Henry Daniell

Henry Daniell

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."

Place of Birth: Not available

Birthday: March 04, 1894

Deathday: October 31, 1963

Popularity:

8.736

Known For

The Great Dictator
The Great Dictator

1940-10-15

The Philadelphia Story
The Philadelphia Story

1940-12-05

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

1961-07-12

Siren of Atlantis
Siren of Atlantis

1949-01-04

The Body Snatcher
The Body Snatcher

1945-05-25

The Comancheros
The Comancheros

1961-12-16

Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre

1943-12-24

The Sun Also Rises
The Sun Also Rises

1957-08-23

Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror

1942-09-18

The Sea Hawk
The Sea Hawk

1940-08-10

A Woman's Face
A Woman's Face

1941-05-09

The Woman in Green
The Woman in Green

1945-06-15

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

1956-04-12

Wake of the Red Witch
Wake of the Red Witch

1948-12-30

Lust for Life
Lust for Life

1956-09-15

Castle in the Desert
Castle in the Desert

1942-02-02

Witness for the Prosecution
Witness for the Prosecution

1957-12-17

The Story of Mankind
The Story of Mankind

1957-11-08

Les Girls
Les Girls

1957-10-03

All This, and Heaven Too
All This, and Heaven Too

1940-07-05

Sherlock Holmes in Washington
Sherlock Holmes in Washington

1943-03-24

Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette

1938-08-26

Madame X
Madame X

1937-10-01

The Firefly
The Firefly

1937-11-05

Camille
Camille

1936-12-26

From the Earth to the Moon
From the Earth to the Moon

1958-11-26

Holiday
Holiday

1938-05-26

The Awful Truth
The Awful Truth

1929-08-10

Buccaneer's Girl
Buccaneer's Girl

1950-03-01

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

1939-11-11

Hitler: The Comedy Years
Hitler: The Comedy Years

2007-05-10

The Notorious Landlady
The Notorious Landlady

1962-04-13

Madison Avenue
Madison Avenue

1961-04-13

The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake
The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake

1959-11-13

The Feminine Touch
The Feminine Touch

1941-10-01

The Exile
The Exile

1947-10-17

Under Cover of Night
Under Cover of Night

1937-01-08

The Secret Of St. Ives
The Secret Of St. Ives

1949-06-30

Song of Love
Song of Love

1947-10-09

The Chapman Report
The Chapman Report

1962-10-05

Mister Cory
Mister Cory

1957-02-23

Hotel Berlin
Hotel Berlin

1945-03-02

The Thirteenth Chair
The Thirteenth Chair

1937-05-07

We Are Not Alone
We Are Not Alone

1939-11-25

Diane
Diane

1956-01-12

The Unguarded Hour
The Unguarded Hour

1936-04-10

Angel Street
Angel Street

1946-01-20

Four Jacks and a Jill
Four Jacks and a Jill

1942-01-23

The Suspect
The Suspect

1945-01-31

Watch on the Rhine
Watch on the Rhine

1943-08-27

The Egyptian
The Egyptian

1954-08-25

Dressed to Kill
Dressed to Kill

1941-08-08

The Last of the Lone Wolf
The Last of the Lone Wolf

1930-08-26

The Path of Glory
The Path of Glory

1934-10-08

The Barretts of Wimpole Street
The Barretts of Wimpole Street

1956-04-02

The Great Impersonation
The Great Impersonation

1942-12-18

Captain Kidd
Captain Kidd

1945-11-22

Mission to Moscow
Mission to Moscow

1943-04-29

Nightmare
Nightmare

1942-11-10

Reunion in France
Reunion in France

1942-12-25

The Bandit of Sherwood Forest
The Bandit of Sherwood Forest

1946-02-21

Five Weeks in a Balloon
Five Weeks in a Balloon

1962-08-22

Mutiny on the Bounty
Mutiny on the Bounty

1962-11-08

The Prodigal
The Prodigal

1955-05-06

My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady

1964-10-21

Jealousy
Jealousy

1929-09-13