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1-9 of 9
- Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
London-born character actor George Richard Haydon was noted for his put-on nasal delivery and pompous, fussy manner. Haydn had a laborious start to his show business career, selling tickets in the box office of London's Daly Theatre. This was followed by an unsuccessful stint with a comedy act in musical revue. For a change of pace, he became overseer of a Jamaican banana plantation only to see it wiped out by a hurricane.
Returning home, he appeared in the 1926 West End production of 'Betty of Mayfair' and, soon after, also began to act on radio. It was in this medium where he first found success, creating his signature character: the perpetually befuddled nasally-voiced fish expert and mother's boy Edwin Carp. Haydn later immortalized the titular character in a book, titled "The Journal of Edwin Carp". The Carp routine opened the door for Haydn to appear with Beatrice Lillie on Broadway in Noël Coward's 'Set to Music' (1939) and this, in turn, resulted in a contract with 20th Century Fox.
While his first major screen role in Charley's Aunt (1941) was relatively straight-laced, he was more often seen in comedic roles where his lugubrious face and dignified, sometimes unctuous presence could be employed to scene-stealing effect. His notable characterizations in this vein include the over-enunciating Professor Oddly in Ball of Fire (1941), Rogers (the butler) in And Then There Were None (1945) and Mr. Wilson in Cluny Brown (1946). He essayed a rare villainous role as the odious Earl of Radcliffe in the period drama Forever Amber (1947) and was back to his usual form as Mr. Appleton in Sitting Pretty (1948). In The Late George Apley (1947), he played the character of Horatio Willing "with a broad edge of wheezy burlesque" (so wrote Bosley Crowther of the New York Times, March 21, 1947).
In the late 40s, Haydn made a brief foray into directing. Of his three films for Paramount, the Bing Crosby vehicle Mr. Music (1950) enjoyed the best critical reviews. Among his later appearances on screen, that of Trapp family friend and promoter Max Detweiler in The Sound of Music (1965), is the one which most often comes to mind. Over the years, he also made an impression as a voice actor in animated cartoons, notably on Warner Brothers Looney Tunes and as the Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland (1951). He had frequent guest roles on television and starred in one of the best-remembered episodes of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone (1959) ("A Thing About Machines"), as the arrogant machine-hating pedant Bartlett Finchley who loses a pitched battle with his household appliances, in particular his car. Haydn also caricatured a Japanese businessman in an episode of Bewitched (1964).
In private life, Haydn was a rather reclusive individual who liked horticulture and shunned interviews.- Urbane, grey-eyed, silver-haired Australian-born character actor, notable for his smooth manner and clipped upper-class English diction. A grazier's son, Matheson first worked as a clerk in a bank in Geelong, Victoria. However, his overriding ambition to become an actor caused him to abscond to Melbourne, where he eventually joined the Little Theatre and spent two years being trained by the celebrated actress Ada Reeve. He made his theatrical debut at His Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne in 1934 and then spent a year with touring companies, afterwards making the inevitable move to England. Matheson's first appearance on the London stage was in the 1937 revue "And On We Go", followed by performances in "Oscar Wilde" and "Candida". In the course of many years, he became a prolific interpreter of roles in plays by Noël Coward. In 1940, Matheson's acting career was put on hold by wartime service as an intelligence officer in the RAF, attached to the British Embassy in Moscow.
His screen career took off after a post-war move to Canada. Initially cast in radio and TV productions, Matheson was signed by Paramount to play a convict clergyman in the 18th century seafaring drama Botany Bay (1952). In between the numerous TV assignments which followed, Matheson had featured billing in several other Hollywood pictures, including King of the Khyber Rifles (1953), Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955) and Signpost to Murder (1964). However, he became most familiar to 1960s' and '70s TV audiences as a regular guest star, equally versed in playing civilised, benevolent authority figures or crooks of the 'polite, yet deadly' variety. His most cherished performances may well include the evil KAOS mastermind Cedric Devonshire of Get Smart (1965); the alien Dr. Reynard, heading an indoctrination facility for The Invaders (1967); a discarded clown, one of "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" from The Twilight Zone (1959); and the antiquarian Felix Mulholland, owner of Mulholland's Rare Books & Prints and purveyor of information to Banacek (1972) (a recurring role for which he had signed a six-months contract).
Matheson also remained true to his roots in legitimate theatre, occasionally appearing in modern plays at the Pasadena Playhouse and other West Coast venues. He died in April 1985 at the age of seventy-two in Los Angeles. - Actress
- Additional Crew
Geraldine Dvorak was born on 1 January 1904 in Texas, USA. She was an actress, known for No Limit (1931), The Story of Mr. Hobbs (1947) and Armstrong Circle Theatre (1950). She died on 25 April 1985 in Orange County, California, USA.- Make-Up Department
- Actress
Agnes Flanagan was born on 23 December 1902 in Millville, New Jersey, USA. She was an actress, known for Some Like It Hot (1959), Marty (1955) and The Misfits (1961). She was married to Frank Flanagan. She died on 25 April 1985 in Woodland Hills, California, USA.- Actor
Ben Strobach was born on 28 July 1923 in Oregon, USA. He was an actor. He died on 25 April 1985 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Robert Wade Chatterton was born on 27 October 1917 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He was an actor. He died on 25 April 1985 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
Ernie Smith was born on 26 November 1909 in Spearfish, South Dakota, USA. He was an actor. He died on 25 April 1985 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Cinematographer
- Director
- Writer
Era Savelyeva was born on 6 July 1913 in Baku, Baku Governorate, Russian Empire [now Azerbaijan]. She was a cinematographer and director, known for Staromodnaya komediya (1979), Ballad of a Soldier (1959) and Chelovek, kotorogo ya lyublyu (1967). She died on 25 April 1985 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Frank Sisk was born on 6 October 1915 in Connecticut, USA. Frank was a writer, known for Night Gallery (1969). Frank died on 25 April 1985 in Lyme, Connecticut, USA.