born in Long Beach, California, the youngest of three siblings of Clarence Loy Colbert Jr. (1902-1962) and Helena M. Colbert (née Gorman, 1900-1990). As a youth, he attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School, excelling both academically and as an athlete in track and field. During his school years, he first discovered his aptitude for acting. He studied theatre arts at the University of California, Berkeley, prior to military service with U.S. troops stationed on the island of Okinawa.
While working in a clerical position with a Military Police unit, Colbert sidelined as a disc jockey for the prominent local radio station KSBK in Naha, which often hired Americans and tended to promote the latest in American pop music. Colbert was paid two dollars an hour, four nights a week. Though financially lucrative, he quit the radio job when a woman in the Air Force, who had heard his voice on the airwaves, prompted him to try out for a stage production of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. This firmly hooked him on acting. Following his army discharge, Colbert honed his newly acquired skills in Shakespearean roles with the Portland Repertory Theater in Oregon. While staging the performance of a play at a supper club, he was approached by the comic actor and singer Mickey Shaughnessy with an offer to travel to Hollywood to meet his agent. For a guy who had at different times worked as a furniture mover, ditch digger, bulldozer driver and kitchen appliance salesman, the offer proved irresistible.
Signed under contract by Warner Brothers, Colbert made his screen debut in 1957. He had a few minor film roles before becoming a regular guest actor in many of the Warners' TV series on the ABC network, including multiple appearances as different characters in Bourbon Street Beat (1959), Colt .45 (1957), Bronco (1958), Hawaiian Eye (1959) and 77 Sunset Strip (1958). He particularly liked being in westerns and had a great fondness for horses. Colbert appeared three times on Maverick (1957) during season four, the first time as suspected stage coach robber "Cherokee" Dan Evans, then twice as Brent, a third brother of Bret Maverick (famously played by James Garner, to whom Colbert bore more than a passing resemblance). After five years of acting in nearly all of the studio's series, Colbert asked to be released from his WB contract. He had accrued a debt of $80,000, due to a failed restaurant investment, and wished to avoid his salary being claimed as part of the encumbrance. Warners obliged.
In 1966, Colbert's agent helped him arrange a meeting with writer/producer Irwin Allen, and he was consequently cast as Dr. Doug Phillips, co-starring alongside James Darren (as Dr. Anthony Newman) in the ground-breaking cult science fiction series The Time Tunnel (1966). In his own words: "It was the best show because it was like an anthology every week, with a different cast." In each episode, the two lead characters, lost in time due to a malfunction in the experimental time device, were thrust into a different historical (or, less often, future) event. Five minutes before the episode ended, they would find themselves transported to a new scenario, thereby a new cliffhanger was created for the audience. Though quite entertaining and a big hit with viewers, Time Tunnel suffered from historical inaccuracies and excessive use of stock footage. When the head of ABC was fired and new management came into play, the series was abruptly cancelled after a single season.
Despite the setback, Colbert remained gainfully employed on the small screen. He made a few more forays into the sci-fi genre: as a relentless interrogator in Land of the Giants (1968), one of the leads in the TV movie City Beneath the Sea (1971) (a failed pilot for a projected Irwin Allen series about an underwater city), and in a segment of the spoof Amazon Women on the Moon (1987). He was featured in several episodes of Mannix (1967), had a ten-year stint as a regular character on the soap The Young and the Restless (1973) and rounded off his career with guest spots on Frasier (1993) and Baywatch (1989).
Retired since 1995, Colbert continues to make appearances at science fiction and western conventions across America. - Actor
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Roger Moore will perhaps always be remembered as the man who replaced Sean Connery in the James Bond series, arguably something he never lived down.
Roger George Moore was born on October 14, 1927 in Stockwell, London, England, the son of Lillian (Pope) and George Alfred Moore, a policeman. His mother was born in Calcutta, India, to a British family. Roger first wanted to be an artist, but got into films full time after becoming an extra in the late 1940s. He came to the United States in 1953. Suave, extremely handsome, and an excellent actor, he received a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His initial foray met with mixed success, with movies like Diane (1956) and Interrupted Melody (1955), as well as The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954).
Moore went into television in the 1950s on series such as Ivanhoe (1958) and The Alaskans (1959), but probably received the most recognition from Maverick (1957), as cousin Beau. He received his big breakthrough, at least internationally, as The Saint (1962). The series made him a superstar and he became very successful thereafter. Moore ended his run as the Saint, and was one of the premier stars of the world, but he was not catching on in America. In an attempt to change this, he agreed to star with Tony Curtis on ITC's The Persuaders! (1971), but although hugely popular in Europe, it did not catch on in the United States and was canceled. Just prior to making the series, he starred in The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970), which proved there was far more to Moore than the light-hearted roles he had previously accepted.
He was next offered and accepted the role of James Bond, and once audiences got used to the change of style from Connery's portrayal, they also accepted him. Live and Let Die (1973), his first Bond movie, grossed more outside of America than Diamonds Are Forever (1971); Connery's last outing as James Bond. He went on to star in another six Bond films, before bowing out after A View to a Kill (1985). He was age 57 at the time the film was made and was looking a little too old for Bond - it was possibly one film too many. In between times, there had been more success with appearances in films such as That Lucky Touch (1975), Shout at the Devil (1976), The Wild Geese (1978), Escape to Athena (1979) and North Sea Hijack (1980).
Despite his fame from the Bond films and many others, the United States never completely took to him until he starred in The Cannonball Run (1981) alongside Burt Reynolds, a success there. After relinquishing his role as Bond, his work load tended to diminish a little, though he did star in the American box office flop Feuer, Eis & Dynamit (1990), as well as the comedy Bullseye! (1990), with Michael Caine. He did the overlooked comedy Bed & Breakfast (1991), as well as the television movie The Man Who Wouldn't Die (1994), and then the major Jean-Claude Van Damme flop The Quest (1996). Moore then took second rate roles such as Spice World (1997), and the American television series The Dream Team (1999). Although his film work slowed down, he was still in the public eye, be it appearing on television chat shows or hosting documentaries.
Roger Moore was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire on December 31, 1998 in the New Years Honours for services to UNICEF, and was promoted to Knight Commander of the same order on June 14, 2003 in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to the charities UNICEF and Kiwanis International.
Roger Moore died of cancer on 23 May, 2017, in Switzerland. He was 89.- Actor
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Along with fellow actors Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi and Vincent Price, Boris Karloff is recognized as one of the true icons of horror cinema, and the actor most closely identified with the general public's perception of the Frankenstein Monster from the classic Mary Shelley novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus". William Henry Pratt was born on November 23, 1887, in Camberwell, London, England, UK, the son of Edward John Pratt Jr., the Deputy Commissioner of Customs Salt and Opium, Northern Division, Indian Salt Revenue Service, and his third wife, Eliza Sarah Millard.
He was educated at London University in anticipation that he would pursue a diplomatic career; however, he emigrated to Canada in 1909, joined a touring company based out of Ontario and adopted the stage name of "Boris Karloff." He toured back and forth across the U.S. for over 10 years in a variety of low budget theater shows and eventually ended up in Hollywood, reportedly with very little money to his name. Needing cash to support himself, Karloff secured occasional acting work in the fledgling silent film industry in such films as The Deadlier Sex (1920), Omar the Tentmaker (1922), Dynamite Dan (1924) and Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927), in addition to a handful of film serials (the majority of which, sadly, have not survived). Karloff supplemented his meager film income by working as a truck driver in Los Angeles, which allowed him enough time off to continue to pursue acting roles.
His big break came in 1931 when he was cast as the Frankenstein Monster in the Universal production of Frankenstein (1931), directed by James Whale, one of the studio's few remaining auteur directors. The aura of mystery surrounding Karloff was highlighted in the opening credits, as he was listed as simply "?". The film was a commercial and critical success for Universal, and Karloff was instantly established as a hot property in Hollywood. He quickly appeared in several other sinister roles, including Scarface (1932) (filmed before Frankenstein (1931)), the black-humored The Old Dark House (1932), as the titular Chinese villain of Sax Rohmer's Dr. Fu Manchu novels in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), as the undead Im-ho-tep in The Mummy (1932) and as the misguided Prof. Morlant in The Ghoul (1933). He thoroughly enjoyed his role as a religious fanatic in John Ford's The Lost Patrol (1934), although contemporary critics described it as a textbook example of overacting.
He donned the signature make-up, neck bolts and asphalt spreader's boots again to play the Frankenstein Monster twice, first in the sensational Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and second in the less thrilling Son of Frankenstein (1939). Karloff, on loan to Fox, appeared in one of the best of the Warner Oland Charlie Chan films, Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936), before beginning his own short-lived detective film series as Mr. Wong. He was a wrongly condemned doctor in Devil's Island (1938), shaven-headed executioner "Mord the Merciless" in Tower of London (1939), another misguided scientist in The Ape (1940), a crazed scientist surrounded by monsters, vampires and werewolves in House of Frankenstein (1944), a murderous cabman in The Body Snatcher (1945) and a Greek general fighting vampirism in the Val Lewton thriller Isle of the Dead (1945).
While Karloff continued appearing in a plethora of films, many of them were not up to the standards of his previous efforts, including appearances in two of the hokey Bud Abbott and Lou Costello monster films (he had appeared with them in an earlier, superior film, Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff (1949), of which theater owners often added his name to the marquee), the low point of the Universal-International horror film cycle. During the 1950s he was a regular guest on many high-profile TV shows, including The Milton Berle Show (1948), Tales of Tomorrow (1951), The Veil (1958), The Donald O'Connor Show (1954), The Red Skelton Hour (1951) and The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1956), just to name a few, and he appeared in a mixed bag of films, including Sabaka (1954) and Voodoo Island (1957). On Broadway, he appeared as the murderous Brewster brother in the hit "Arsenic and Old Lace" (his role, or rather the absence of him in it, was amusingly parodied in the 1944 film version) and 10 years later he enjoyed a long run in "Peter Pan," perfectly cast as Captain Hook.
His career experienced something of a revival in the 1960s thanks to hosting the TV anthology series Thriller (1960) and indie director Roger Corman, with Karloff contributing wonderful performances in The Raven (1963), The Terror (1963), the ultra-eerie Black Sabbath (1963) and the H.P. Lovecraft-inspired Die, Monster, Die! (1965). Karloff's last great film role was as Byron Orlok, an aging and bitter horror film star on the brink of retirement confronting a modern-day sniper in the Peter Bogdanovich film Targets (1968). In 1970, he played the blind sculptor Franz Badulescu in Cauldron of Blood (1968) which was produced, directed and written by Edward Mann, who had also come to the art of film from the stage and the theater. His TV career was capped off by achieving Christmas immortality as both the voices of the titular character and the narrator of Chuck Jones's perennial animated favorite, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966). Four low-budget Mexican horror films starring an ailing Karloff were released in the two years after his death; however, they do no justice to this actor. In retrospect, he never took himself too seriously as an actor and had a tendency to downplay his acting accomplishments. Renowned as a refined, kind and warm-hearted gentleman with a sincere affection for children and their welfare, Karloff passed away on February 2, 1969 from emphysema. Respectful of his Indian roots and in true Hindu fashion, he was cremated at Guildford Crematorium, Godalming, Surrey, England, UK, where he is commemorated by a plaque in Plot 2 of the Garden of Remembrance.- Actor
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Alf Marholm was born on 31 May 1918 in Oberhausen, Germany. He was an actor, known for Der Idiot (1968), Merkwürdige Lebensgeschichte des Friedrich Freiherrn von der Trenck (1973) and The Black Forest Hospital (1985). He was married to Christel. He died on 24 February 2006 in Königswinter-Ittenbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.- Actor
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John Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison in Iowa, to Mary Alberta (Brown) and Clyde Leonard Morrison, a pharmacist. He was of English, Scottish, Ulster-Scots, and Irish ancestry.
Clyde developed a lung condition that required him to move his family from Iowa to the warmer climate of southern California, where they tried ranching in the Mojave Desert. Until the ranch failed, Marion and his younger brother Robert E. Morrison swam in an irrigation ditch and rode a horse to school. When the ranch failed, the family moved to Glendale, California, where Marion delivered medicines for his father, sold newspapers and had an Airedale dog named "Duke" (the source of his own nickname). He did well at school both academically and in football. When he narrowly failed admission to Annapolis he went to USC on a football scholarship 1925-7. Tom Mix got him a summer job as a prop man in exchange for football tickets. On the set he became close friends with director John Ford for whom, among others, he began doing bit parts, some billed as John Wayne. His first featured film was Men Without Women (1930). After more than 70 low-budget westerns and adventures, mostly routine, Wayne's career was stuck in a rut until Ford cast him in Stagecoach (1939), the movie that made him a star. He appeared in nearly 250 movies, many of epic proportions. From 1942-43 he was in a radio series, "The Three Sheets to the Wind", and in 1944 he helped found the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a Conservative political organization, later becoming its President. His conservative political stance was also reflected in The Alamo (1960), which he produced, directed and starred in. His patriotic stand was enshrined in The Green Berets (1968) which he co-directed and starred in. Over the years Wayne was beset with health problems. In September 1964 he had a cancerous left lung removed; in 1977 when Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope was being made, John Waynes archive voice was used for the character Garindan ezz Zavor, later in March 1978 there was heart valve replacement surgery; and in January 1979 his stomach was removed. He received the Best Actor nomination for Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and finally got the Oscar for his role as one-eyed Rooster Cogburn in True Grit (1969). A Congressional Gold Medal was struck in his honor in 1979. He is perhaps best remembered for his parts in Ford's cavalry trilogy - Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950).- Actor
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Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was perhaps the only actor of his generation to have starred in so many films and cult saga. Although most notable for personifying bloodsucking vampire, Dracula, on screen, he portrayed other varied characters on screen, most of which were villains, whether it be Francisco Scaramanga in the James Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), or Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002), or as the title monster in the Hammer Horror film, The Mummy (1959).
Lee was born in 1922 in London, England, where he and his older sister Xandra were raised by their parents, Contessa Estelle Marie (Carandini di Sarzano) and Geoffrey Trollope Lee, a professional soldier, until their divorce in 1926. Later, while Lee was still a child, his mother married (and later divorced) Harcourt George St.-Croix (nicknamed Ingle), who was a banker. Lee's maternal great-grandfather was an Italian political refugee, while Lee's great-grandmother was English opera singer Marie (Burgess) Carandini.
After attending Wellington College from age 14 to 17, Lee worked as an office clerk in a couple of London shipping companies until 1941 when he enlisted in the Royal Air Force during World War II. Following his release from military service, Lee joined the Rank Organisation in 1947, training as an actor in their "Charm School" and playing a number of bit parts in such films as Corridor of Mirrors (1948). He made a brief appearance in Laurence Olivier's Hamlet (1948), in which his future partner-in-horror Peter Cushing also appeared. Both actors also appeared later in Moulin Rouge (1952) but did not meet until their horror films together.
Lee had numerous parts in film and television throughout the 1950s. He struggled initially in his new career because he was discriminated as being taller than the leading male actors of his time and being too foreign-looking. However, playing the monster in the Hammer film The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) proved to be a blessing in disguise, since the was successful, leading to him being signed on for future roles in Hammer Film Productions.
Lee's association with Hammer Film Productions brought him into contact with Peter Cushing, and they became good friends. Lee and Cushing often than not played contrasting roles in Hammer films, where Cushing was the protagonist and Lee the villain, whether it be Van Helsing and Dracula respectively in Horror of Dracula (1958), or John Banning and Kharis the Mummy respectively in The Mummy (1959).
Lee continued his role as "Dracula" in a number of Hammer sequels throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s. During this time, he co-starred in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), and made numerous appearances as Fu Manchu, most notably in the first of the series The Face of Fu Manchu (1965), and also appeared in a number of films in Europe. With his own production company, Charlemagne Productions, Ltd., Lee made Nothing But the Night (1973) and To the Devil a Daughter (1976).
By the mid-1970s, Lee was tiring of his horror image and tried to widen his appeal by participating in several mainstream films, such as The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970), The Three Musketeers (1973), The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974), and the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).
