MurderMostBritish's Fifty-Five Favorite CLASSIC Actors
by murdermostbritish-1 | created - 30 Apr 2014 | updated - 09 Apr 2016 | PublicMy favorite actors! Mostly British, but not all. Includes little known character actors as well as the more popular leading men and supporting actors. These are the guys I look for as I scour sources for my favorite older mystery movies.
The first few are in order of favoritism. After about #5, they are more or less as I remember them.
In descriptions I will note some of the movies I loved them in the most...some will be long lists, some will be short lists and I doubt if any of them will be complete lists as I still haven't seen ALL of their movies!
1. Basil Rathbone
Actor | The Adventures of Robin Hood
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, ...
Absolutely my favorite! I 'discovered' him about 25 years ago as Sherlock Holmes, since then, my admiration for his outstanding acting abilities, excellent swordsmanship and screen presence has just increased exponentially with each film I watch!
He is an excellent villain, a superb super sleuth and while not having the classic movie star looks, he has a very real attractiveness. He was also a very talented radio personality, mostly noted for his SH portrayal for quite few years)
Favorite films: (this is just offhand for right now, I will add more later):
Lover From a Stranger (aka A Night of Terror), Fingers at the Window, The Black Cat (1941), House of Fear (SH), The Musgrave Ritual (SH), The Court Jester, Romeo & Juliet, The Bishop Murder Case (Philo Vance), The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, Confession, Crossroads, Above Suspicion, We're No Angels (Christmas movie)
2. George Sanders
Actor | All About Eve
George Sanders was born of English parents in St. Petersburg, Russia. He worked in a Birmingham textile mill, in the tobacco business and as a writer in advertising. He entered show business in London as a chorus boy, going from there to cabaret, radio and theatrical understudy. His film debut, in ...
Number 2 on my list....an equally suave villain, sleuth or sidekick. Always a smooth talking character with a biting wit. Can do snooty and smarmy very well!
Lured (#1 on my fav movie list!), Rebecca, Quiet Please, Murder, Foreign Correspondent, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Lodger, Hangover Square, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, All About Eve and the Saint movies.
3. Cary Grant
Actor | North by Northwest
Once told by an interviewer, "Everybody would like to be Cary Grant", Grant is said to have replied, "So would I."
Cary Grant was born Archibald Alec Leach on January 18, 1904 in Horfield, Bristol, England, to Elsie Maria (Kingdon) and Elias James Leach, who worked in a factory. His early years in ...
His almost painfully good looks made him a favorite in leading male roles. I think his looks often overshadowed an exceptional talent. His gift for physical comedy can be seen in some of the earlier works.
Some of my fav Cary Grant movies:
Arsenic & Old Lace, Suspicion, North by Northwest, Charade
4. Peter Lorre
Actor | M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder
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 ...
Cute or creepy, he was a wonderfully endearing and talented actor!
The Man Who Knew Too Much (original), The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Arsenic & Old Lace, The Face Behind the Mask, Stranger on the Third Floor, The Raven, Mr. Moto's Last Warning (I like all teh Mr Moto movies, but this one is my favorite!), Invisible Agent, Three Strangers
5. Nigel Bruce
Actor | Rebecca
Nigel was, from the beginning, typecast as bumbling English aristocrats, military types or drawing room society snobs and, within the narrow parameters of his range, he was very, very good at playing these parts. Nigel Bruce was born in Mexico, where his father, Sir William W. Bruce, worked as an ...
No better sidekick....EVER!
Of course he was the unforgettable Dr. Watson to Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes, but he has some other wonderful roles!
Suspicion, Rebecca
6. Claude Rains
Actor | Casablanca
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...
Everyone recognizes this talent as the friend to Rick of Cafe Americain in Casablancea. But what else was he in that's worth seeing? If you are a mystery fan...look no further!
The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Notorious, The Phantom of the Opera, The Invisible Man, The Clairvoyant,
7. Charles Laughton
Actor | Witness for the Prosecution
Charles Laughton was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England, to Eliza (Conlon) and Robert Laughton, hotel keepers of Irish and English descent, respectively. He was educated at Stonyhurst (a highly esteemed Jesuit college in England) and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (received gold medal). ...
8. Gregory Peck
Actor | To Kill a Mockingbird
Eldred Gregory Peck was born on April 5, 1916 in La Jolla, California, to Bernice Mae (Ayres) and Gregory Pearl Peck, a chemist and druggist in San Diego. He had Irish (from his paternal grandmother), English, and some German, ancestry. His parents divorced when he was five years old. An only child...
