This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2015) |
Ronald Howard | |
---|---|
![]() Howard as Wing Commander Hayes, 1967. | |
Born | |
Died | 19 December 1996 78) | (aged
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | Jesus College, Cambridge |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1936–1975 |
Notable work | Sherlock Holmes (1954 TV series) |
Spouse(s) | Patricia Horsman (1941–1945) Jean Millar (1946–1996; his death) 3 children |
Parent(s) | Leslie Howard (father) Ruth Evelyn Martin (mother) |
Relatives | Arthur Howard (uncle) Irene Howard (aunt) Alan Howard (cousin) |
Ronald Howard (7 April 1918 – 19 December 1996) was an English actor and writer. He appeared as Sherlock Holmes in a weekly television series of the same name in 1954. [1] He was the son of the actor Leslie Howard.
Howard was born in South Norwood, London, the son of Ruth Evelyn (née Martin) and the actor Leslie Howard. He attended Tonbridge School. After graduating from Jesus College, Cambridge, Ronald became a newspaper reporter for a while but decided to become an actor.
His first film role was an uncredited bit part in Pimpernel Smith (1941), a film directed by and starring his father in the title role, though young Howard's part ended up on the cutting room floor. In the early 1940s, Howard gained acting experience in regional theatre, the London stage and eventually films; his official debut was in 1947's While the Sun Shines. Howard received varying degrees of exposure in some well-known films, such as The Queen of Spades (1949) and The Browning Version (1951). Howard played Will Scarlet in the episode of the same name of the 1950s British television classic The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Richard Greene. The character of Scarlet was later portrayed by Paul Eddington.
The 1954 Sherlock Holmes television series, based on the Arthur Conan Doyle characters and produced by Sheldon Reynolds, ran for 39 episodes starring Howard as Holmes and Howard Marion-Crawford as Watson. In addition to 21st century DVD releases, in 2006 and 2014 this series was broadcast in the UK on the satellite channel Bonanza, before being repeated in May 2021 on Talking Pictures TV.
Howard continued mainly in British "B" films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, most notably The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964), along with a few plum television guest roles in British and American television in the 1960s, including the TV series, Combat! s.2 ep.25: "What Are the Bugles Blowin' For?" - Pt.1 & 2 (1964) Wing Commander Hayes in the 1967 Cowboy in Africa TV show with Chuck Connors and Tom Nardini; two episodes of Boris Karloff's TV series Thriller, S1 E23 "Well of Doom" and S2 E5 "God Grante that She Lye Stille" (both 1961). Of his career in British B films the film historians Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane wrote, "Despite his blond good looks (and resemblance to his father) and his agreeable demeanour, he lacked genuine star quality." [2]
Additionally in 1960 he appeared in the television series Danger Man in the episode entitled "The Traitor" as Noel Goddard.
In the mid-1970s, he reluctantly put aside his acting career to run an art gallery.
In the 1980s he wrote In Search of My Father: A Portrait of Leslie Howard, a biography covering the career and mysterious death of his father, whose plane was shot down over the Bay of Biscay on 1 June 1943. His conclusion (which remains in dispute) was that the Germans' goal in shooting down the plane was to kill his father, who was Jewish and who had been travelling through Spain and Portugal, ostensibly lecturing on film, but also meeting with local activists and shoring up support for the Allied cause. [3]
The Nazis suspected surreptitious activities since German agents were active throughout Spain and Portugal, which, like Switzerland, was a crossroads for persons from both sides of the conflict, but even more accessible to Allied citizens. [4]
The book explores in detail written German orders to the Ju 88 Staffel based in France, assigned to intercept the aircraft, as well as communiqués on the British side that verify intelligence reports of the time indicating a deliberate attack on Howard. [3] Ronald Howard was convinced that the order to shoot down the airliner came directly from Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, who had been ridiculed in one of Leslie Howard's films, and who believed him to be the most dangerous British propagandist. [3]
Frank Thornton Ball, professionally known as Frank Thornton, was an English actor. He was best known for playing Captain Peacock in the TV sitcom Are You Being Served? and its sequel Grace & Favour and as Herbert "Truly" Truelove in TV sitcom Last of the Summer Wine.
Samuel John Kydd was a British-Irish actor. His best-known roles were in two major British television series of the 1960s, as the smuggler Orlando O'Connor in Crane and its sequel Orlando. He also played a recurring character in Coronation Street. Kydd's first film was The Captive Heart (1946), in which he played a POW. He made over 290 films, more than any other British actor, including 119 between 1946 and 1952.
William Finlay Currie was a Scottish actor of stage, screen, and television. He received great acclaim for his roles as Abel Magwitch in the British film Great Expectations (1946) and as Balthazar in the American film Ben-Hur (1959).
Mary Lilian Agnes Morris was a Fijian born British actress.
Patrick David Barr was an English actor. In his career spanning over half a century, he appeared in about 144 films and television series.
Nigel Stock was a British actor who played character roles in many films and television dramas. He was perhaps best known for his stint as Dr Watson in TV adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes stories, for his supporting roles as a solidly reliable English soldier or bureaucrat in several war and historical film dramas, and for playing the title role in Owen, M.D..
Colin Gordon was a British actor born in Ceylon.
Geoffrey Keen was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many films. He is well known for playing British Defence Minister Sir Frederick Gray in the James Bond films.
Ronald Leigh-Hunt was a British film and television actor.
Horace Raymond Huntley was an English actor who appeared in dozens of British films from the 1930s to the 1970s. He also appeared in the ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs as the pragmatic family solicitor Sir Geoffrey Dillon.
Michael George Ripper was an English character actor.
Howard Marion-Crawford, the grandson of writer F. Marion Crawford, was an English character actor, best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in the 1954 television adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. In 1948, Marion-Crawford had played Holmes in a radio adaptation of "The Adventure of the Speckled Band", making him one of the few actors to portray both Holmes and Watson. He is also known for his portrayal of Dr. Petrie in a series of five low budget Dr. Fu Manchu films in the 1960s, and playing Paul Temple in the BBC Radio serialisations.
William Henry Rorke, known professionally as Hayden Rorke, was an American actor best known for playing Colonel Alfred E. Bellows on the 1960s American sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.
Torin Herbert Erskine Thatcher was a British actor who was noted for his flashy portrayals of screen villains.
Arthur Howard was an English stage, film and television actor.
Conrad Philip Havord, known professionally as Conrad Phillips, was an English television and film actor. He is best known for playing William Tell in the adventure series The Adventures of William Tell (1958–1959).
Eugene Francis Deckers was a Belgian actor.
Alexander Gauge was a British actor best known for playing Friar Tuck in The Adventures of Robin Hood from 1955 to 1959.
Robert Cawdron was a French-born British film and television actor. Often cast as police officers, he had a long-running role on Dixon of Dock Green as Detective Inspector Cherry.
Frank Forsyth, sometimes credited as Frank Forsythe, was an English actor, active from the 1930s. He was born on 19 December 1905 in London, England. He appeared in several TV programmes, including Department S (1969), The Adventures of Black Beauty (1972) and Journey to the Unknown (1968), as well as numerous films including eight of the Carry On films. He died on 2 May 1984 in Poole, England.