The success of these films prompted him in the late 1970s to move to Hollywood, where he remained a busy actor but made mostly unremarkable film and television appearances, and eventually moved back to England. The beginning of the new millennium relaunched his career to some degree, during which he has played Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and as Saruman the White in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Lee played Count Dooku again in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), and portrayed the father of Willy Wonka, played by Johnny Depp, in the Tim Burton film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).
On 16 June 2001, he was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his services to drama. He was created a Knight Bachelor on 13 June 2009 in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama and charity. In addition he was made a Commander of the Order of St John on 16 January 1997.
Lee died at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on 7 June 2015 at 8:30 am after being admitted for respiratory problems and heart failure, shortly after celebrating his 93rd birthday there. His wife delayed the public announcement until 11 June, in order to break the news to their family.- Actor
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Born in London, England, John Gielgud trained at Lady Benson's Acting School and RADA, London. Best known for his Shakespearean roles in the theater, he first played Hamlet at the age of 26. He worked under the tutelage of Lilian Bayliss with friend and fellow performer Laurence Olivier and other contemporaries of the National Theatre at the "Old Vic", London. He made his screen debut in 1924. Academy Award Best Supporting Actor, 1981, for Arthur (1981), Academy Award Nomination, 1964, for Becket (1964).- Actor
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Michael York was born in Fulmer, England, 27 March 1942. He performed on stage with the National Youth Theatre in London's East End and on international tour. Other early acting experience came through the Oxford University Dramatic Society (he graduated from Oxford in1964), the Dundee Repertory, and Laurence Olivier's National Theater Company - where he worked with Franco Zeffirelli, who gave him his film debut as Lucentio in The Taming of The Shrew (1967) and his breakthrough role as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (1968). He achieved early TV acclaim for his portrayal of Jolyon in The Forsyte Saga (1967). Other notable early movie roles include Brian Roberts in Cabaret (1972), Count Andrenyi in Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and D'Artagnan in several Musketeers films. He has starred in over 50 TV movies, continued stage work, starring on Broadway, made many spoken word recordings, written and lectured internationally. His autobiography (1993) was issued as "Accidentally on Purpose" in the U.S. and "Travelling Player" in Britain. He was in the hit The Omega Code (1999) with Catherine Oxenberg and Casper Van Dien. He had a great part in all of the "Austin Powers" films.- Actor
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William Claude Rains, born in the Clapham area of London, was the son of the British stage actor Frederick Rains. The younger Rains followed, making his stage debut at the age of eleven in "Nell of Old Drury." Growing up in the world of theater, he saw not only acting up close but the down-to-earth business end as well, progressing from a page boy to a stage manager during his well-rounded learning experience. Rains decided to come to America in 1913 and the New York theater, but with the outbreak of World War I the next year, he returned to serve with a Scottish regiment in Europe. He remained in England, honing his acting talents, bolstered with instruction patronized by the founder of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Herbert Beerbohm Tree. It was not long before his talent garnered him acknowledgment as one of the leading stage actors on the London scene. His one and only silent film venture was British with a small part for him, the forgettable -- Build Thy House (1920).
In the meantime, Rains was in demand as acting teacher as well, and he taught at the Royal Academy. Young and eager Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud were perhaps his best known students. Rains did return to New York in 1927 to begin what would be nearly 20 Broadway roles. While working for the Theater Guild, he was offered a screen test with Universal Pictures in 1932. Rains had a unique and solid British voice-deep, slightly rasping -- but richly dynamic. And as a man of small stature, the combination was immediately intriguing. Universal was embarking on its new-found role as horror film factory, and they were looking for someone unique for their next outing, The Invisible Man (1933). Rains was the very man. He took the role by the ears, churning up a rasping malice and volume in his voice to achieve a bone chilling persona of the disembodied mad doctor. He could also throw out a high-pitched maniac laugh that would make you leave the lights on before going to bed. True to Universal's formula mentality, it cast him in similar roles through 1934 with some respite in more diverse film roles -- and further relieved by Broadway roles (1933, 1934) for the remainder of his contract. By 1936, he was at Warner Bros. with its ambitious laundry list of literary epics in full swing. His acting was superb, and his eyes could say as much as his voice. And his mouth could take on both a forbidding scowl and the warmest of smiles in an instant. His malicious, gouty Don Luis in Anthony Adverse (1936) was inspired. After a shear lucky opportunity to dispatch his young wife's lover, Louis Hayward, in a duel, he triumphs over her in a scene with derisive, bulging eyes and that high pitched laugh -- with appropriate shadow and light backdrop -- that is unforgettable.
He was kept very busy through the remainder of the 1930s with a mix of benign and devious historical, literary, and contemporary characters always adapting a different nuance -- from murmur to growl -- of that voice to become the person. He culminated the decade with his complex, ethics-tortured Senator "Joe" Paine in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). That year he became an American citizen. Into the 1940s, Rains had risen to perhaps unique stature: a supporting actor who had achieved A-list stardom -- almost in a category by himself. His some 40 films during that period ranged from subtle comedy to psychological drama with a bit of horror revisited; many would be golden era classics. He was the firm but thoroughly sympathetic Dr. Jaquith in Now, Voyager (1942) and the smoothly sardonic but engaging Capt. Louis Renault -- perhaps his best known role -- in Casablanca (1942). He was the surreptitiously nervous and malignant Alexander Sebastian in Notorious (1946) and the egotistical and domineering conductor Alexander Hollenius in Deception (1946). He was the disfigured Phantom of the Opera (1943) as well. He played opposite the challenging Bette Davis in three movies through the decade and came out her equal in acting virtuosity. He was nominated four times for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar -- but incredibly never won. With the 1950s the few movies left to an older Rains were countered by venturing into new acting territory -- television. His haunted, suicidal writer Paul DeLambre in the mountaineering adventure The White Tower (1950), though a modest part, was perhaps the most vigorously memorable film role of his last years. He made a triumphant Broadway return in 1951's "Darkness at Noon."
Rains embraced the innovative TV playhouse circuit with nearly 20 roles. As a favored 'Alfred Hitchcock' alumnus, he starred in five Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) suspense dramas into the 1960s. And he did not shy away from episodic TV either with some memorable roles that still reflected the power of Claude Rains as consummate actor -- for many, first among peers with that hallowed title.- Actor
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Born on 26 May 1923 in Wuppertal, he served with the Nazi German Waffen-SS in World War II. After attending acting lessons at the theater in Stendal, where he also made his stage debut, he performed on several important stages in Germany, but became widely popular as cinema and television actor in the late 1950s and 1960s, probably best known as gentleman gangster in The Great British Train Robbery (1966). Nevertheless, the role of his role was the character of "Stephan Derrick", a Munich Chief Inspector, who became a cult figure all over the world. He played the role from 1974 to 1998 and received several awards such as the Golden Camera, Bambi and the Italian Telegatto.- Actor
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Of Greek descent on both sides, the son of immigrants, Savalas was a soldier during World War II, although most of his enlistment records were destroyed in a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1973. He later studied psychology at Columbia University under the GI Bill.
Iconically bald, he often played character roles, sometimes as sadists or psychotics. He became famous in the 1970s when his role as Det. Theo Kojak in the TV movie The Marcus-Nelson Murders (1973) was expanded into the gritty Kojak (1973) TV series (1973-78).- An extremely versatile character actor and originator of several memorable characterizations in the horror film genre, Dwight Frye had a notable theatrical career in the 1920s, moving from juvenile parts to leads before entering film. A favorite actor of Broadway theatrical producer-director Brock Pemberton, he originated the part of "the Son" in his hit 1922 production of Luigi Pirandello's "Six Characters in Search of an Author". Pemberton would continue to employ Frye in Broadway productions throughout the decade. Cast with Bela Lugosi in a 1926 production of "The Devil and the Cheese", he ultimately appeared in at least two Lugosi films.
Despite (or perhaps because of) his memorable, impassioned portrayals of real estate agent-cum-madman Renfield in Tod Browning's Dracula (1931) and Fritz the sadistic hunchbacked lab-assistant in James Whale's Frankenstein (1931), the industry seemed determined to typecast Frye, and his film career would be marked with frustration. The Crime of Doctor Crespi (1935) offered him billing second only to that of villain Erich von Stroheim, but all too soon, he was consigned to playing a lackluster array of crazies, spies, red herrings, grasping heirs and bit parts. He occasionally returned to the stage in comedies, musicals, and thrillers such as "Night Must Fall" and a stage version of "Dracula".
Frye was perplexed to find that his versatility in the theatre went unnoticed in Hollywood, where he was relegated to lunatic roles and often had his parts severely cut. Indeed, in Son of Frankenstein (1939) his role was deemed as unnecessary when an abrupt switch was made from Technicolor to black-and-white after his scenes were shot.
Dwight Frye, a devout Christian Scientist, had concealed a heart-condition from his friends and family. After the outbreak of WWII, unable to enlist, he worked nights (between films and local theatre-productions) as a draftsman for the Lockheed Aircraft Co. An uncanny physical resemblance to then-Secretary of War Newton Baker led his to being signed to a substantial role in Wilson (1944), directed by Henry King, based on the life of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, but Frye succumbed to a heart-attack on a crowded bus a few days after being cast while returning home from a movie with his son. He was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. - Actor
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David Janssen was born David Harold Meyer in 1931 in Naponee, Nebraska, to Berniece Mae (Graf) and Harold Edward Meyer, a banker. He was of German, and some Swiss-German and Ulster-Scots, descent. David took the surname of his stepfather, Eugene Janssen. The Janssen family settled in Hollywood when he was a teenager and he attended Fairfax High School, where he developed an interest in acting. His film debut was a bit part in It's a Pleasure (1945), and at the age of 18 signed a contract with 20th Century-Fox. However, the studio dropped him after allegedly becoming disenchanted with his odd hairline and big prominent ears. Janssen had better luck at Universal, where he signed on in the early 1950s and became a supporting player in 32 films before appearing on TV as the star of Richard Diamond, Private Detective (1956). He resumed his movie career in 1961, a year after the series ended. His biggest success came from his lead in the series The Fugitive (1963), playing the haunted, hunted Dr. Richard Kimble, on the run for a murder he didn't commit. After the series ended, Janssen launched himself into a grueling schedule by appearing in lead and supporting roles in movies, but he had better luck with made-for-TV-movie roles and a short-lived series, O'Hara, U.S. Treasury (1971). He had another hit series with the cult favorite Harry O (1973). Janssen continued appearing in lead roles in nearly 20 made-for-TV-movies during the 1970s as well as other TV projects. He died in 1980 from a sudden heart attack at his Malibu home at the age of 48. Unfounded speculation holds that Janssen succumbed to alcoholism, a problem that plagued him most of his adult life. There were even unfounded rumors about drug use. However, a much more reasonable explanation for David Janssen's sudden demise is that this intense, dedicated, determined actor simply worked himself to death.- Actor
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Actor, raconteur, art collector and connoisseur of haute cuisine are just some of the attributes associated with Vincent Price. He was born Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. in St. Louis, Missouri, to Marguerite Cobb "Daisy" (Wilcox) and Vincent Leonard Price, who was President of the National Candy Company. His grandfather, also named Vincent, invented Dr. Price's Baking Powder, which was tartar-based. His family was prosperous, as he said, "not rich enough to evoke envy but successful enough to demand respect." His uniquely cultivated voice and persona were the result of a well-rounded education which began when his family dispatched him on a tour of Europe's cultural centres. His secondary education eventually culminated in a B.A. in English from Yale University and a degree in art history from London's Courtauld Institute.
Famously, his name has long been a byword for Gothic horror on screen. However, Vincent Price was, first and foremost, a man of the stage. It is where he began his career and where it ended. He faced the footlights for the first time at the Gate Theatre in London. At the age of 23, he played Prince Albert in the premiere of Arthur Schnitzler 's 'Victoria Regina' and made such an impression on producer Gilbert Miller that he launched the play on Broadway that same year (legendary actress Helen Hayes played the title role). In early 1938, he was invited to join Orson Welles 's Mercury Theatre on a five-play contract, beginning with 'The Shoemaker's Holiday'. He gave what was described as "a polished performance". Thus established, Vincent continued to make sporadic forays to the Great White Way, including as the Duke of Buckingham in Shakespeare's 'Richard III' (in which a reviewer for the New Yorker found him to be "satisfactorily detestable") and as Oscar Wilde in his award-winning one man show 'Diversions and Delights', which he took on a hugely successful world-wide tour in 1978. While based in California, Vincent was instrumental in the success of the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, starring in several of their bigger productions, including 'Billy Budd' and 'The Winslow Boy'. In 1952, Vincent joined the national touring company of 'Don Juan in Hell' in which he was cast as the devil. Acting under the direction of Charles Laughton and accompanied by noted thespians Charles Boyer, Cedric Hardwicke and Agnes Moorehead, he later recalled this as one of his "greatest theatrical excitements".
As well as acting on stage, Vincent regularly performed on radio network programs, including Lux Radio Theatre, CBS Playhouse and shows for the BBC. He narrated or hosted assorted programs ranging from history (If these Walls Could Speak) to cuisine (Cooking Price-Wise). He wrote several best-selling books on his favourite subjects: art collecting and cookery. In 1962, he was approached by Sears Roebuck to act as a buying consultant "selling quality pictures to department store customers". As if that were not enough, he lectured for 15 years on art, poetry and even the history of villainy. He recorded numerous readings of poems by Edgar Allan Poe (nobody ever gave a better recital of "The Raven"!), Shelley and Whitman. He also served on the Arts Council of UCLA, was a member of the Fine Arts Committee for the White House, a former chairman of the Indian Arts & Crafts Board and on the board of trustees of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
And besides all of that, Vincent Price remained a much sought-after motion picture actor. He made his first appearance on screen as a romantic lead in Service de Luxe (1938), a frothy Universal comedy which came and went without much fanfare. After that, he reprized his stage role as Master Hammon in an early television production of 'The Shoemaker's Holiday'. For one reason or another, Vincent was henceforth typecast as either historical figures (Sir Walter Raleigh, Duke of Clarence, Mormon leader Joseph Smith, King Charles II, Cardinal Richelieu, Omar Khayyam) or ineffectual charmers and gigolos. Under contract to 20th Century Fox (1940-46), Laura (1944) provided one of his better vehicles in the latter department, as did the lush Technicolor melodrama Leave Her to Heaven (1945) which had Vincent showcased in a notably powerful scene as a prosecuting attorney. His performance was singled out by the L.A. Times as meriting "attention as contending for Academy supporting honors".
His first fling with the horror genre was Dragonwyck (1946), a Gothic melodrama set in the Hudson Valley in the early 1800's. For the first time, Vincent played a part he actually coveted and fought hard to win. His character was in effect a precursor of those he would later make his own while working for Roger Corman and American-International. As demented, drug-addicted landowner Nicholas Van Ryn, he so effectively terrorized Gene Tierney's Miranda Wells that the influential columnist Louella Parsons wrote with rare praise: "The role of Van Ryn calls for a lot of acting and Vincent admits he's a ham and loves to act all over the place, but the fact that he has restrained himself and doesn't over-emote is a tribute to his ability". If Vincent was an occasional ham, he proved it with his Harry Lime pastiche Carwood in The Bribe (1949). Much better was his starring role in a minor western, The Baron of Arizona (1950), in which he was convincingly cast as a larcenous land office clerk attempting to create his own desert baronetcy.
With House of Wax (1953) , Vincent fine-tuned the character type he had established in Dragonwyck, adding both pathos and comic elements to the role of the maniacal sculptor Henry Jarrod. It was arduous work under heavy make-up which simulated hideous facial scarring and required three hours to apply and three hours to remove. He later commented that it "took his face months to heal because it was raw from peeling off wax each night". However, the picture proved a sound money maker for Warner Brothers and firmly established Vincent Price in a cult genre from which he was henceforth unable to escape. The majority of his subsequent films were decidedly low-budget affairs in which the star tended to be the sole mitigating factor: The Mad Magician (1954), The Fly (1958) (and its sequel), House on Haunted Hill (1959), the absurd The Tingler (1959) (easily the worst of the bunch) and The Bat (1959). With few exceptions, Vincent's acting range would rarely be stretched in the years to come.