9. Joseph Cotten
Actor | The Third Man
Joseph Cheshire Cotten, Jr. was born in Petersburg, Virginia, into a well-to-do Southern family. He was the eldest of three sons born to Sally Whitworth (Willson) and Joseph Cheshire Cotten, Sr., an assistant postmaster.
Jo (as he was known) and his brothers Whit and Sam spent their summers at their...
10. Paul Henreid
Actor | Casablanca
Paul Henreid was born Paul Georg Julius Freiherr von Hernreid Ritter von Wasel-Waldingau in Trieste, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was the son of Marie Luise Heilig (Lendecke) and Baron Karl Alphons Hernreid. His father was an aristocratic banker, who was born to a Jewish family whose surname ...
11. Rex Harrison
Actor | My Fair Lady
Rex Harrison was born Reginald Carey Harrison in Huyton, Lancashire, England, to Edith Mary (Carey) and William Reginald Harrison, a cotton broker. He changed his name to Rex as a young boy, knowing it was the Latin word for "King". Starting out on his theater career at age 18, his first job at the ...
I never thought he was a great singer, but he did have the lead in My Fair Lady and Dr. Doolittle.
My favorite Rex Harrison roles...
Night Train to Munich, Escape!, Midnight Lace
12. George Zucco
Actor | Fog Island
At 22, George Zucco decided to begin his stage career in earnest in the Canadian provinces in 1908. In the course of the following decade, he also performed in an American vaudeville tour with his young wife, Frances, in a routine called "The Suffragette." As World War I grew in scale, Zucco ...
Now we are getting in to some very talented character actors, and this guy is among my favorites.
Lured, Fog Island, The Black Raven
13. Boris Karloff
Actor | Bride of Frankenstein
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 "monster" from the classic Mary Shelley book, "Frankenstein". William Henry ...
14. Reginald Denny
Actor | Rebecca
Sometime in the early 1930s, Denny was between scenes on a movie set when he met a neighborhood boy who was trying to fly a bulky gas-powered model plane. When he tried to help by making an adjustment on the machine, Denny succeeded only in wrecking it. But this launched his infatuation with model ...
15. Michael Wilding
Actor | The Law and the Lady
Born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England on July 23, 1912, Wilding became a commercial artist after leaving school. He gained employment in the art department of a film studio in London in 1933, and he was soon approached by producers to become a movie star-in-training due to his dashing good looks. ...
16. Lionel Atwill
Actor | To Be or Not to Be
Lionel Atwill was born into a wealthy family and was educated at London's prestigious Mercer School to become an architect, but his interest turned to the stage. He worked his way progressively into the craft and debuted at age 20 at the Garrick Theatre in London. He acted and improved regularly ...
17. Michael Redgrave
Actor | The Lady Vanishes
Sir Michael Redgrave was of the generation of English actors that gave the world the legendary John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, Britain three fabled "Theatrical Knights" back in the days when a knighthood for thespian was far more rare than it is today. A superb actor, Redgrave ...
18. Robert Montgomery
Actor | Night Must Fall
Robert Montgomery was born Henry Montgomery Jr., the elder son of New York businessman Henry Montgomery and his wife, Mary Weed (Barney), a native of Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. Montgomery had a younger brother, Donald. He was not related to Belinda Montgomery.
As a child, he enjoyed a ...
19. Sydney Greenstreet
Actor | The Maltese Falcon
Sydney Greenstreet's father was a leather merchant with eight children. Sydney left home at age 18 to make his fortune as a Ceylon tea planter, but drought forced him out of business and back to England. He managed a brewery and, to escape boredom, took acting lessons. His stage debut was as a ...
20. Paul Cavanagh
Actor | Tarzan and His Mate
Cambridge-educated Paul Cavanagh appeared in pictures as the epitome of the debonair, well-dressed Englishman. The former barrister and Royal Canadian Mountie turned to acting in 1924 and had a starring role on Broadway in 'Scotland Yard' (1929). His film career began in 1928 and lasted just over ...
21. Henry Daniell
Actor | The Philadelphia Story
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 ...
22. David Niven
Actor | Murder by Death
His mother was the French Lady Comynyplatt Henrietta de Gacher, his father was the British Lieutenant William Graham Niven, who died in the war when David was six years old. Niven was considered a difficult child to educate and had to change schools often until he finally went to Sandhurst Military...
23. Alastair Sim
Actor | Scrooge
The son of Alexander Sim JP and Isabella McIntyre, Alastair Sim was educated in Edinburgh. Always interested in language (especially the spoken word) he became the Fulton Lecturer in Elocution at New College, Edinburgh University from 1925 until 1930. He was invited back and became the Rector of ...
