Henry Daniell

Henry Daniell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Charles Henry Daniell (5 March 1894 – 31 October 1963) was an English actor who had a long and prestigious career on stage as well as in films. He is perhaps best known for his villainous roles in films like The Great Dictator, The Philadelphia Story and The Sea Hawk. Daniell was given few opportunities to play a 'good guy', including a supporting part as Franz Liszt in the biographical film Song of Love (1947). His last name is sometimes spelled "Daniel".

Daniell's film debut came in 1929 in Jealousy. He appeared as Professor Moriarty in the Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes film The Woman in Green (1945). He appeared in other films such as Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator (1940) (playing Garbitsch, to sound like "garbage", a parody of Joseph Goebbels), and The Body Snatcher (1945, with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi) – as well as two other films in the Sherlock Holmes/Basil Rathbone series: The Voice of Terror (1942) and Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943) with fellow Moriarty George Zucco.

Daniell played the sleazy Baron de Varville opposite Greta Garbo in Camille (1936). Another early triumph was his portrayal of Cecil in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939). He also played the treacherous Lord Wolfingham (no relation to Francis Walsingham) in The Sea Hawk (1940), fighting Errol Flynn in what is often considered one of the most spectacular sword fighting duels ever filmed. When Michael Curtiz cast him in this film, Henry Daniell initially refused because he couldn't fence. Curtiz accomplished the climactic duel through the use of shadows and over-shoulder shots, with a double fencing Flynn with ingenious inter-cutting of their faces.

Towards the end of the Second World War, he appeared in one of his most memorable film roles, as the cruel Mr. Brocklehurst in Jane Eyre (1944), opposite Joan Fontaine who played Eyre. That same year he appeared in The Suspect as Charles Laughton's blackmailing next-door neighbour. In the 1950s and 1960s, he did much television, and also appeared as the malevolent Dr. Emil Zurich in Edward L. Cahn's The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959), and in an episode of Maverick, "Pappy" opposite James Garner the same year. An absolute professional, he was always on the set when needed, and impatient when delays in filming took place. Much in demand for his dry, sardonic delivery, Daniell moved easily from big-budget films, such as (uncredited) Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), to television without difficulty. In 1957, Daniell appeared as King Charles II of England in the NBC anthology series The Joseph Cotten Show in the episode "The Trial of Colonel Blood", with Michael Wilding in the title role. In the same year he played the instructing solicitor to Charles Laughton's leading counsel barrister in Witness for the Prosecution (1957).

The actor claimed one of his favourite roles was as Tony Curtis' supervisor in the acclaimed Blake Edwards film Mister Cory (1957) at a time when the actor's career was clearly slowing down, but Daniell retained some of the best and most memorable lines in the movie, "A gentleman never grabs. Manners, Mister Cory. I find them a prerequisite in any circumstance."

Mar 4, 1894
Barnes, Surrey, UK

Movie Credits

Hitler: The Comedy Years
Hitler: The Comedy Years
2007
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
1964
Mutiny on the Bounty
Mutiny on the Bounty
1962
The Chapman Report
The Chapman Report
1962
Five Weeks in a Balloon
Five Weeks in a Balloon
1962
The Notorious Landlady
The Notorious Landlady
1962
The Comancheros
The Comancheros
1961
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
1961
Madison Avenue
Madison Avenue
1961
The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake
The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake
1959
From the Earth to the Moon
From the Earth to the Moon
1958
Witness for the Prosecution
Witness for the Prosecution
1957
The Story of Mankind
The Story of Mankind
1957
Les Girls
Les Girls
1957
The Sun Also Rises
The Sun Also Rises
1957
Mister Cory
Mister Cory
1957
Lust for Life
Lust for Life
1956
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
1956
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
1956
Diane
Diane
1956
The Prodigal
The Prodigal
1955
The Egyptian
The Egyptian
1954
Buccaneer's Girl
Buccaneer's Girl
1950
The Secret Of St. Ives
The Secret Of St. Ives
1949
Siren of Atlantis
Siren of Atlantis
1949
Wake of the Red Witch
Wake of the Red Witch
1948
The Exile
The Exile
1947
Song of Love
Song of Love
1947
The Bandit of Sherwood Forest
The Bandit of Sherwood Forest
1946
Angel Street
Angel Street
1946

Pictures

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