Vincent's association with the genial Roger Corman began when he received a script for The Fall of the House of Usher, beginning a projected cycle of cost-effective films based on short stories by Edgar Allen Poe. As Roderick Usher, Vincent was Corman's "first and only choice". Though he was to receive a salary of $50,000 for the picture, it was his chance "to express the psychology of Poe's characters" and to "imbue the movie versions with the spirit of Poe" that clinched the deal for Vincent. He made another six films in this vein, all of them box office winners. Not Academy Award stuff, but nonetheless hugely enjoyable camp entertainment and popular with all but highbrow audiences. Who could forget Vincent at his scenery chewing best as the resurgent inquisitor, luring Barbara Steele into the crypt in The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)? Or as pompous wine aficionado Fortunato Luchresi in that deliriously funny wine tasting competition with Montresor Herringbone (Peter Lorre) in Tales of Terror (1962)? Best still, the climactic battle of the magicians pitting Vincent's Erasmus Craven against Boris Karloff's malevolent Dr. Scarabus in The Raven (1963) (arguably, the best offering in the Poe cycle). The Comedy of Terrors (1963) was played strictly for laughs, with the inimitable combo of Price and Lorre this time appearing as homicidal undertakers.
For the rest of the 60s, Vincent was content to remain in his niche, playing variations on the same theme in City in the Sea (1965) and Witchfinder General (1968) (as Matthew Hopkins). He also spoofed his screen personae as Dr. Goldfoot and as perennial villain Egghead in the Batman (1966) series. He rose once more to the occasion in the cult black comedy The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) (and its sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)) commenting that he had to play Anton Phibes "very seriously so that it would come out funny". The tagline, a parody of the ad for Love Story (1970), announced "love means never having to say you're ugly".
During the 70s and 80s, Vincent restricted himself mainly to voice-overs and TV guest appearances. His final role of note was as the inventor in Edward Scissorhands (1990), a role written specifically for him. The embodiment of gleeful, suave screen villainy, Vincent Price died in Los Angeles in October 1993 at the age of 82. People magazine eulogized him as "the Gable of Gothic." Much earlier, an English critic named Gilbert Adair spoke for many fans when he said "Every man his Price - and mine is Vincent."- Actor
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Sir Cedric Hardwicke, one of the great character actors in the first decades of the talking picture, was born in Lye, England on February 19, 1893. Hardwicke attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and made his stage debut in 1912. His career was interrupted by military service in World War I, but he returned to the stage in 1922 with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, distinguishing himself as Caesar in George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra, which was his ticket to the London stage. For his distinguished work on the stage and in films, he was knighted by King George V in 1934, a time when very few actors received such an honor.
Hardwicke first performed on the American stage in 1936 and emigrated to the United States permanently after spending the 1948 season with the Old Vic. Hardwicke's success on stage and in films and television was abetted by his resonant voice and aristocratic bearing. Among the major films he appeared in were Les Misérables (1935), Stanley and Livingstone (1939), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), Suspicion (1941), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949), and The Ten Commandments (1956).
His last film was The Pumpkin Eater (1964) in 1964. Cedric Hardwicke died on August 6, 1964 in New York City, New York.- Actor
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Dignified, aristocratic-looking Richard Vernon was born to English parents in Kenya. He was educated at Reading and Leighton Park Schools and commenced his acting career near the end of his wartime service with the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, producing, directing and starring in a production of George Bernard Shaw's 'Heartbreak House' for the Combined Services Club. At various times he was stationed in Singapore and Hong Kong. After being demobbed, Richard completed his training at the Central School of Speech and Drama. On the professional stage from 1950, he enjoyed a successful theatrical career in West End productions ranging from 'Peter Pan' (as Mr.Darling) to Noël Coward's 'Hay Fever' (as Richard Greatham). During the 60s, he appeared in supporting roles in several prestigious motion pictures, including Village of the Damned (1960), The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964) and Goldfinger (1964).
Considerably better employed on the small screen, Richard evolved into the consummate scene-stealer. Balding, looking rather older than his years and a dignified bearing made him ideal casting for typically British stiff-upper-lip military or aristocratic types or stuffy senior public servants. A noteworthy early starring role was as The Man in Room 17 (1965), a barrister and ex- war correspondent assigned to a secret unit as an infallible criminologist investigating cases deemed too difficult for the local plods and Scotland Yard. A natural propensity for period drama then insured his successful run in several popular series, notably Upstairs, Downstairs (1971) and The Duchess of Duke Street (1976). Above all, Richard excelled in gleeful old rogues and slightly dishevelled or befuddled eccentrics. His great asset was a way of delivering even the funniest of lines totally deadpan and matter-of-fact. He was wonderfully droll as Lord Bartlesham in the Ripping Yarns (1976) episode 'Roger of the Raj'. Arguably his most famous role was that of galactic fjord builder Slartibartfast in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981), a part to which he had originally lent his voice in a 1978 radio serial.
A truly unique and likeable character actor, Richard Vernon plied his craft until two years prior to his death from Parkinson's Disease. From 1955 until 1990, he had been married to Benedicta Leigh (née Hoskyns).- One of Hollywood's greatest screen villains, Charles Henry Pywell Daniell was born in London, England, the son of Elinor Mary (Wookey) and Henry Pyweh Daniell, L.R.C.P. He had the profound misfortune to make his professional theatrical debut on the eve of World War I. His life thus interrupted, he served in the trenches on the Western Front with the 2nd Battalion of the British Army's Norfolk Regiment. Wounded in action, he was invalided out of service in 1915 and spent much of the next few years on the West End stage without rising to particular prominence. In 1921, he made his way to the U.S. and worked hard to establish himself as a character player on Broadway, beginning with his role as Prince Charles de Vaucluse in "Claire de Lune". He enjoyed critical acclaim in only his third performance on the 'Great White Way', co-starring with Ethel Barrymore in "The Second Mrs. Tanqueray" (1924). For the remainder of the decade, Daniell alternated touring on both sides of the Atlantic, before making his first appearance on screen in 1929. Daniell's lean physique, sardonic, almost reptilian features, cold voice and incisive manner made him ideally cast as icy, austere aristocrats or as insidious, manipulating evil masterminds in period drama.
His most famous role was as the duplicitous Lord Wolfingham in The Sea Hawk (1940), though Daniell's inexperience as a swordsman compelled Warner Brothers to use a stuntman for the climactic fight scene with Errol Flynn. The previous year, Daniell had essayed the conspiratorial Sir Robert Cecil, spy master to Elizabeth I, with equal verve in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939). Under contract to MGM (1936-37), he also excelled as the erstwhile mentor of Greta Garbo's Camille (1936), the Baron de Varville. Their vitriolic exchanges are a highlight of the film and belie the fact that Daniell was fretfully nervous acting opposite Garbo. His other, invariably unsympathetic, portrayals include the scheming La Motte in Marie Antoinette (1938), the hypocritical clergyman Henry Brocklehurst in Jane Eyre (1943) and the gleefully villainous Regent in The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946). By the 1940's, Daniell popped up more and more in lower budget productions, yet managed to deliver two of his finest performances to date: the first, as Professor Moriarty, arch nemesis of Sherlock Holmes (played by his real-life friend Basil Rathbone) in The Woman in Green (1945); the second, as Dr. Wolfe MacFarlane, a 19th century Edinburgh surgeon employing the grave-robbing services of Boris Karloff in The Body Snatcher (1945), a Faustian parable in which any semblance of morality and virtue is sacrificed to the pursuit of scientific knowledge. In the end, Gray (Karloff), the instrument of MacFarlane's machinations becomes "a canker in his body", but even his killing cannot assuage the surgeon's guilty conscience and he is eventually hounded to death by visions of the latter's corpse. This was a rare leading role for Daniell whose scenes with Karloff are among the most chilling of any in this genre. For a change of pace -- or, perhaps, to change his image -- Daniell did the occasional comedic turn, most notably in Charles Chaplin's Third Reich parody The Great Dictator (1940), as 'Garbitsch', a none too thinly disguised caricature of Joseph Goebbels.
On stage, he enjoyed his most successful run (344 performances) as the avaricious Henri Trochard in "My 3 Angels" at the Morosco Theatre in 1953. The play was filmed two years later as We're No Angels (1955), with, who else, but Basil Rathbone, in the part.
Daniell died after being stricken with a heart attack at his home, a few hours after filming a scene for his final film, My Fair Lady (1964). - Actor
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A grand, robust, highly theatrical British classical actor, Maurice Evans was born on June 3, 1901, in Dorchester, England, the son of a justice of the peace who enjoyed amateur play writing on the side. In fact, his father adapted several adaptations of Thomas Hardy's novels and Evans would often appear in them. Early interest also came in London choirs as a boy tenor.
Making his professional stage debut in 1926, Evans made do during his struggling years by running a cleaning and dyeing store. He earned his first triumph three years later in the play "Journey's End." When his resulting attempts as an early 1930's romantic film lead and/or second lead in White Cargo (1929), Raise the Roof (1930), The Only Girl (1933), The Path of Glory (1934), Bypass to Happiness (1934) and Checkmate (1935) didn't pan out, he refocused on the stage.
Following a season with the Old Vic theatre company, he arrived in America and proceeded to conquer Broadway, establishing himself as one of the world's more illustrious interpreters of Shakespeare. His eloquent, florid portrayals of Romeo, Hamlet, Macbeth and Richard II are considered among the finest interps. He was also deemed a master of Shavian works which included superlative performances in "Major Barbara", "Man and Superman" and "The Devil's Disciple".
As a U.S. citizen (1941), Maurice was placed in charge of the Army Entertainment Section, Central Pacific Theater during WWII and left military service with the rank of major. His post-war career included a handful of character film roles, notably Kind Lady (1951), Androcles and the Lion (1952), Gilbert and Sullivan (1953) (as composer Sir Arthur Sullivan), The War Lord (1965), Rosemary's Baby (1968), and as "Dr. Zaius" in the Planet of the Apes (1968) series.
Films would never be Evans' strong suit, earning much more stature on TV. More importantly, he brought Shakespeare and Shaw to 1950's TV, adapting (and directing) a number of his stage classics including King Richard II (1954), The Taming of the Shrew (1956), Man and Superman (1956), Twelfth Night (1957), The Tempest (1960). He won an Emmy award in 1960 for his Macbeth (1960).
Interestingly, for all his legendary performances under the theatre lights and stirring TV classics, the ever-regal stage master is probably best known to generations for his delightful, Shakespeare-spouting appearances on the Bewitched (1964) TV series, as Elizabeth Montgomery's irascible warlock father. Following guest shots on such popular TV shows as "Medical Center," "The Big Valley," "Columbo," "Streets of San Francisco," "Fantasy Island" and "The Love Boat," he made his final on-camera appearance in the TV movie A Caribbean Mystery (1983).
Evans returned to England to live out his remaining years and died there on March 12, 1989, in a Sussex nursing home of heart failure as a result of a bronchial infection, aged 87.- Actor
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Richard Allen Boone was born in Los Angeles, California, to Cecile Lillian (Beckerman) and Kirk Etna Boone, a wealthy corporate lawyer. His maternal grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants, while his father was descended from a brother of frontiersmen Daniel Boone and Squire Boone.
Richard was a college student, boxer, painter and oil-field laborer before ending up in the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war he used the G.I. Bill to study acting with the Actor's Studio in New York. Serious and methodical, Boone debuted on Broadway in the play "Medea". Other plays followed, as did occasional TV work. In 1950 20th Century-Fox signed him to a contract and he made his screen debut in Halls of Montezuma (1951), playing a Marine Corps officer. Tall and craggy, Boone was continually cast in a number of war and western movies. He also tackled roles such as Pontius Pilate in The Robe (1953) and a police detective in Vicki (1953). In 1954 he was cast as Dr. Konrad Styner in the pioneering medical series Medic (1954), which was a critical but not a ratings success. This role lasted for two years, though in the meantime, he continued to appear in westerns and war movies.
In 1957 he played Dr. Wright, who treats Elizabeth for her memory lapses, in Lizzie (1957). It was also in that year that Boone was cast in what is his best-known role, the cultured gunfighter Paladin in the highly regarded western series Have Gun - Will Travel (1957). Although a gun for hire, Paladin was usually a moral one, did the job and lived at the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco. Immensely popular, the show made Boone a star. The series lasted six years, and in addition to starring in it, Boone also directed some episodes. He still kept busy on the big screen during the series' run, appearing as Sam Houston in the John Wayne epic The Alamo (1960), and as a weary cavalry captain fighting Indians in A Thunder of Drums (1961). After Have Gun - Will Travel (1957) ended in 1963, Boone hosted a dramatic anthology series, The Richard Boone Show (1963), but it was not successful.
Boone moved to Hawaii for the next seven years. During this time he made a few Westerns, including the muscular Rio Conchos (1964), but he was largely absent from the screen. In the 1970s he moved to Florida, and resumed his film and TV career with a vengeance. In 1972 he again appeared on television in the Jack Webb-produced series Hec Ramsey (1972) (years before he had played a police captain in Webb's first "Dragnet" film, Dragnet (1954)). Based on a real man, Hec was a tough, grizzled old frontier sheriff at the turn of the 20th century who, late in life, has studied the newest scientific theories of crime detection. His new boss, a much younger man, doesn't always approve of Hec, his nonconformist style or his new methods. The series lasted for two years. Boone continued working until the end of the decade but died as a result of throat cancer in 1981.- Actor
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Helge Kjærulff-Schmidt was born on 22 February 1906 in Nyborg, Denmark. He was an actor and writer, known for I de lyse nætter (1948), Matador (1978) and Far til fire i højt humør (1971). He died on 9 July 1982 in Denmark.- Actor
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Sir John Standing is one of England's most respected stage, film and television actors. From a distinguished acting dynasty which includes his great-grandfather Herbert Standing (1846-1923), grandfather Sir Guy Standing (1873-1937) and mother, the actress Kay Hammond, John Robert Leon Standing, born in London on August, 16, 1934, succeeded his father Sir Ronald Leon, as the 4th baronet in 1964.
A one-time art student and avid painter, Sir John attended both Millfield Preparatory School and Eton College and made his debut on stage in minor roles in the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company's production of "Titus Andronicus." In London from 1959, he worked productively on the London stage (Bristol Old Vic, Chicester, Haymarket, Royal Court) for two decades with a resume that included "The Darling Buds," "The Irregular Verb to Love," "See How They Run," "The Clandestine Marriage," "The Cherry Orchard," "The Fighting Cock," The Beaux' Stratgem," "The Importance of Being Earnest" (as Algernon), "Ring Around the Moon," "The Alchemist," "Arms and the Man, "A Sense of Detachment" by John Osborne, "Saint Joan," "Dead-Eyed Dicks," "Plunder," "The Philanderer" and, most notably, as Elyot Chase in Noël Coward's "Private Lives," co-starring Maggie Smith and directed by John Gielgud, which was taken to Broadway in 1975.
Lesser known for his work on the big screen, a few BBC-TV guest parts came to Sir John's way before he entered films in 1962 with featured roles in the light comedy A Pair of Briefs (1962) and romantic drama Young and Willing (1962). Standing followed these with performances in such films as King Rat (1965), The Psychopath (1966), Walk Don't Run (1966), A Touch of Love (1969), All the Right Noises (1970), X, Y & Zee (1972), Au Pair Girls (1972), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), The Legacy (1978), The Sea Wolves (1980), The Elephant Man (1980), Privates on Parade (1983), Nightflyers (1987), Chaplin (1992), Mrs Dalloway (1997), and a starring role as a businessman who opens a brothel with his playboy son after the death of his wife in the dramedy 8 ½ Women (1999).
Sir John had more prestigious work come to him on TV. He lightened up at times as he died as a aristocratic politician who falls for a working class model in the British comedy series The Other 'Arf (1980) and a spy partnered with Tom Conti in Old Boy Network (1992), but found more rewarding work in the classic mini-series The First Churchills (1969), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979), Windmills of the Gods (1988), The Choir (1995), Club V.R. (1996) and Drovers' Gold (1997).