24. Patric Knowles
Actor | The Adventures of Robin Hood
Fourteen-year-old Reginald Lawrence Knowles was being readied to take his place with other relatives in the family bookbinding business (in Leeds) when he ran off to become an actor. He was inevitably brought back home, but he made good his second escape a few years later - his willful Knowles ...
25. Vincent Price
Actor | The Abominable Dr. Phibes
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 ...
26. Leslie Howard
Actor | Pygmalion
Leslie Howard Steiner was born in London to Lilian (Blumberg) and Ferdinand "Frank" Steiner. His father was a Hungarian Jewish immigrant, and his English mother was of German Jewish and mostly English descent. Leslie went to Dulwich College, then worked as a bank clerk until the outbreak of World ...
27. John Carradine
Actor | The Grapes of Wrath
John Carradine, the son of a reporter/artist and a surgeon, grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York. He attended Christ Church School and Graphic Art School, studying sculpture, and afterward roamed the South selling sketches. He made his acting debut in "Camille" in a New Orleans theatre in 1925. ...
28. Leo G. Carroll
Actor | North by Northwest
One of the most indispensable of character actors, Leo G. Carroll was already involved in the business of acting as a schoolboy in Gilbert & Sullivan productions. Aged 16, he portrayed an old man in 'Liberty Hall'. In spite of the fact, that he came from a military family, and , perhaps, because of...
29. Joel McCrea
Actor | Sullivan's Travels
One of the great stars of American Westerns, and a very popular leading man in non-Westerns as well. He was born and raised in the surroundings of Hollywood and as a boy became interested in the movies that were being made all around. He studied acting at Pomona College and got some stage ...
30. Louis Hayward
Actor | And Then There Were None
From his birthplace in South Africa, Louis Charles Hayward was brought to England and was educated there and on the Continent. He spent a short time managing a London nightclub, displayed some acting talent and decided on acting, and was quickly tapped by playwright Noël Coward, who became his ...
31. Wilfrid Hyde-White
Actor | My Fair Lady
British character actor of wry charm, equally at home in amused or strait-laced characters. A native of Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire, he attended Marlborough College and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. His stage debut came in 1922, and by 1925 he was a busy London actor. He married ...
32. C. Aubrey Smith
Actor | Rebecca
Movie roles are sometimes based upon what the audience expects to see. If the role called for the tall stereotypical Englishmen with the stiff upper lip and stern determination, that man would be C. Aubrey Smith, graduate of Cambridge University, a leading Freemason and a test cricketer for England...
33. Leslie Banks
Actor | The Most Dangerous Game
English actor Leslie Banks' film career would be negligible compared to his prestigious theatrical one if it were not for four exceptions. Hitchcock, for one, gave him the occasion to shine in two of his films, in a sympathetic role in "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1934) and in an outright ...
34. John Mills
Actor | Great Expectations
Sir John Mills, one of the most popular and beloved English actors, was born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills on February 22, 1908, at the Watts Naval Training College in North Elmham, Norfolk, England. The young Mills grew up in Felixstowe, Suffolk, where his father was a mathematics teacher and his ...
35. Raymond Burr
Actor | Rear Window
Born Raymond William Stacy Burr on 21 May 1917 in New Westminster, British Columbia, he spent most of his early life traveling. As a youngster, his father moved his family to China, where the elder Burr worked as a trade agent. When the family returned to Canada, Raymond's parents separated. He and...
36. Naunton Wayne
Actor | The Lady Vanishes
Linked inextricably with actor Basil Radford, Welsh-born character actor Naunton Wayne, together with Radford, struck such a major chord with film audiences as an inept, uppercrust pair of cricket-obsessed British gents, that the two were invariably teamed up time and time again in a host of "veddy...
37. Miles Mander
Director | The Flying Doctor
This versatile artist, who had spent his 20's in New Zealand farming sheep, became novelist, playwright and film exhibitor on his return to Britain in 1918. Eventually he would observe success with The First Born (1928), which he directed and acted in and which was based on his own novel and play. ...
38. Herbert Marshall
Actor | Foreign Correspondent
Herbert Marshall had trained to become a certified accountant, but his interest turned to the stage. He lost a leg while serving in World War I and was rehabilitated with a wooden leg. This did not stop him from making good his decision to make the stage his vocation. He used a very deliberate ...
39. George Brent
Actor | Dark Victory
The favorite leading man of star Bette Davis was born George Brendan Nolan in Ballinasloe, County Galway, Ireland (although his place of birth has also been variosuly given as Raharabeg, County Roscommon and Shannonbridge, County Offaly). He was the youngest of five children born to shopkeeper John...
40. Cedric Hardwicke
Actor | The Ten Commandments
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, ...
