Henry Daniell

Henry Daniell

  • Birthday: 1894-03-04
  • Deathday: 1963-10-31
  • Place of birth: Barnes, Surrey, UK
  • Also know as: Henry Daniel

Biography

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."

Filmography

The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake

1959

As Dr. Emil Zurich

The Secret Of St. Ives

1949

As Maj. Edward Chevenish

The Awful Truth

1929

As Norman Warriner

Angel Street

1946

As Mr. Manningham

Siren of Atlantis

1949

As Blades

The Body Snatcher

1945

As Dr. Wolfe 'Toddy' MacFarlane

Nightmare

1942

As Capt. Edgar Stafford

The Woman in Green

1945

As Professor James Moriarty

Sherlock Holmes in Washington

1943

As William Easter

The Exile

1947

As Colonel Ingram

Under Cover of Night

1937

As Professor Marvin Griswald

Song of Love

1947

As Franz Liszt

The Great Dictator

1940

As Garbitsch

The Firefly

1937

As General Savary

The Bandit of Sherwood Forest

1946

As The Regent - William of Pembroke

Jealousy

1929

As Clement

The Suspect

1945

As Mr. Simmons

Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror

1942

As Sir Anthony Lloyd

Madame X

1937

As Lerocle

Camille

1936

As Baron de Varville

Madison Avenue

1961

As Stipe

Mister Cory

1957

As Mr. Earnshaw

We Are Not Alone

1939

As Sir Ronald Dawson

The Great Impersonation

1942

As Frederick Seamon

Jane Eyre

1943

As Henry Brocklehurst

The Sea Hawk

1940

As Lord Wolfingham

Les Girls

1957

As Judge

The Feminine Touch

1941

As Shelley Mason

The Thirteenth Chair

1937

As John Wales

The Unguarded Hour

1936

As Hugh Lewis

Wake of the Red Witch

1948

As Jacques Desaix

Lust for Life

1956

As Theodorus van Gogh

All This, and Heaven Too

1940

As Broussais

Buccaneer's Girl

1950

As Capt. Duval

The Notorious Landlady

1962

As Stranger

Hotel Berlin

1945

As Baron Von Stetten

Watch on the Rhine

1943

As Phili Von Ramme

Dressed to Kill

1941

As Julian Davis

The Sun Also Rises

1957

As Doctor

Castle in the Desert

1942

As Watson King

Holiday

1938

As Seton Cram

Diane

1956

As Gondi

The Egyptian

1954

As Mekere

The Last of the Lone Wolf

1930

As Count von Rimpau (as Henry Daniel)

The Philadelphia Story

1940

As Sidney Kidd

Captain Kidd

1945

As King William III

Mission to Moscow

1943

As Minister von Ribbentrop

Reunion in France

1942

As Emile Fleuron

Five Weeks in a Balloon

1962

As Sheik Ageiba

The Comancheros

1961

As Gireaux

Marie Antoinette

1938

As La Motte

The Chapman Report

1962

As Dr. Jonas

The Prodigal

1955

As Ramadi

A Woman's Face

1941

As Public Prosecutor

My Fair Lady

1964

As Ambassador (uncredited)

The Story of Mankind

1957

As Pierre Cauchon - Bishop of Beauvais

Mutiny on the Bounty

1962

As Court-martial Judge (uncredited)

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