In the U.S., he has graced numerous weekly programs including L.A. Law (1986), Civil Wars (1991), and Murder, She Wrote (1984) and co-starred briefly with Robert Wagner and the late Samantha Smith in the action series Lime Street (1985), which ended abruptly with the young girl's death in a plane crash. The 13-year-old Smith became an instant celebrity after writing a touching and concerned letter to the then Soviet President Yuri Andropov about the relations between the two dominant powers and being invited to Russia.
Into the millennium, the elderly Standing has remained extremely busy playing a number of distinguished lords and higher-ups, especially with British TV appearances ("The Vice," "In Deep," "Keen Eddie," "MidSommer Murders," "Game of Thrones," "The Crown") and in above-par TV movies and miniseries including Longitude (2000), Love in a Cold Climate (2001), The Falklands Play (2002), The Gathering Storm (2002), King Solomon's Mines (2004), The Line of Beauty (2006), Fallen Angel (2007), The Other Wife (2012), Patrick Melrose (2018) and King Lear (2018).
Divorced from actress Jill Melford, Sir John's second wife, actress Sarah Forbes, is the daughter of director Bryan Forbes and actress Nanette Newman.- Actor
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John Forysthe was born Jacob Lincoln Freund in Penns Grove, New Jersey, the son of Blanche Materson (Blohm) and Samuel Jeremiah Freund, a Wall Street businessman. He chose to pursue acting over the objections of his father. He did some work in radio soaps and on Broadway before signing a movie contract with Warner Bros. His early career was interrupted by World War II. During the war, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps appearing in the Air Corps show "Winged Victory". After the war, he helped found the Actors Studio. He has had the most success on television, with healthy runs on Bachelor Father (1957), Dynasty (1981) and as the unseen voice of Charlie Townsend on Charlie's Angels (1976). John Forsythe died at age 92 of complications from pneumonia on April 1, 2010 in Santa Ynez, California.- Actor
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Dunfermline-born character actor Kenneth Cranham has specialised in playing abrasive characters, reprobates and rough diamonds on stage, on radio, in films and in one-off dramas or guest roles on TV. The son of Ronald Cranham, an English civil servant and former army staff sergeant and his Scottish wife Margaret McKay Cranham (née Ferguson), he spent the first four years of his life in Scotland. The family then moved to London where Kenneth attended Tulse Hill Comprehensive School. At the age of nineteen, while working at a bookshop, he was discovered by the playwright Joe Orton who cast him in his radio play 'The Ruffian on the Stair'. This marked the beginning of his career.
Cranham trained for acting at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain and then studied at RADA, graduating in 1966. His association with Orton continued that year with a role in 'Loot' at the Royal Court (and, subsequently, at the Criterion Theatre). The actor later remarked that this role set him up "for all the hoodies in Softly, Softly, Z Cars and New Scotland Yard." With his craggy features and gruff voice, it is hardly surprising that Cranham has often been cast in tough or villainous roles. On screen from 1964, he first came to notice as Noah Claypole, one of Fagin's gang of pickpockets, in Oliver! (1968). His first starring turn was in the comedy series Shine on Harvey Moon (1982) as the titular character, a demobbed RAF corporal. Other notable roles across diverse genres have included the callous Gratiano in The Merchant of Venice (1980), Lenin in Reilly: Ace of Spies (1983), a wealthy, despotic landowner in Heart of the High Country (1985) (set in 1880s New Zealand), the comically over-zealous Pastor Finch in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1989), British gangster Gus Mercer in El C.I.D. (1990), cunning magician Aulfric in Merlin (2008), a scurrilous newspaper editor who gets his comeuppance in Hustle (2004) and Caesar's rival Pompey in Rome (2005). A more recent TV guest spot saw Cranham as an ailing patient in India, attempting to rediscover a lost love in season three of The Good Karma Hospital (2017). He has also essayed real life barristers Michael Mansfield Q.C. (The Murder of Stephen Lawrence (1999)) and George Carmen Q.C. (Justice in Wonderland (2000)).
For the big screen, Cranham has been notable as the maniacal Dr. Channard in Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), double-dealing mob boss Jimmy Price in Layer Cake (2004), another elder statesman of the London underworld in Gangster No. 1 (2000), farmer James Reaper in the buddy-cop comedy Hot Fuzz (2007) and as the tyrannical King Henry, a main antagonist in Disney's Maleficent (2014).
The actor has been equally prolific on stage where he has headlined as the amoral title character in Orton's play Entertaining Mr. Sloane. He was much acclaimed for his role as Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls at the National Theatre (an Olivier Award-nominated performance, which transferred to Broadway in 1994-95). He played the avuncular detective Rough in Gaslight at the Old Vic in 2007 and finally won the coveted Olivier Award in 2016 for his performance as an elderly man with dementia in Florian Zeller's play The Father. For services to drama, Cranham received a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 2023.- Actor
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Born in Upminster, Essex, England in 1927, Richard Johnson attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and then performed in John Gielgud's repertory company until joining the navy in 1945 until 1948. After the war, he appeared successfully in the West End and made his film debut in the early 1950s. The debonair and handsome Johnson was a natural to portray playboy type characters, perhaps the most memorable being "Bulldog Drummond" in Deadlier Than the Male (1967) and Some Girls Do (1969). Later in his career, he turned to more serious roles, such as "Marc Antony" in Antony and Cleopatra (1974), and also tried his hand at producing in the late 1980s.- John Carson was a hugely prolific actor who appeared constantly on UK screens throughout the mid-50s until the mid-80s. He has appeared alongside many of the UK's stars and became hugely popular as a villain or hero. The secret of John's success was his versatility and his wonderful silky voice. He appeared in 3 Hammer films which led to an ever-increased popularity amongst film fans. John moved to South Africa from England in the 80s and, sadly, his appearances became far more sporadic although he always kept working, even producing and filming his own short documentary, "African Spirit". He returned to England in 2007 and has been involved in a few films, such as The Deal (2008). He attended a John Carson Celebration Day in London (July 2009). This was the first time he had talked publicly about his long career in television, film and stage. The day was a huge success and, aside from a showing of two of his films, John gave an interview on stage and then signed autographs. The day was a huge success and this was proved so by a large attendance and the queues for his autograph and photos. John returned to South Africa in 2014 where he spent time with his family and got to relax a little. He sadly passed away on November 5th, 2016, a few weeks before his 90th birthday. He was a fine actor and leaves behind a legacy of his versatility on screen.
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Basil Rathbone was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1892, but three years later his family was forced to flee the country because his father was accused by the Boers of being a British spy at a time when Dutch-British conflicts were leading to the Boer War. The Rathbones escaped to England, where Basil and his two younger siblings, Beatrice and John, were raised. Their mother, Anna Barbara (George), was a violinist, who was born in Grahamstown, South Africa, of British parents, and their father, Edgar Philip Rathbone, was a mining engineer born in Liverpool. From 1906 to 1910 Rathbone attended Repton School, where he was more interested in sports--especially fencing, at which he excelled--than studies, but where he also discovered his interest in the theater. After graduation he planned to pursue acting as a profession, but his father disapproved and suggested that his son try working in business for a year, hoping he would forget about acting. Rathbone accepted his father's suggestion and worked as a clerk for an insurance company--for exactly one year. Then he contacted his cousin Frank Benson, an actor managing a Shakespearean troupe in Stratford-on-Avon.
Rathbone was hired as an actor on the condition that he work his way through the ranks, which he did quite rapidly. Starting in bit parts in 1911, he was playing juvenile leads within two years. In 1915 his career was interrupted by the First World War. During his military service, as a second lieutenant in the Liverpool Scottish 2nd Battalion, he worked in intelligence and received the Military Cross for bravery. In 1919, released from military service, he returned to Stratford-on-Avon and continued with Shakespeare but after a year moved onto the London stage. The year after that he made his first appearance on Broadway and his film debut in the silent Innocent (1921).
For the remainder of the decade Rathbone alternated between the London and New York stages and occasional appearances in films. In 1929 he co-wrote and starred as the title character in a short-running Broadway play called "Judas". Soon afterwards he abandoned his first love, the theater, for a film career. During the 1920s his roles had evolved from the romantic lead to the suave lady-killer to the sinister villain (usually wielding a sword), and Hollywood put him to good use during the 1930s in numerous costume romps, including Captain Blood (1935), David Copperfield (1935), A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Anna Karenina (1935), The Last Days of Pompeii (1935), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Tower of London (1939), The Mark of Zorro (1940) and others. Rathbone earned two Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (1936) and as King Louis XI in If I Were King (1938).
However, it was in 1939 that Rathbone played his best-known and most popular character, Sherlock Holmes, with Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson, first in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) and then in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939), which were followed by 12 more films and numerous radio broadcasts over the next seven years.
Feeling that his identification with the character was killing his film career, Rathbone went back to New York and the stage in 1946. The next year he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Dr. Sloper in the Broadway play "The Heiress," but afterwards found little rewarding stage work. Nevertheless, during the last two decades of his life, Rathbone was a very busy actor, appearing on numerous television shows, primarily drama, variety and game shows; in occasional films, such as Casanova's Big Night (1954), The Court Jester (1955), Tales of Terror (1962) and The Comedy of Terrors (1963); and in his own one-man show, "An Evening with Basil Rathbone", with which he toured the U.S.- Actor
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Tall, thin, wiry Sam Elliott is the classic picture of the American cowboy. Elliott began his acting career on the stage and his film debut was in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Although his future wife, Katharine Ross co-starred in the film, the two did not meet until they filmed The Legacy (1978) together. Over the years there would be few opportunities to act in feature westerns, but it would be television that gave him that opportunity, in The Sacketts (1979), The Shadow Riders (1982) and The Yellow Rose (1983), among others. He would also work in non-westerns, usually as a tough guy, as in Lifeguard (1976) and Road House (1989). In 1985 he played Cher's love interest Gar in the drama Mask (1985), and he was in some cop movies such as Fatal Beauty (1987) and Shakedown (1988). In the 1990s, Elliott was back on the western trail, playing everyone from Brig. Gen. John Buford in the film Gettysburg (1993) to Wild Bill Hickok in the made-for-TV movie Buffalo Girls (1995). In 1991 he wrote the screenplay and co-starred with his wife in the made-for-TV western Conagher (1991), and two years later he played Wyatt Earp's brother Virgil in Tombstone (1993), with Kurt Russell as Wyatt. In 1995 the starred as John Pierce the tense thriller The Final Cut (1995), as a former head of a Bomb Squad who must to stop a dangerous bomber. In 1998 he was the narrator of the hilarious comedy The Big Lebowski (1998), playing him as The Stranger, and returned to the Western in the drama The Hi-Lo Country (1998), closing the 20th century with another western, the TV movie You Know My Name (1999).
Sam Elliott started the 21st century with the Stephen Frears' TV movie Fail Safe (2000) playing Congressman Raskob, and The Contender (2000) as Kermit Newman, at the side of Joan Allen, Jeff Bridges and Gary Oldman, and in We Were Soldiers (2002) as Sgt. Maj. Basil Plumley, together Mel Gibson. In 2003 he played Gen. Thunderbolt Ross in the Ang Lee's pre-MCU Hulk (2003), repeating in another Marvel superhero movie as Caretaker in Ghost Rider (2007). After participating in the fantasy movie The Golden Compass (2007) and made a stellar cameo in Up in the Air (2009), Elliott played Clay Wheeler in the box office flop comedy Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009), starring Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker, and in 2012 he was a supporting character as Mac Macleod in Robert Redford's The Company You Keep (2012). After the playing Coach Moore in the sport drama Draft Day (2014) In 2015 Elliott was hyperactive, appearing in seven different productions including cinema and TV: Digging for Fire (2015), I'll See You in My Dreams (2015), Sam Elliott, the sixth season of Justified (2010) as Avery Markham, and The Good Dinosaur (2015) voicing Butch. Two years later was absolute star in the drama The Hero (2017) as Lee Hayden, and in the sci-fi movie The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot (2018) as Calvin Barr, to shine again as supporting character playing Bradley Cooper's brother Bobby in the multi-nominated Cooper's directorial debut A Star Is Born (2018), sharing scenes with Lady Gaga, coming back again to the western in the TV series 1883 (2021) as Shea Brennan.- Actor
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Ib Mossin was born on 3 July 1933 in Denmark. He was an actor and director, known for The Battle for Naesbygaard (1964), Krybskytterne på Næsbygård (1966) and Manden på Svanegården (1972). He was married to Anne-Marie Juhl. He died on 21 December 2004 in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Actor
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Laurence Harvey was a British movie star who helped usher in the 1960s with his indelible portrait of a ruthless social climber, and became one of the decade's cultural icons for his appearances in socially themed motion pictures.
Harvey was born Zvi Mosheh Skikne on October 1, 1928 in Joniskis, Lithuania, to Ella (Zotnickaita) and Ber Skikne. His family was Jewish. The youngest of three brothers, he emigrated with his family, to South Africa in 1934, and settled in Johannesburg. The teenager joined the South African army during World War II, and was assigned to the entertainment unit. His unit served in Egypt and Italy, and after the war the future Laurence Harvey returned to South Africa and began a career as an actor. He moved to London after winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He then did his apprenticeship in regional theatre, moving to Manchester in the 1940s. The tyro actor reportedly supported himself as a hustler while appearing with the city's Library Theatre. Even at this point in his life he was known to be continually in debt and adopted a firm belief in living beyond his means, a pattern that would continue until his premature death. His lifestyle would often dictate working on less worthy projects for the sake of a paycheck.
His film debut came in House of Darkness (1948), and he was soon signed by Associated British Studios. His early film roles proved underwhelming, and his attempt to become a stage star was disastrous - his debut in the revival of "Hassan" was a notorious flop. After failing in the commercial theater in London's West End, Harvey joined the company of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon for the 1952 season. Regularly panned by critics during his stint on the boards in the Bard's works, he built up his reputation as a personality by becoming combative, telling the press that he was a great actor despite the bad reviews. Someone was listening, as Romulus Pictures signed him in 1953 and began building him up as a star.
Harvey was cast as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (1954), a film that exemplified the main problem that kept Harvey from major stardom (but subsequently would serve him quite well in a handful of roles): his screen persona was emotionally aloof if not downright frigid. Despite his icy portrayal of the great romantic hero Romeo, Harvey attracted enough attention in Hollywood to be brought over by Warner Bros. and given a lead role in King Richard and the Crusaders (1954).
In Old Blighty with Romulus after his Hollywood adventure, Harvey met his future wife Margaret Leighton on the set of The Good Die Young (1954). Other film appearances included I Am a Camera (1955) and Three Men in a Boat (1956), the latter becoming his first certified hit, and even greater success was to come. The colorful Harvey, a press favorite, became notorious for his high-spending, high-living ways. He found himself frequently in debt, his travails faithfully reported by entertainment columnists. More fame was to come.
After making three flops in a row, Harvey began a brief reign as the Jack the Lad of British cinema with the great success of Room at the Top (1958). That film and Look Back in Anger (1959), which was also released that year, inaugurated the "kitchen sink" school of British cinema that revolutionized the country's film industry and that of its cousin, Hollywood, in the 1960s.
Harvey was born to play Joe Lampton, if not in kin, then in kind. Lampton was a working-class bloke who dreams of escaping his social strata for something better. It was a perfect match of actor and role, as the icy Harvey persona made Joe's ruthless ambition to climb the greasy pole of success fittingly chilling. In bringing Joe to life on the screen, Harvey was more successful than Richard Burton (a far better actor) had been in limning the theater's Jimmy Porter in the film adaptation of John Osborne's seminal "Look Back in Anger," despite Burton's own working-class background. Burton's volcanic use of his mellifluous voice, a great instrument, is much too hot for the the small universe on the screen, a case of projection that is so intense that it overwhelms the character and the film (it took Burton another half-decade to learn to act on film, and a half-decade more to lose that gift). Whereas Burton had to learn to rein it in, Harvey's already tightly controlled persona made the social-climbing Lampton resonate. Harvey fits the skin of the character much better than does Burton. Despite not being an authentic specimen, the success of his performance as a working-class man-on-the-make proved to be the vanguard of a new generation of screen characters that would be played by the real thing: Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay, Terence Stamp and Michael Caine, among others. "Room at the Top" signaled the appearance of the New Wave of British cinema. For his role as Joe, Harvey received his first (and only) Academy Award nomination.