41. Tom Conway
Actor | Cat People
Tom Conway played "The Falcon" in ten of that series' entries. He starred in three Val Lewton horror classics. He appeared in comedies, musicals, two Tarzan films and even science fiction films.
He was early television's Detective Mark Saber, but Conway will probably be best remembered as George ...
42. Ricardo Cortez
Actor | The Maltese Falcon
Ricardo Cortez was born Jacob Krantz in New York City, New York, the son of Sarah (Lefkowitz) and Moses/Morris Krantz, Austrian Jewish immigrants who moved to New York just before he was born. His brother was cinematographer Stanley Cortez, who also changed his surname. Cortez worked a number of ...
43. Aubrey Mather
Actor | Heaven Can Wait
Aubrey Mather was born on December 17, 1885 in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Heaven Can Wait (1943), The Secret of St. Ives (1949) and The Undying Monster (1942). He died on January 16, 1958 in London, England, UK.
44. Ronald Howard
Actor | Come September
The British actor Ronald Howard was born in Norwood, London, England, in 1918. He and his younger sister Leslie Ruth Howard were raised by their mother Ruth Evelyn Martin and their father, the renowned actor Leslie Howard. After college, Howard became a newspaper reporter for a while but decided to...
45. Howard Marion-Crawford
Actor | The Face of Fu Manchu
Howard Marion-Crawford was born on January 17, 1914 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Face of Fu Manchu (1965), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969). He was married to Germaine Tighe-Umbers, Junia Crawford, Mary Wimbush and Jeanne Scott-Gunn. He died on ...
46. Dennis Price
Actor | Kind Hearts and Coronets
This urbane, sourly handsome British actor was born to privilege and most of his roles would follow suit. Born Dennistoun John Franklyn Rose-Price in Berkshire in 1915, Dennis Price, the son of a brigadier-general, was expected to abide by his family wishes and make a career for himself in the army...
47. Alan Mowbray
Actor | My Darling Clementine
Alan Mowbray, the American film actor who was one of the founding members of the Screen Actors Guild, was born Ernest Allen on August 18, 1896, in London, England, to a non-theatrical family. He served in the British army during World War I and received the Military Medal and the French Croix De ...
48. Milton Parsons
Actor | The Hidden Hand
Milton Parsons was born on May 19, 1904 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for The Hidden Hand (1942), The Twilight Zone (1959) and Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947). He died on May 15, 1980 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.
You won't know his name and he is often uncredited, but you'd recognize his face... prominent character actor, plays lots of creepies and nut jobbers.
49. Walter Kingsford
Actor | The Man in the Iron Mask
Walter Kingsford was born on September 20, 1881 in Redhill, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), Algiers (1938) and The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936). He was married to Alison Bradshaw and Winifred Hanley. He died on February 7, 1958 in North Hollywood, ...
50. Jerome Cowan
Actor | Miracle on 34th Street
Jerome Cowan was one of Hollywood's most prolific and instantly recognizable character actors. His trademark pencil-thin mustache and slicked back hair, immaculate suits and sophisticated manner were his stock-in-trade for impersonating an assortment of rejected husbands, shifty politicians, ...
51. Alan Napier
Actor | Marnie
A tall, distinguished-looking English character actor with aristocratic bearing and a precisely modulated voice, Alan William Napier-Clavering was born in Kings Norton, Worcestershire, England. A cousin of the former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, he studied at the Royal Academy of ...
52. Elisha Cook Jr.
Actor | House on Haunted Hill
Although this pint-sized actor started out in films often in innocuous college-student roles in mid-30s rah-rahs, playing alongside the likes of a pretty Gloria Stuart or a young, pre-"Oz" Judy Garland, casting directors would soon enough discover his flair for portraying intense neurotics or ...
53. George Macready
Actor | Gilda
George Macready--the name probably does not ring any bells for most but the voice would be unmistakable. He attended and graduated from Brown University and had a short stint as a New York newspaperman, but became interested in acting on the advice of colorful Polish émigré classical stage director ...
54. Edmund Gwenn
Actor | Miracle on 34th Street
There are very few character actors from the 1930s, '40s or '50s who rose to the rank of stardom. Only a rare man or woman reached the level of renown and admiration, and had enough audience appeal, to be the first name in a cast's billing, a name that got marquee posting. Charles Coburn comes to ...
55. Derek Farr
Actor | Quiet Wedding
Derek Farr was born on February 7, 1912 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Quiet Wedding (1941), The Circle (1957) and Wanted for Murder (1946). He was married to Muriel Pavlow and Carole Lynne. He died on March 21, 1986 in London, England, UK.
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