While historically significant, "Room at the Top" is no longer ranked at the summit of other, more contemporary kitchen-sink dramas, such as Karel Reisz's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), Tony Richardson's A Taste of Honey (1961) and Lindsay Anderson's This Sporting Life (1963), or even John Schlesinger's provincial comedy Billy Liar (1963), films that made stars out of the authentic working-class/provincial actors Finney, Alan Bates, Richard Harris and Courtenay, respectively. The virtue of the film is its emotional honesty about the manipulation of personal relationships for social gain in postwar Britain, a system that after a decade under the Conservatives had become self-satisfied and complacent. In its portrayal of class warfare, the film offers the most intense critique of the British class system offered by any film from the British New Wave, including "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning," which never leaves the confines of the working-class strata its main character, Arthur Seaton, is stuck in and ultimately reconciled to.
That Joe chooses a woman other than the one he really loves in order to gain social mobility, engaging in emotional manipulation of other human beings, is a brutal indictment of the class structure of postwar Britain. Joe, on his way to his wedding and his great chance, has lost his humanity. His failure is symbolic of Britain's failure as well. It is the haughtiness and narcissism of the actor Harvey (qualities his screen persona engenders in film after film) that elucidates Lampton's weakness. A further irony of Harvey's effective, if ersatz, portrayal of working-class Joe is that it made him such a success - he soon went off to Hollywood to play opposite box-office titan Elizabeth Taylor in BUtterfield 8 (1960), thus losing out on further opportunities to appear in the British New Wave he helped introduce. As well as supporting Taylor in her Oscar-winning turn in "Butterfield 8" (the two became close friends), a badly miscast Harvey also co-starred as Texas hero Col. James Travis in John Wayne's bloated budget-buster The Alamo (1960).
With the exception of the lead in the British Jungle Fighters (1961)- a war picture that was decidedly NOT New Wave - Harvey did not appear again in a major British film until 1965, when he returned to the other side of the pond to reprise Joe in the "Room" sequel Life at the Top (1965). However, if he had never gone Hollywood, he might never have been cast in his other signature role: Raymond Shaw, the eponymous The Manchurian Candidate (1962). Once again, the match of actor and character was ideal, as Harvey's coldness and affect-free acting perfectly embodied the persona of the programmed assassin. The film, and Harvey's performance in it, are classic.
In this Hollywood interlude, Harvey also appeared in the screen adaptations of Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke (1961) opposite the great Geraldine Page, Oscar-nominated for her role, and the artistically less successful Walk on the Wild Side (1962), supported by the legendary Barbara Stanwyck, French beauty Capucine and a young Jane Fonda. The critics were less kind to his acting in these outings, and, indeed, the rather elegant Harvey does seem miscast as Dove Linkhorn, the wandering Texan created by hardboiled Nelson Algren, reduced to working in an automotive garage by the exigencies of the Great Depression. Critics were even less kind when Harvey tried to follow in Leslie Howard's footsteps in the remake of Of Human Bondage (1964).
Although he could not know it then, Harvey had reached the zenith of his career. In 1962 he won the Best Actor prize at the Munich film festival in 1962 for his role in The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962). Honors for Harvey were few after this point. He co-starred with Paul Newman and Claire Bloom in Martin Ritt's film version of the Broadway re-envisioning of Akira Kurosawa's cinematic masterpiece Rashomon (1950). The result, The Outrage (1964), in which Newman played a murderous Mexican bandit and Harvey his victim, was an unqualified flop that still boggles the mind of viewers unfortunate enough to stumble upon it, so outrageous is the idea of casting Newman as a Mexican killer (a role originated by Rod Steiger on the Broadway stage). Harvey, very often a wooden presence in his less inspired performances, was appropriately upstaged by the tree he remained tied to throughout most of the film.
Along with "Life at the Top," Harvey appeared in support of Oscar-winner Julie Christie in John Schlesinger's Darling (1965), an allegedly "mod" look at the jaded and superficial existence of what was then termed the "jet set." Despite its "New Wave"-like cutting and visual sense, "Darling" - which was embraced wholeheartedly by Hollywood and originally had been envisioned as a vehicle for Shirley MacLaine - was, at its heart, an old-fashioned Hollywood-style morality play, a warning that the wages of sin lead to emotional emptiness, hardy a revolutionary idea in 1965. Christie was excellent - particularly as she metamorphosed from Dolly-bird to a more mature sort of hustler - and first-male lead Dirk Bogarde always proved an interesting actor, but it was Harvey who most clearly embodied the zeitgeist of the picture. Once again, his coldness did him well as he limned the executive who manipulates and is manipulated by Christie's Diana character.
Harvey had become at this point a kind of good-luck charm for actresses with whom he appeared. Simone Signoret, Elizabeth Taylor and Christie won Best Actress Oscars after appearing in films with him, and Geraldine Page and "Room at the Top" co-star Hermione Baddeley were both Oscar-nominated in the period after appearing opposite Harvey. Alas, no one else collected kudos in a Harvey picture: he reached the high-water mark of his career in 1962, and his star was already in in decline to a murkier, less-lustrous part of the Hollywood/international cinema firmament.
Another irony of Harvey's career is that, despite ushering in the British New Wave and a cinema more independent of the meat-grinder ethos of the Hollywood and British studios catering to popular taste, he would have been better served in the 1930s and 1940s as a contract player at a major studio. Like Michael Wilding (who also became the third husband of Harvey's first wife, Margaret Leighton), another handsome man of limited gifts who nonetheless could be quite affecting in the right role, Harvey's career likely would have thrived under the studio system, with an interested boss to guide him. Like Minniver Cheever, however, he was unfortunate to have been born after his time.
As it was, the next (and last) decade of Harvey's screen life was a disappointment, with the actor relegated to less and less prestigious pictures and international co-productions that needed a "star" name. In the 1970s, Harvey became largely irrelevant as a player in the motion picture industry. His luck had run out. Good friend Liz Taylor, whose string of motion picture successes had also run its course, had him cast in Night Watch (1973), and he directed the last picture in which he appeared, Welcome to Arrow Beach (1973). If he had lived, he might have made the transition to director (he had earlier directed The Ceremony (1963) and finished directing A Dandy in Aspic (1968) after the death of original director Anthony Mann).
Laurence Harvey died on November 25, 1973, from stomach cancer. He publicly revealed that he was dismayed by being afflicted with the fatal disease, as he had always been careful with the way he ate. Sadly, his personal luck, just as capricious as his professional career, had also gone into eclipse. One of the more colorful characters to grace the screen was dead at the age of 45, exiting the stage far too soon for the legions of fans that still admired him despite the downturn in his fortunes.- Actor
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Otto Møller Jensen was born on 31 July 1940 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was an actor, known for Father of Four (1953), Far til fire i byen (1956) and Far til fire og ulveungerne (1958). He died on 12 March 1996 in Denmark.- Actor
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Francis Joseph Matthews was born in York to Kathleen, nee Empson and Henry Ernest Matthews and was educated at St Georges School in York and St Michaels Jesuit College in Leeds and did some work at Leeds Repertory Theatre before doing his National Service in the Royal Navy after which he did repertory at various theatres including 2 years at the Oxford Playhouse. In 1962 he went to the Hebrides to film Shark Island, a six part series for the BBC and was picked up from the airport by the actress Angela Browne who he married the following year and had 3 sons,Paul, Dominic and Damien. Gerry Anderson was planning a television puppet television series when he heard Francis on the radio doing a Cary Grant voice and liked the transatlantic sound of his voice and asked him to provide the voice of Captain Scarlett in the television puppet series he was preparing. He has an actor brother, Paul Shelley and a sister, Maura. Another brother, Anthony, predeceased them.- Actor
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The refined and debonair English actor Jeremy Brett will forever be best remembered for his long-running and critically acclaimed portrayal of Sherlock Holmes for Britain's Granada Television. From a privileged background, Brett was educated at England's most prestigious independent school, Eton College. After training as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, Brett made his professional stage debut in repertory in 1954. He became a noteworthy classical actor who was to make regular appearances on stage, including many with the National Theatre.
Brett was as cultured off screen as on. His interests included classical music, archery and horseback riding. His greatest popularity and acclaim would come with his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes on television from the 1980s through to the 1990s. Where so many have tried and failed to capture the essence of the character, either being derided or forgotten, Brett's widely praised take on it has been described by many as superlative and even definitive. Brett suffered from poor health towards the end of his life but he was still playing the role of Holmes shortly before his death in 1995 at the age of 61.- Actor
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Emil Hass Christensen was born on 23 January 1903 in Frederiksberg, Denmark. He was an actor, known for Støv på hjernen (1961), Nyhavn 17 (1933) and Tre finder en kro (1955). He was married to Hjørdis Gunnlögsson. He died on 12 January 1982 in Denmark.- Basil Henson was a prominent stage actor in Britain for over 40 years. His love of theatre began at the age of 12 while playing "Portia" at St. Cuthbert's Prep School. After World War II broke out, he joined the Indian Army and was a Major with the Royal Gharwal Rifles. His professional stage debut was in 1946 at the London Casino, where he played a chorus boy in "The Dancing Years", by Ivor Novello. His long list of his stage credits included "Malvolio" in "Twelfth Night", opposite Vivien Leigh in the Old Vic tour of Australia, New Zealand and South America, and "The Duke of Venice" in the London and New York productions of "Merchant of Venice", with Dustin Hoffman.
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Lowe, rotund and professionally indefatigable, rightly gained acclaim as an accomplished comedy character actor; fondly remembered as the irascible "Captain Mainwaring" in the Home Guard comedy series Dad's Army (1968-1977), and as Coronation Street (1960)'s "Leonard Swindley". The only child of a Derbyshire railworker, Lowe gained valuable experience by organising shows for a British army field entertainment unit, in the Middle East, during World War Two, before commencing his professional acting career, at the age of 30, in 1945, upon joining the "Manchester Repertory Theatre Company".
In between endless tours for repertory and in major stage performances, Lowe utilised his character actor status - which writers identify as being aided by his bald head - in bit-parts for films including: the inspired "Ealing" black comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) and The Green Man (1956). Later, whilst gathering fame - with the reputedly observational realist soap opera Coronation Street (1960) - he cemented a professional relationship with maverick film director Lindsay Anderson; using left-wing sensibilities for some of his films: including If.... (1968) and several characters in the avant-garde O Lucky Man! (1973) (the latter earning Lowe an SFTA Award, for best supporting performance).
As his son, and biographer, Stephen Lowe, intimated, finances governed and perpetuated his career, in the final stages of his life, in the 1970s; appearing in over 100, and possibly very lucrative, television advertisements and, not surprisingly, a surfeit of comedies including the sit-com Potter (1979) (1979-1983), the ribald film No Sex Please - We're British (1973) and to rave reviews for his stage performance as "Stephano", in "The Tempest" (1974), at the "National Theatre". Although Lowe received excellent notices for straight roles and appearances in plays such as John Osborne's "Inadmissible Evidence" (1963) at the "Royal Court", Dad's Army (1968) assured Lowe enduring appeal, as his character acting skills seamlessly compliment the show's comfortable sit-com structure.- Hans Caninenberg was born on 15 January 1913 in Duisburg, Germany. He was an actor, known for Sandokan (1976), Liselotte von der Pfalz (1966) and Die Nibelungen (1967). He was married to Lola Müthel. He died on 29 June 2008 in Gräfelfing, Bavaria, Germany.
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Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall was born in Herne Hill, London, to Winifriede Lucinda (Corcoran), an Irish-born aspiring actress, and Thomas Andrew McDowall, a merchant seaman of Scottish descent. Young Roddy was enrolled in elocution courses at age five. By age 10, he had appeared in his first film, Murder in the Family (1938), playing Peter Osborne, the younger brother of sisters played by Jessica Tandy and Glynis Johns.
His mother brought Roddy and his sister to the U.S. at the beginning of World War II, and he soon got the part of "Huw", the youngest child in a family of Welsh coal miners, in John Ford's How Green Was My Valley (1941), acting alongside Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara and Donald Crisp in the film that won that year's best film Oscar. He went on to many other child roles, in films like My Friend Flicka (1943) and Lassie Come Home (1943) until, at age eighteen, he moved to New York, where he played a long series of successful stage roles, both on Broadway and in such venues as Connecticut's Stratford Festival, where he did Shakespeare. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1949.
In addition to making many more movies (over 150), McDowall acted in television, developed an extensive collection of movies and Hollywood memorabilia, and published five acclaimed books of his own photography. He died at his Los Angeles home, aged 70, of cancer. He never married and had no children.- Actor
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Widely regarded as the one of greatest stage and screen actors both in his native USA and internationally, James Earl Jones was born on January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi. At an early age, he started to take dramatic lessons to calm himself down. It appeared to work as he has since starred in many films over a 40-year period, beginning with the Stanley Kubrick classic Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). For several movie fans, he is probably best known for his role as Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy (due to his contribution for the voice of the role, as the man in the Darth Vader suit was David Prowse, whose voice was dubbed because of his British West Country accent). In his brilliant course of memorable performances, among others, he has also appeared on the animated series The Simpsons (1989) three times and played Mufasa both in The Lion King (1994) and The Lion King (2019), while he returned too as the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016).- Actor
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Uwe Bohm was born on 23 January 1962 in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg, West Germany. He was an actor, known for Herzlich willkommen (1990), Yasemin (1988) and Gold (2013). He was married to Ninon Bohm. He died on 9 April 2022 in Germany.- Actor
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He was one of Hollywood's more interesting curiosities. Kent Smith, by most standards, had the makings of a topflight '40s and '50s film star--handsome, virile, personable, highly dedicated, equipped with a rich stage background--and no slouch in the talent department. For some reason all these fine qualities did not add up to stardom, which would remain elusive in a career that nevertheless covered almost five decades. Today, Smith's name and face have been almost completely forgotten. His solid body of work on stage, screen and TV certainly defies such treatment. Perhaps his looks weren't distinctive enough, perhaps he was overshadowed once too often by his more popular female screen stars, perhaps there was a certain lack of charisma or sex appeal for audiences to latch onto, or perhaps a lack of ego or even an interest in being a "name" star. Whatever the reason, this purposeful lead and second lead's resume deserves more than a passing glance.
Christened Frank Kent Smith, he was born in New York City on March 19, 1907, to a hotelier. An early experience in front of a crowd happened during childhood when he performed as an assistant to Blackstone the magician. Kent graduated from boarding school (Philips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire) and attended Harvard University, finding theater work at various facilities during his time off. One such group, the University Players in West Falmouth, Massachusetts, produced such screen icons as James Stewart, Henry Fonda and Margaret Sullavan.
Kent made his theatrical debut in the short-lived play "Blind Window" at the Ford's Theatre in Baltimore in 1929 in a cast that also featured young hopeful Clark Gable. Taking his first Broadway curtain call in "Men Must Fight" in 1932, a steady flow of theater work came his way throughout the rest of the '30s, in which he performed opposite some of the theater's finest grande dames: Lillian Gish, Katharine Cornell, Jane Cowl, Blanche Yurka and Ethel Barrymore. He proved equally adept in both classic ("Caesar and Cleopatra," "Saint Joan," "A Doll's House") and contemporary settings ("Heat Lightning," "The Drums Begin").
Aside from an isolated appearance in The Garden Murder Case (1936), Kent's film output didn't officially begin until 1942. RKO took an interest in the stage-trained actor and offered him a lead role in the low-budget horror classic Cat People (1942) as the husband of menacingly feline Simone Simon. He returned to his protagonist role in the sequel The Curse of the Cat People (1944). After a few more decent films, including Hitler's Children (1943) and This Land Is Mine (1943), Kent joined the U.S. Army Air Force and appeared in several government training films during his service, which ended in 1944.
He came back to films without a hitch during the post-war years, posting major credits in The Spiral Staircase (1946), Magic Town (1947) , Nora Prentiss (1947), My Foolish Heart (1949) and The Fountainhead (1949), although he tended to pale next to his illustrious female stars Dorothy McGuire, Jane Wyman, Ann Sheridan, Susan Hayward and Patricia Neal. Normally a third wheel in romantic triangles or good friend/rival-to-the-star roles, he never found the one big film role (or TV show) that could have put a marquee name to the face.
Kent fared better on stage and in the newer medium of TV in the 1950s. Among the highlights: He complemented Helen Hayes both in the video version of her stage triumph "Victoria Regina" and in her Broadway vehicle "The Wisteria Tree", which was based on Chekhov's "'The Cherry Orchard". He was also praised for his strong stage performances in "The Wild Duck" and "The Autumn Garden" and appeared alongside Elaine Stritch in the national touring company of the musical "Call Me Madam". He was everywhere on TV, guesting on such popular shows as "Wagon Train", "Naked City", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "The Outer Limits" and "Peyton Place". In 1962, he replaced Melvyn Douglas in the national company of Gore Vidal's "The Best Man". Also in the cast was actress Edith Atwater. The couple married that same year. His first marriage to minor actress Betty Gillette had ended earlier in divorce after 17 years and one daughter.
The remainder of Kent's career remained quite steady, if unremarkable, in both films and on TV. He lent able character support as assorted gray-haired authoritarians usually upstanding in reputation but certainly capable of shady dealings if called upon. The actor died at age 78 of heart disease in Woodland Hills, California, just outside of Los Angeles. His widow, Edith, died less than a year later of cancer.
Perhaps with such a common last name as "Smith" it was destined that he would spend a lifetime trying to stand out. Nevertheless, with a career as rich and respectable as his was, and with a wide range of roles that included everything from battling evil cats to spouting Shakespeare at Stratford, true recognition and reconsideration is long overdue.- A former telephone engineer who dabbled in amateur dramatics, John Gregson served aboard a minesweeper with the Royal Navy during World War II. After demobilisation, he joined the Liverpool Old Vic, making his stage debut in 'The Knight of the Burning Pestle'. Freshly married, he moved to London and acted alongside Robert Donat and Margaret Leighton in 'A Sleeping Clergyman' at the West End Criterion Theatre in 1947. During the same period, he was also cast in his first movie, the romantic period melodrama Saraband (1948), though his scenes ended up being cut. Undeterred, Gregson established himself as a popular favorite in subsequent Ealing comedies and later as a long term contractee with the Rank Organisation. His screen personae tended to be men of integrity: regular guys who don't necessarily finish on top, introspective, somewhat diffident, and often troubled. His most fondly remembered role was that of vintage car enthusiast Alan McKim, in the idiosyncratic (and typically British) comedy Genevieve (1953). Ironically, while he is featured in almost every scene behind the wheel, Gregson couldn't drive a car when filming began - and proved to be a slow learner.
For the remainder of the decade,he became somewhat typecast in traditional 'stiff upper lip' military roles. As film opportunities began to diminish, he turned more and more towards television, enjoying his greatest popularity as titular star of the police drama series Gideon C.I.D. (1964). Until his untimely death at the age of 55, Gregson alternated television work with acting on stage, as well as doing voice-overs and appearing in commercials for Hamlet cigars. - Actor
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Suave and handsome Australian actor arrived in Hollywood in the 1950s, and built himself up from a supporting actor into taking the lead in several well-remembered movies. Arguably his most fondly remembered role was that as George (Herbert George Wells), the inventor, in George Pal's spectacular The Time Machine (1960). As the movie finished with George, and his best friend Filby Alan Young seemingly parting forever, both actors were brought back together in 1993 to film a 30-minute epilogue to the original movie! Taylor's virile, matinée idol looks also assisted him in scoring the lead of Mitch Brenner in Alfred Hitchcock's creepy thriller The Birds (1963), the role of Jane Fonda's love interest in Sunday in New York (1963), the title role in John Ford's biopic of Irish playwright Sean O'Casey in Young Cassidy (1965), and a co-starring role in The Train Robbers (1973) with John Wayne. Taylor also appeared as Bette Davis future son-in-law in the well-received film The Catered Affair (1956). He also gave a sterling performance as the German-American Nazi Major trying to fool James Garner in 36 Hours (1964). Later, Taylor made many westerns and action movies during the 1960s and 1970s; however, none of these were much better than "B" pictures and failed to push his star to the next level. Additionally, Taylor was cast as the lead in several TV series including Bearcats! (1971), Masquerade (1983), and Outlaws (1986); however, none of them truly ignited viewer interest, and they were cancelled after only one or two seasons. Most fans would agree that Rod Taylor's last great role was in the wonderful Australian film The Picture Show Man (1977), about a travelling sideshow bringing "moving pictures" to remote towns in the Australian outback.- Actor
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Harry Morgan was a prolific character actor who starred in over 100 films and was a stage performer. Known to a younger generation of fans as "Col. Sherman T. Potter" on M*A*S*H (1972). Also known for his commanding personality throughout his career, he tackled movies and television in a way no other actor would do it.
Born Harry Bratsberg in Detroit, Michigan to Anna Olsen, a homemaker who immigrated from Sweden, and Henry Bratsberg, a mechanic who immigrated from Norway. After graduating from Muskegon High School in Muskegon, Michigan, he took on a salesman job before becoming a successful actor.
Several of his most memorable film roles were: The Omaha Trail (1942), in the next quarter-century, he would also appear in The Ox-Bow Incident (1942), Wing and a Prayer (1944), State Fair (1945), Dragonwyck (1946), All My Sons (1948), Red Light (1949), Outside the Wall (1950), Dark City (1950) where he met future Dragnet 1967 (1967) co-star Jack Webb, who would be best friends until Webb's death, late in 1982, along with Appointment with Danger (1950). His films credits also include: High Noon (1952), The Glenn Miller Story (1954), Strategic Air Command (1955), among many others. He also co-starred with James Garner in Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) and Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971).
On television, he is fondly remembered as Spring Byington's jokingly henpecked neighbor, "Pete Porter" on December Bride (1954), where he became the show's scene-stealer. It was also based on a popular radio show that transferred into television. The show was an immediate success to viewers, which led him into starring his own short-lived spin-off series, Pete and Gladys (1960), which co-starred Cara Williams, who met Morgan in the movie, The Saxon Charm (1948).
Morgan began his eight-year association with old friend, Jack Webb, and Universal, starting with Dragnet 1967 (1967), which he played Off. Bill Gannon. For the second time, like December Bride (1954) before this, it was an immediate hit, where it tackled a lot of topics. Dragnet was canceled in 1970, after a 4-season run, due to Morgan's best friend and co-star (Jack Webb) leaving the show to continue producing other shows, such as Adam-12 (1968) and Emergency! (1972). Morgan would later work with Webb in both short-lived series, The D.A. (1971), opposite Robert Conrad and Hec Ramsey (1972), opposite Richard Boone. After those roles, Morgan ended his contract with both Universal and Mark VII, to sign with 20th Century Fox.
Morgan's biggest role was that of a tough-talking, commanding, fun-loving, serious Army Officer, "Col. Sherman T. Potter" on M*A*S*H (1972), when he replaced McLean Stevenson, who left the show to unsuccessfully star in his own sitcom. For the third time, the show was still a hit with fans, and at 60, he was nominated for Emmies nine times and won his first and only Emmy in 1980, for Outstanding Supporting Actor. By 1983, M*A*S*H's series was getting very expensive, as well as with the cast, hence, CBS reduced it to 16 episodes. Despite M*A*S*H's finale in 1983, Morgan went on to star in a short-lived spin-off series AfterMASH (1983), co-starring Jamie Farr and William Christopher, from the original M*A*S*H (1972) series, without series' star Alan Alda.
He also co-starred in 2 more short-lived series, as he was over 70, beginning with Blacke's Magic (1986) with Hal Linden and his final role with You Can't Take It with You (1987). That same year, he reprised his role, for a second time as "Off. Bill Gannon" in the film, Dragnet (1987), which starred Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks. Then, he guest-starred in several shows such as: The Twilight Zone (1985), Renegade (1992), The Jeff Foxworthy Show (1995), for the third time, he also reprised his "Off. Bill Gannon" role, supplying his voice on The Simpsons (1989). Towards the end of his acting career, as he reached 80, he had a recurring role as the older college professor on 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996), opposite John Lithgow. Afterwards, he retired from show business and lived with his family. Harry Morgan died on December 7, 2011 at 96. On confirming his death, his son Charles said that he had been recently treated for pneumonia. Morgan was also one of the oldest living Hollywood male actors.- Actor
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Despite many a powerful performance, this actor's actor never quite achieved the stardom he deserved. Ultimately, Richard Basehart became best-known to television audiences as Admiral Harriman Nelson, commander of the glass-nosed nuclear submarine 'S.S.R.N Seaview' in Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964), shown on ABC from 1964 to 1968. Basehart's distinctively deep, resonant voice also provided narrations in feature films, TV mini-series and for documentaries.
Born in Zanesville, Ohio, on August 14 1914, Basehart was one of four siblings born to a struggling and soon-to-be widowed editor of a local newspaper. Upon leaving college, he worked briefly as a radio announcer and then attempted to follow in his father's journalistic footsteps as a reporter. Controversy over one of his stories led to his departure from the paper and cleared the path to pursue acting as a career. In 1932, Basehart made his theatrical bow with the Wright Players Stock Company in his home town and subsequently spent five years playing varied and interesting roles at the Hedgerow Theatre in Philadelphia. From 1938, he began to work in New York on and off-Broadway. Seven years later he received the New York Drama Critics Circle Best Newcomer Award for "The Hasty Heart", a drama by John Patrick, in which Basehart played a dying Scottish soldier. In 1945, he received his first film offers. When he heard director Bretaigne Windust was seeking an authentic Scot for the lead role in The Hasty Heart, Basehart not only effected an authentic enough burr to win the part, but won also the 1945 New York Critic's Award as the most promising actor of the year. His accent was so good that a visiting leader of a Scottish clan told the actor he knew his clan.
Basehart made his debut on the big screen with Repeat Performance (1947) at Eagle-Lion, a minor film noir with Joan Leslie, followed at Warner Brothers with the Gothic Barbara Stanwyck thriller Cry Wolf (1947). His third picture finally got him critical plaudits for playing a sociopathic killer, relentlessly hunted through drainage tunnels in He Walked by Night (1948), a procedural police drama shot in a semi-documentary style. Variety gave a positive review, commenting "With this role, Basehart establishes himself as one of Hollywood's most talented finds in recent years. He heavily overshadows the rest of the cast..."
It was the first of many charismatic performances in which Basehart would excel at tormented or introverted characters, portraying angst, foreboding or mental anguish. His gallery of characters came to include the notorious Robespierre, chief architect of the Reign of Terror (1949), set during the French Revolution. He was one of the feuding Hatfields in Roseanna McCoy (1949) and in Fourteen Hours (1951) (based on a real 1938 Manhattan suicide) had a tour de force turn as a man perched on the high ledge of an office building threatening to jump. For much of the film's duration, the camera was firmly focused on the actor's face. Basehart later recalled "It was an actor's dream, in which I hogged the camera lens, and the role called on me to act mostly with my eyes, lips and face muscles". The New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther called his performance 'startling and poignant'.
Eschewing conventional movie stardom, Basehart meticulously selected and varied his roles, avoiding, as he put it, "stereotyping at the expense of not amassing an impressive bank account.'' In the wake of the sudden death of his first wife, Basehart left the U.S. for Italy. In March 1951, he got married a second time (to the actress Valentina Cortese) and appeared in a succession of European movies, playing the ill-fated clown Il Matto in Federico Fellini's classic The Road (1954); against type, essayed a swashbuckling nobleman reclaiming his titles and estate in Cartouche (1955), and (again for Fellini), played a member of a gang of grifters in The Swindle (1955). He was also ideally cast as the mild-mannered Ishmael in John Huston's excellent version of Moby Dick (1956) and as Ivan, one of The Brothers Karamazov (1958).
By 1960, Basehart's second marriage had ended in divorce and the actor returned to America where he found movie opportunities few and far between. The small screen to some extent reinvigorated his career with numerous series guest appearances and his lengthy stint in the popular Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. He also received critical praise for his role as Henry Wirtz, commandant of the Confederacy's most infamous prison camp, in the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning television drama The Andersonville Trial (1970).
Not only an active human rights campaigner, Basehart was also strongly opposed to the experimental use of animals. With his third wife Diana Lotery he set up the animal welfare charity, Actors and Others for Animals, in 1971. He died after suffering a series of strokes in Los Angeles on September 17 1984 at the age of 70.- Actor
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Rik Mayall, one of the first and foremost alternative comedians in the UK, was born in Matching Tye, a village just outside Harlow in Essex. His parents, John and Gillian, were both drama teachers. His acting debut was at the age of seven when he appeared in one of his father's stage plays. He met his comedy partner and best friend Adrian "Ade" Edmondson at Manchester University in 1975. Soon, the duo began performing together as a comedy act called "Twentieth Century Coyote" at the now legendary Comedy Store in London. They later moved their act to a venue called "The Comic Strip" and it was there that they were discovered by producer Paul Jackson. Rik and his friends, including Adrian Edmondson, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Alexei Sayle, Peter Richardson, and Nigel Planer were boomed onto television screens with immense success. He wrote The Young Ones (1982) with Ben Elton and Lise Mayer. You loved it or hated it, but you can't deny the impact it had on British sitcoms.
His career was launched, and, aged 24, he became one of the most popular comedians in Britain. He wrote and starred in various other television programmes and films over the years such as The New Statesman (1987); his role in it as Alan B'Stard earned him a BAFTA. He had his brief touch of Hollywood in 1991 when he starred as the title role in Drop Dead Fred (1991), but he soon returned to the British TV screens with Bottom (1991) a show which only ran for 3 seasons from 1991 to 1995 but was so popular that he and "Ade" toured with live shows based on the series around Britain every two years or so up until 2014.
In 1998, he suffered a severe accident and ended up in a coma after he crashed with his quad-bike at his farm in Devon. Luckily, he recovered and starred in films and shows such as Guest House Paradiso (1999) and Day of the Sirens (2002). In 2002, he proved that he was back and ready for action in the comedy series Believe Nothing (2002), which reunited him with Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, the writers of "The New Statesman". In 2003, he toured the UK alongside "Ade" with the fifth Bottom Live show.- Actor
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Don Ameche was a versatile and popular American film actor in the 1930s and '40s, usually as the dapper, mustached leading man. He was also popular as a radio master of ceremonies during this time. As his film popularity waned in the 1950s, he continued working in theater and some TV. His film career surged in a comeback in the 1980s with fine work as an aging millionaire in Trading Places (1983) and a rejuvenated oldster in Cocoon (1985).
Ameche was born Dominic Felix Amici in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to Barbara Edda (Hertel) and Felice Amici, a bartender.- Actor
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Born in the Simonside area of South Shields, he left the North East when he was five, but went back for holidays with his grandparents. As he grew older he had it in his mind to be an actor, but had no idea how to go about it, so did various jobs before being called up for National Service in the RAF. On being demobbed he still wanted to be an actor, but was still unaware of how to become one, so worked for wool merchants for three years, during which he became a keen amateur actor. When the wool merchant went bankrupt, he managed to get a grant from Essex County Council to go to drama school. On completing the course his first job was with a company that traveled around in a bus doing shows at military camps. He then joined The Old Vic doing walk on parts and small speaking parts then spent 2 years in America and on his return joined the Bristol Old Vic. After about 12 years in the business he went to Newcastle to appear in 'Close the Coalhouse Door' at the Jesmond Playhouse - written by Alan Plater and also featuring fellow North East actors Colin Douglas and Alan Browning - which he considered made him a better actor. He appeared in the TV series 'Z Cars' as a Geordie police inspector but didn't enjoy it. There was then a 90 minute play for Granada Television which was done live.- Peter Pasetti was born on 8 July 1916 in Munich, Germany. He was an actor, known for Mozart (1982), Othello (1958) and Antonius und Cleopatra (1963). He was married to Marianne Swoboda, Eva Maria Patzak and Margot Werner. He died on 23 May 1996 in Dießen am Ammersee, Bavaria, Germany.
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Ray Milland became one of Paramount's most bankable and durable stars, under contract from 1934 to 1948, yet little in his early life suggested a career as a motion picture actor.
Milland was born Alfred Reginald Jones in the Welsh town of Neath, Glamorgan, to Elizabeth Annie (Truscott) and Alfred Jones. He spent his youth in the pursuit of sports. He became an expert rider early on, working at his uncle's horse-breeding estate while studying at the King's College in Cardiff. At 21, he went to London as a member of the elite Household Cavalry (Guard for the Royal Family), undergoing a rigorous 19-months training, further honing his equestrian skills, as well as becoming adept at fencing, boxing and shooting. He won trophies, including the Bisley Match, with his unit's crack rifle team. However, after four years, he suddenly lost his means of financial support (independent income being a requirement as a Guardsman) when his stepfather discontinued his allowance. Broke, he tried his hand at acting in small parts on the London stage.
There are several stories as to how he derived his stage name. It is known, that during his teens he called himself "Mullane", using his stepfather's surname. He may later have suffused "Mullane" with "mill-lands", an area near his hometown. When he first appeared on screen in British films, he was billed first as Spike Milland, then Raymond Milland.
In 1929, Ray befriended the popular actress Estelle Brody at a party and, later that year, visited her on the set of her latest film, The Plaything (1929). While having lunch, they were joined by a producer who persuaded the handsome Welshman to appear in a motion picture bit part. Ray rose to the challenge and bigger roles followed, including the male lead in The Lady from the Sea (1929). The following year, he was signed by MGM and went to Hollywood, but was given little to work with, except for the role of Charles Laughton's ill-fated nephew in Payment Deferred (1932). After a year, Ray was out of his contract and returned to England.
His big break did not come until 1934 when he joined Paramount, where he was to remain for the better part of his Hollywood career. During the first few years, he served an apprenticeship playing second leads, usually as the debonair man-about-town, in light romantic comedies. He appeared with Burns and Allen in Many Happy Returns (1934), enjoyed third-billing as a British aristocrat in the Claudette Colbert farce The Gilded Lily (1935) and was described as "excellent" by reviewers for his role in the sentimental drama Alias Mary Dow (1935). By 1936, he had graduated to starring roles, first as the injured British hunter rescued on a tropical island by The Jungle Princess (1936), the film which launched Dorothy Lamour's sarong-clad career. After that, he was the titular hero of Bulldog Drummond Escapes (1937) and, finally, won the girl (rather than being the "other man") in Mitchell Leisen's screwball comedy Easy Living (1937). He also re-visited the tropics in Ebb Tide (1937), Her Jungle Love (1938) and Tropic Holiday (1938), as well as being one of the three valiant brothers of Beau Geste (1939).
In 1940, Ray was sent back to England to star in the screen adaptation of Terence Rattigan's French Without Tears (1940), for which he received his best critical reviews to date. He was top-billed (above John Wayne) running a ship salvage operation in Cecil B. DeMille's lavish Technicolor adventure drama Reap the Wild Wind (1942), besting Wayne in a fight - much to the "Duke's" personal chagrin - and later wrestling with a giant octopus. Also that year, he was directed by Billy Wilder in a charming comedy, The Major and the Minor (1942) (co-starred with Ginger Rogers), for which he garnered good notices from Bosley Crowther of the New York Times. Ray then played a ghost hunter in The Uninvited (1944), and the suave hero caught in a web of espionage in Fritz Lang's thriller Ministry of Fear (1944).
On the strength of his previous role as "Major Kirby", Billy Wilder chose to cast Ray against type in the ground-breaking drama The Lost Weekend (1945) as dipsomaniac writer "Don Birnam". Ray gave the defining performance of his career, his intensity catching critics, used to him as a lightweight leading man, by surprise. Crowther commented "Mr. Milland, in a splendid performance, catches all the ugly nature of a 'drunk', yet reveals the inner torment and degradation of a respectable man who knows his weakness and his shame" (New York Times, December 3, 1945). Arrived at the high point of his career, Ray Milland won the Oscar for Best Actor, as well as the New York Critic's Award. Rarely given such good material again, he nonetheless featured memorably in many more splendid films, often exploiting the newly discovered "darker side" of his personality: as the reporter framed for murder by Charles Laughton's heinous publishing magnate in The Big Clock (1948); as the sophisticated, manipulating art thief "Mark Bellis" in the Victorian melodrama So Evil My Love (1948) (for which producer Hal B. Wallis sent him back to England); as a Fedora-wearing, Armani-suited "Lucifer", trawling for the soul of an honest District Attorney in Alias Nick Beal (1949); and as a traitorous scientist in The Thief (1952), giving what critics described as a "sensitive" and "towering" performance. In 1954, Ray played calculating ex-tennis champ "Tony Wendice", who blackmails a former Cambridge chump into murdering his wife, in Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder (1954). He played the part with urbane sophistication and cold detachment throughout, even in the scene of denouement, calmly offering a drink to the arresting officers.
With Lisbon (1956), Ray Milland moved into another direction, turning out several off-beat, low-budget films with himself as the lead, notably High Flight (1957), The Safecracker (1958) and Panic in Year Zero! (1962). At the same time, he cheerfully made the transition to character parts, often in horror and sci-fi outings. In accordance with his own dictum of appearing in anything that had "any originality", he worked on two notable pictures with Roger Corman: first, as a man obsessed with catalepsy in The Premature Burial (1962); secondly, as obsessed self-destructive surgeon "Dr. Xavier" in X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)-the Man with X-Ray Eyes, a film which, despite its low budget, won the 1963 Golden Asteroid in the Trieste Festival for Science Fiction.
As the years went on, Ray gradually disposed of his long-standing toupee, lending dignity through his presence to many run-of-the-mill television films, such as Cave in! (1983) and maudlin melodramas like Love Story (1970). He guest-starred in many anthology series on television and had notable roles in Rod Serling's Night Gallery (1969) and the original Battlestar Galactica (1978) (as Quorum member Sire Uri). He also enjoyed a brief run on Broadway, starring as "Simon Crawford" in "Hostile Witness" (1966), at the Music Box Theatre.
In his private life, Ray was an enthusiastic yachtsman, who loved fishing and collecting information by reading the Encyclopedia Brittanica. In later years, he became very popular with interviewers because of his candid spontaneity and humour. In the same self-deprecating vein he wrote an anecdotal biography, "Wide-Eyed in Babylon", in 1976. A film star, as well as an outstanding actor, Ray Milland died of cancer at the age of 79 in March 1986.- Actor
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Born in America, and raised in Ireland and England, actor Patrick McGoohan rose to become the number-one British TV star in the 1950s to 1960s era. His parents moved to Ireland when he was very young and McGoohan acquired a neutral accent that sounds at home in British or American dialogue. He was an avid stage actor and performed hundreds of times in small and large productions before landing his first TV and film roles. McGoohan is one of few actors who has successfully switched between theater, TV, and films many times during his career. He was often cast in the role of Angry Young Man. In 1959, he was named Best TV Actor of the Year in Britain. Shortly thereafter, he was chosen for the starring role in the Secret Agent (1964) TV series (AKA 'Secret Agent in the US), which proved to be an immense success for three years and allowed the British to break into the burgeoning American TV market for the first time. By the series' 3rd year, McGoohan felt the series had run its course and was beginning to repeat itself. McGoohan and Lew Grade - the president of ITC (the series' production company), had agreed that McGoohan could leave Danger Man to begin work on a new series, and turned in his resignation right after the first episode of the fourth year had been filmed ("Koroshi"). McGoohan set up his own production company and collaborated with noted author and script editor George Markstein to sell a brand new concept to ITC's Lew Grade. McGoohan starred in, directed, produced, and wrote many of the episodes, sometimes taking a pseudonym to reduce the sheer number of credits to his name. Thus, the TV series The Prisoner (1967) came to revolve around the efforts of a secret agent, who resigned early in his career, to clear his name. His aim was to escape from a fancifully beautiful but psychologically brutal prison for people who know too much. The series was as popular as it was surreal and allegorical, and its mysterious final episode caused such an uproar that McGoohan was to desert England for more than 20 years to seek relative anonymity in LA, where celebrities are "a dime a dozen."
During the 1970s, he appeared in four episodes of the TV detective series "Columbo," for which he won an Emmy Award. His film roles lapsed from prominence until his powerful performance as King Edward I (Longshanks) in Mel Gibson's production of Braveheart (1995). As such, he has solidified his casting in the role of Angry Old Man.- Actor
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James Maitland Stewart was born on May 20, 1908, in Indiana, Pennsylvania, to Elizabeth Ruth (Johnson) and Alexander Maitland Stewart, who owned a hardware store. He was of Scottish, Ulster-Scots, and some English descent. Stewart was educated at a local prep school, Mercersburg Academy, where he was a keen athlete (football and track), musician (singing and accordion playing), and sometime actor.
In 1929, he won a place at Princeton University, where he studied architecture with some success and became further involved with the performing arts as a musician and actor with the University Players. After graduation, engagements with the University Players took him around the northeastern United States, including a run on Broadway in 1932. But work dried up as the Great Depression deepened, and it was not until 1934, when he followed his friend Henry Fonda to Hollywood, that things began to pick up.
After his first screen appearance in Art Trouble (1934), Stewart worked for a time for MGM as a contract player and slowly began making a name for himself in increasingly high-profile roles throughout the rest of the 1930s. His famous collaborations with Frank Capra, in You Can't Take It with You (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), and, after World War II, It's a Wonderful Life (1946) helped to launch his career as a star and to establish his screen persona as the likable everyman.
Having learned to fly in 1935, he was drafted into the United States Army in 1940 as a private (after twice failing the medical for being underweight). During the course of World War II, he rose to the rank of colonel, first as an instructor at home in the United States, and later on combat missions in Europe. He remained involved with the United States Air Force Reserve after the war and officially retired in 1968. In 1959, he was promoted to brigadier general, becoming the highest-ranking actor in U.S. military history.
Stewart's acting career took off properly after the war. During the course of his long professional life, he had roles in some of Hollywood's best-remembered films, starring in a string of Westerns, bringing his everyman qualities to movies like The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)), biopics (The Stratton Story (1949), The Glenn Miller Story (1954), and The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), for instance, thrillers (most notably his frequent collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock), and even some screwball comedies.
On June 25, 1997, a thrombosis formed in his right leg, leading to a pulmonary embolism, and a week later on July 2, 1997, surrounded by his children, James Stewart died at age 89 at his home in Beverly Hills, California. His last words to his family were, "I'm going to be with Gloria now".- Actor
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Leslie William Nielsen was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, and raised in Tulita (formerly Fort Norman), Northwest Territories. His mother, Mabel Elizabeth (Davies), was Welsh. His father, Ingvard Eversen Nielsen, was a Danish-born Mountie and a strict disciplinarian. Leslie studied at the Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto before moving on to New York's Neighborhood Playhouse. His acting career started at a much earlier age when he was forced to lie to his father in order to avoid severe punishment. Leslie starred in over fifty films and many more television films. One of his two brothers became the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada. On October 10, 2002, he was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada (OC) in recognition of his contributions to the film and television industries. On November 28, 2010, Leslie Nielsen died at age 84 of pneumonia and was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.- Actor
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Ib Schønberg was born on 23 October 1902 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was an actor and director, known for Café Paradis (1950), Take What You Want (1947) and For frihed og ret (1949). He was married to Inger Lisbeth Hammer. He died on 24 September 1955 in Skodsborg, Denmark.- Ed Flanders was born on 29 December 1934 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor, known for The Exorcist III (1990), St. Elsewhere (1982) and The Ninth Configuration (1980). He was married to Cody Lambert, Ellen Geer and Bennye Kelly. He died on 22 February 1995 in Denny, California, USA.
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One of England's most successful and enduring character actors, with a prolific screen career on television and in films, Robert Hardy was acclaimed for his versatility and the depth of his performances.
Born in Cheltenham in 1925, he studied at Oxford University and, in 1949, he joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon. Television viewers most fondly remember him as the overbearing Siegfried Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small (1978) but his most critically acclaimed performance was as the title character of Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981). His portrayal of Britain's wartime leader was so accurately observed that, in the following years, he was called on to reprise the role in such productions as The Woman He Loved (1988) and War and Remembrance (1988).
Unlike some British character actors, Hardy was not a Hollywood name and his work in films was therefore restricted to appearances in predominantly British-based productions such as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), Frankenstein (1994) and Sense and Sensibility (1995). However, in the 21st century, Hardy came to the attention of a whole new generation for his performances in the hugely successful Harry Potter films, while also continuing to make regular appearances in British television series. His co-star from All Creatures Great and Small (1978), Peter Davison, quite simply described Hardy as an "extraordinary" actor who would "never do the same thing twice" when he was acting with him. He was awarded the CBE for services to acting. He died in August 2017.- John Barry Foster's acting career began and ended on the stage. At the age of 20 he won a scholarship to the Central School of Speech and Drama where he befriended future playwright Harold Pinter. After two years training, Barry went on tour with Andrew McMaster and fellow actors Patrick Magee and Kenneth Haigh through the Republic of Ireland. Their repertoire included thirteen plays (mostly Shakespearean but also included J.B. Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls'). Barry's first role was as Lorenzo in 'The Merchant of Venice'.
In 1955, he hit the lights of London with 'The Night of the Ball' at the New Theatre and six years later had his first starring role as Cornelius Christian in 'Fairy Tales of New York'. During the remainder of the decade, Barry played through an immensely varied array of characters ranging from Adhemar in the French comedy 'Let's Get a Divorce' to King John and Macbeth at the Nottingham Playhouse. He appeared with Dame Wendy Hiller in 'Driving Miss Daisy' and with Lotte Lenya in 'Brecht on Brecht' at The Royal Court. His portfolio also included two Pinter plays, 'The Basement' and 'The Tea Party'. In 1963, he also acted on Broadway, San Francisco and Los Angeles in a double bill: 'The Private Ear' and 'The Public Eye' by Peter Shaffer. Time Magazine (October 18,1963) described his performance as Cristoforou as "a remarkable and indefinable creation" and "the most antic and mythic embodiment of Life Force since Zorba the Greek danced off the pages of Nikos Kazantzakis novel".
While he had appeared in film roles since the mid-1950's, it was on the small screen where Barry Foster had his greatest success, specifically as the trench-coated Dutch detective Van der Valk (1972). Introduced by the catchy theme song 'Eye Level' (a British chart topper in 1973), this 1970s TV series was filmed on location in Amsterdam and featured a rather off-beat type of detective: introspective, often rash and moody, at times anti-establishmentarian, yet with great compassion, wit and intelligence. Barry Foster himself remarked about the popular Van der Valk: "He is understanding and does not disapprove. That isn't his job, anyway. He's a lovely guy to play, a thoughtful, unorthodox cop with a touch of the private eye" (The Independent, 13/2/2002).
Other notable television roles followed. Among the best of them was as Kaiser Wilhelm in BBC's excellent miniseries Fall of Eagles (1974). He was again perfectly cast as eccentric spook Saul Enderby, one of Smiley's People (1982), played with typical aplomb and dry humour. In 1978, Barry lent his voice to an impersonation of the great detective Sherlock Holmes in a 13-part BBC radio series. In films, Barry will be best remembered as the serial killing grocer Bob Rusk in Hitchcock's thriller Frenzy (1972). From the 1980s, Barry Foster concentrated once again on the theatre. In 1995, he toured Australia with Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls' (playing the part of Inspector Goole), directed by Stephen Daldry. Five years later, he starred as Prospero in 'The Tempest' and, just prior to his untimely death, appeared with Nigel Havers and Roger Lloyd Pack in the play 'Art' at the London Whitehall theatre. Barry Foster was a singularly accomplished and likeable actor who once explained his versatility thus: "I'm neither very tall nor very short. You can't look at my face and say 'he's the killer', or 'the guy next door' or 'the mad scientist'. All I've got is my curly hair - which everyone thinks is a wig anyway" (The Telegraph, 12/2/2002). - Jim Siedow was a marvelously quirky and distinctive character actor who achieved instant cult favorite status with his terrific portrayal of the weary and irascible the Cook in Tobe Hooper's immortal and outstanding horror classic "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Siedow was born on June 12th, 1920 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Siedow first began acting in high school drama class. He moved to New York City at age 18 and continued to perform in touring shows for the W.P.A. theater. He served with the Army Air Corps during World War II. Following his tour of duty Siedow then moved to Chicago, Illinois and did radio soap operas. Siedow met his future wife Ruth while living in Chicago. They got married in September, 1946 and eventually moved to Houston, Texas. The couple had three children altogether. Siedow soon established himself as an important and substantial part of the Houston stage scene. Siedow created one of Houston's first original local community theaters and directed Houston's first production of the acclaimed play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?". Other plays Siedow directed include "Visit To a Small Planet," "Critic's Choice," and "Murder Among Friends." Siedow also acted in stage productions of such plays as "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "The Lion in the Winter." Siedow made his film debut as a rock star's estranged father in the obscure indie drama "The Windsplitter." But it was Siedow's dead solid perfect performance as the Cook in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" that really put him on the cinematic map. Alas, Siedow's film roles after "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" were few and far in between. However, Siedow was excellent as a bitter mad bomber in the superior made-for-TV suspense thriller "Red Alert" and had a funny bit as a cantankerous shotgun-toting hillbilly in the hilariously raucous car chase romp "Hotwire." Siedow was once again spot-on as Drayton Sawyer (a.k.a. the Cook) in the worthy and unjustly maligned sequel "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2." Siedow was prominently featured as an interview subject in the enjoyable and informative documentary "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: A Family Portrait." Jim Siedow died at age 83 from emphysema complications on November 20th, 2003.
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Peter Lorre was born László Löwenstein in Rózsahegy in the Slovak area of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the son of Hungarian Jewish parents. He learned both Hungarian and German languages from birth, and was educated in elementary and secondary schools in the Austria-Hungary capitol Vienna, but did not complete. As a youth he ran away from home, first working as a bank clerk, and after stage training in Vienna, Austria, made his acting debut at age 17 in 1922 in Zurich, Switzerland. He traveled for several years acting on stage throughout his home region, Vienna, Berlin, and Zurich, including working with Bertolt Brecht, until Fritz Lang cast him in a starring role as the psychopathic child killer in the German film M (1931).
After several more films in Germany, including a couple roles for which he learned to speak French, Lorre left as the Nazis came to power, going first to Paris where he made one film, then London where Alfred Hitchcock cast him as a creepy villain in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), where he learned his lines phonetically, and finally arrived in Hollywood in 1935. In his first two roles there he starred as a mad scientist in Mad Love (1935) directed by recent fellow-expatriate Karl Freund, and the leading part of Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment (1935), by another expatriate German director Josef von Sternberg, a successful movie made at Lorre's own suggestion. He returned to England for a role in another Hitchcock film, Secret Agent (1936), then back to the US for a few more films before checking into a rehab facility to cure himself of a morphine addiction.
After shaking his addiction, in order to get any kind of acting work, Lorre reluctantly accepted the starring part as the Japanese secret agent in Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937), wearing makeup to alter his already very round eyes for the part. He ended up committed to repeating the role for eight more "Mr. Moto" movies over the next two years.
Lorre played numerous memorable villain roles, spy characters, comedic roles, and even a romantic type, throughout the 1940s, beginning with his graduation from 30s B-pictures The Maltese Falcon (1941). Among his most famous films, Casablanca (1942), and a comedic role in the Broadway hit film Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).
After the war, between 1946 and '49 Lorre concentrated largely on radio and the stage, while continuing to appear in movies. In Autumn 1950 he traveled to West Gemany where he wrote, directed and starred in the critically acclaimed but generally unknown German-language film The Lost Man (1951), adapted from Lorre's own novel.
Lorre returned to the US in 1952, somewhat heavier in stature, where he used his abilities as a stage actor appearing in many live television productions throughout the 50s, including the first James Bond adaptation Casino Royale (1954), broadcast just a few months after Ian Fleming had published that first Bond novel. In that decade, Lorre had various roles, often to type but also as comedic caricatures of himself, in many episodes of TV series, and variety shows, though he continued to work in motion pictures, including the Academy Award winning Around the World in 80 Days (1956), and a stellar role as a clown in The Big Circus (1959).
In the late 50s and early 1960s he worked in several low-budget films, with producer-director Roger Corman, and producer-writer-director Irwin Allen, including the aforementioned The Big Circus and two adventurous Disney movies with Allen. He died from a stroke the year he made his last movie, playing a stooge in Jerry Lewis' The Patsy (1964).- Actor
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Although his parents were never in show business, as a young boy Oliver Hardy was a gifted singer and, by age eight, was performing with minstrel shows. In 1910 he ran a movie theatre, which he preferred to studying law. In 1913 he became a comedy actor with the Lubin Company in Florida and began appearing in a long series of shorts; his debut film was Outwitting Dad (1914). He appeared in he 1914-15 series of "Pokes and Jabbs" shorts, and from 1916-18 he was in the "Plump and Runt" series. From 1919-21 he was a regular in the "Jimmy Aubrey" series of shorts, and from 1921-25 he worked as an actor and co-director of comedy shorts for Larry Semon.
In addition to appearing in two-reeler comedies, he found time to make westerns and even melodramas in which he played the heavy. He is most famous, however, as the partner of British comic Stan Laurel, with whom he had played a bit part in The Lucky Dog (1921). in the mid-1920s both he and Laurel wee working for comedy producer Hal Roach, although not as a team. In a moment of inspiration Roach teamed them together, and their first film as a team was 45 Minutes from Hollywood (1926). Their first release for Roach through MGM was Sugar Daddies (1927) and the first with star billing was From Soup to Nuts (1928). They became a huge hit as a comedy team, and after several years of two-reelers, Roach decided to star them in features, their first of which was Pardon Us (1931).
They clicked with audiences in features, too, and starred in such classics as Way Out West (1937), March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934) and Block-Heads (1938). They eventually parted ways with Roach and in the mid-1940s signed on with Twentieth Century-Fox.
Unfortunately, Fox did not let them have the autonomy they had at Roach, where Laurel basically wrote and directed their films, though others were credited, and their films became more assembly-line and formulaic. Their popularity waned and less popular during the war years, and they made their last film for Fox in 1946.
Several years later they made their final appearance as a team in a French film, a troubled and haphazard production eventually, after several name changes, called Utopia (1950), generally regarded to be their worst film. Hardy appeared without Laurel in a few features, such as Zenobia (1939) with Harry Langdon, The Fighting Kentuckian (1949) in a semi-comedic role as a frontiersman alongside John Wayne and Riding High (1950), in a cameo role. He died in 1957.- Howard Petrie was born on 22 November 1906 in Beverly, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), Bend of the River (1952) and Walk Softly, Stranger (1950). He was married to Alice Laurie Wood. He died on 24 March 1968 in Keene, New Hampshire, USA.
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An intense, versatile actor as adept at playing clean-cut FBI agents as he is psychotic motorcycle-gang leaders, who can go from portraying soulless, murderous vampires to burned-out, world-weary homicide detectives, Lance Henriksen has starred in a variety of films that have allowed him to stretch his talents just about as far as an actor could possibly hope. He played "Awful Knoffel" in the TNT original movie Evel Knievel (2004), directed by John Badham and executive produced by Mel Gibson. Henriksen portrayed "Awful Knoffel" in this project based on the life of the famed daredevil, played by George Eads. Henriksen starred for three seasons (1996-1999) on Millennium (1996), Fox-TV's critically acclaimed series created by Chris Carter (The X-Files (1993)). His performance as Frank Black, a retired FBI agent who has the ability to get inside the minds of killers, landed him three consecutive Golden Globe nominations for "Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series" and a People's Choice Award nomination for "Favorite New TV Male Star".
Henriksen was born in New York City. His mother, Margueritte, was a waitress, dance instructor, and model. His father, James Marin Henriksen, who was from Tønsberg, Norway, was a boxer and merchant sailor. Henriksen studied at the Actors Studio and began his career off-Broadway in Eugene O'Neill's "Three Plays of the Sea." One of his first film appearances was as an FBI agent in Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon (1975), followed by parts in Lumet's Network (1976) and Prince of the City (1981). He then appeared in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) with Richard Dreyfuss and François Truffaut, Damien: Omen II (1978) and in Philip Kaufman's The Right Stuff (1983), in which he played Mercury astronaut Capt. Wally Schirra.
James Cameron cast Henriksen in his first directorial effort, Piranha II: The Spawning (1982), then used him again in The Terminator (1984) and as the android Bishop in the sci-fi classic Aliens (1986). Sam Raimi cast Henriksen as an outrageously garbed gunfighter in his quirky western The Quick and the Dead (1995). Henriksen has also appeared in what has developed into a cult classic: Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark (1987), in which he plays the head of a clan of murderous redneck vampires. He was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in the TNT original film The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1998).
In addition to his abilities as an actor, Henriksen is an accomplished painter and potter. His talent as a ceramist has enabled him to create some of the most unusual ceramic artworks available on the art market today. He resides in Southern California with his wife Jane and their five-year-old daughter Sage.- Actor
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Peter Coyote was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA as Robert Peter Cohon to Ruth (Fidler) and Morris Cohon, an investment banker. He is an actor, known for Bitter Moon (1992), Sphere (1998) and Patch Adams (1998). Coyote was previously married to Stefanie Pleet and Marilyn McCann.- Actor
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Klaus Kinski was born as Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski in Zoppot, Free City of Danzig (now Sopot, Poland), to Susanne (Lutze), a nurse, and Bruno Nakszynski, a pharmacist. He grew up in Berlin, was drafted into the German army in 1944 and captured by British forces in Holland. After the war he began acting on the stage, quickly gaining a reputation for a ferocious talent and an equally ferocious temper. He started acting in films shortly afterward, showing an utter disregard for the quality of the productions he appeared in and churning out so many that a complete filmography is almost impossible to assemble.
However, he did turn out memorable work for director Werner Herzog, a similarly driven and obsessive character. Herzog and Kinski pushed each other to extremes over a 15-year working relationship, which finally ended after filming Cobra Verde (1987), a production plagued by volcanic clashes between the star and director, involving--among other things--violent physical altercations and mutual death threats. He subsequently directed and starred in the notorious Paganini (1989), his only film as director and which was marked by (again) clashes between Kinski and his producers, who accused him of turning their movie into a pornographic film and sued him in court. His autobiography, "All I Need is Love", a vicious attack on the film industry, was withdrawn for legal reasons and subsequently re-released as "Kinski Uncut" in the US & UK, "Ich brauche Liebe" in Germany, and in various other languages.- Actor
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George Harris Kennedy, Jr. was born on February 18, 1925 in New York City, to Helen (Kieselbach), a ballet dancer, and George Harris Kennedy, an orchestra leader and musician. Following high school graduation, Kennedy enlisted in the United States Army in 1943 with the hope to become a fighter pilot in the Army Air Corps. Instead, he wound up in the infantry, served under General George S. Patton and distinguished himself with valor. He won two Bronze Stars and four rows of combat and service ribbons.
A World War II veteran, Kennedy at one stage in his career cornered the market at playing tough, no-nonsense characters who were either quite crooked or possessed hearts of gold. Kennedy notched up an impressive 200+ appearances in both television and films, and was well respected within the Hollywood community. He started out on television Westerns in the late 1950s and early 1960s (Have Gun - Will Travel (1957), Rawhide (1959), Maverick (1957), Colt .45 (1957), among others) before scoring minor roles in films including Lonely Are the Brave (1962), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) and The Flight of the Phoenix (1965).
The late 1960s was a very busy period for Kennedy, and he was strongly in favor with casting agents, appearing in Hurry Sundown (1967), The Dirty Dozen (1967) and scoring an Oscar win as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Cool Hand Luke (1967). The disaster film boom of the 1970s was also kind to Kennedy and his talents were in demand for Airport (1970) and the three subsequent sequels, as a grizzled police officer in Earthquake (1974), plus the buddy/road film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) as vicious bank robber Red Leary.
The 1980s saw Kennedy appear in a mishmash of roles, playing various characters; however, Kennedy and Leslie Nielsen surprised everyone with their comedic talents in the hugely successful The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988), and the two screen veterans exaggerate themselves again, in The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991) and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994). From 1988-1991, he also played Ewing family nemesis Carter McKay on the CBS prime-time soap opera Dallas (1978).
Kennedy also played President Warren G. Harding in the miniseries Backstairs at the White House (1979) and had a long standing role on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless (1973). He remained busy in Hollywood and lent his distinctive voice to the animated Cats Don't Dance (1997) and the children's action film Small Soldiers (1998). A Hollywood stalwart for nearly 50 years, he is one of the most enjoyable actors to watch on screen. His last role was in the film The Gambler (2014), as Mark Wahlberg's character's grandfather.
George Kennedy died of natural causes in Middleton, Idaho on February 28, 2016, only ten days after his 91st birthday.- Aage Winther-Jørgensen was born on 16 May 1900 in Denmark. He was an actor, known for To som elsker hinanden (1944), En søndag på Amager (1941) and Skaf en Sensation (1934). He died on 10 April 1967 in Denmark.
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Peter Michael Falk was born on September 16, 1927, in New York City, New York. At the age of 3, his right eye was surgically removed due to cancer. He graduated from Ossining High School, where he was president of his class. His early career choices involved becoming a certified public accountant, and he worked as an efficiency expert for the Budget Bureau of the state of Connecticut before becoming an actor. On choosing to change careers, he studied the acting art with Eva Le Gallienne and Sanford Meisner. His most famous role is that of the detective Columbo (1971); however, this was not his first foray into acting the role of a detective. During a high school play, he stood in for such a role when the original student actor fell sick. He has been married twice, and is the father of two children:Catherine, a private detective in real life, and Jackie. He was diagnosed with dementia in 2008, which was most likely brought on by Alzheimer's disease, from which he died on June 23, 2011.- Actor
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Dick Van Dyke was born Richard Wayne Van Dyke in West Plains, Missouri, to Hazel Victoria (McCord), a stenographer, and Loren Wayne Van Dyke, a salesman. His younger brother was entertainer Jerry Van Dyke. His ancestry includes English, Dutch, Scottish, German and Swiss-German. Although he had small roles beforehand, Van Dyke was launched to stardom in the musical "Bye-Bye Birdie" (1960), for which he won a Tony Award, and, then, later in the movie based on that play, Bye Bye Birdie (1963). He has starred in a number of films through the years including Mary Poppins (1964), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and Fitzwilly (1967), as well as a number of successful television series which won him no less than four Emmy Awards and three made-for-CBS movies. After separating from his wife, Margie Willett, in the 1970s, Dick later became involved with Michelle Triola. Margie and Dick had four children born during the first ten years of their marriage: Barry Van Dyke, Carrie Beth Van Dyke, Christian Van Dyke and Stacy Van Dyke, all of whom are now in their sixties and seventies, and married themselves. He has seven grandchildren, including Shane Van Dyke, Carey Van Dyke, Wes Van Dyke and Taryn Van Dyke (Barry's children) and family members often appear with him on Diagnosis Murder (1993).- Knud Schrøder was born on 28 July 1903 in Denmark. He was an actor, known for Har jeg Ret til at tage mit eget Liv? (1920), Lille Dorrit (1924) and Det største i verden (1921). He died on 15 December 1976 in Denmark.
- Geoffrey Keen was born on 21 August 1916 in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979) and For Your Eyes Only (1981). He was married to Doris Groves, Madeline Howell and Hazel Terry. He died on 3 November 2005 in Denville Hall, Northwood, Hillingdon, London, England, UK.