Henry Daniell

Born: 1894-03-04

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."


Placeholder

Witness for the Prosecution

as Mayhew
Released: 1957-12-17

An ailing famous barrister agrees to defend Leonard Vole in a sensational murder trial where his...

Movie page

The Great Dictator

as Garbitsch
Released: 1940-10-15

Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid...

Movie page

My Fair Lady

as Ambassador (uncredited)
Released: 1964-10-21

A snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her...

Movie page

Mutiny on the Bounty

as Court-martial Judge (uncredited)
Released: 1962-11-08

The Bounty leaves Portsmouth in 1787. Its destination: to sail to Tahiti and load bread-fruit....

Movie page

The Philadelphia Story

as Sidney Kidd
Released: 1940-12-05

When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned...

Movie page

The Comancheros

as Gireaux
Released: 1961-12-16

Texas Ranger Jake Cutter arrests gambler Paul Regret, but soon finds himself teamed with his...

Movie page

The Suspect

as Mr. Simmons
Released: 1945-01-31

Genial shopkeeper Philip has to endure the constant nagging of a shrewish wife while he secretly...

Movie page

The Sea Hawk

as Lord Wolfingham
Released: 1940-08-10

Dashing pirate Geoffrey Thorpe plunders Spanish ships for Queen Elizabeth I and falls in love...

Movie page

Lust for Life

as Theodorus van Gogh
Released: 1956-09-15

An intense and imaginative artist, revered Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh possesses undeniable...

Movie page

The Egyptian

as Mekere
Released: 1954-08-25

In eighteenth-dynasty Egypt, Sinuhe, a poor orphan, becomes a brilliant physician and with his...

Movie page

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

as Sir Robert Cecil
Released: 1939-11-11

This period drama frames the tumultuous affair between Queen Elizabeth I and the man who would...

Movie page

The Body Snatcher

as Dr. Wolfe 'Toddy' MacFarlane
Released: 1945-05-25

Edinburgh, 1831. Among those who undertake the illegal trade of grave robbery is Gray,...

Movie page

Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror

as Sir Anthony Lloyd
Released: 1942-09-18

England, at the start of World War Two. Mysterious wireless broadcasts, apparently from Nazi...

Movie page

Camille

as Baron de Varville
Released: 1936-12-26

Life in 1847 Paris is as spirited as champagne and as unforgiving as the gray morning after. In...

Movie page

The Woman in Green

as Professor James Moriarty
Released: 1945-06-15

Sherlock Holmes investigates when young women around London turn up murdered, each with a finger...

Movie page

Holiday

as Seton Cram
Released: 1938-05-26

Johnny Case, a freethinking financier, has finally found the girl of his dreams — Julia Seton,...

Movie page

Captain Kidd

as King William III
Released: 1945-11-22

Cutthroat pirate William Kidd captures Admiral Blayne's treasure ship and hides the bounty in a...

Movie page

Jane Eyre

as Henry Brocklehurst
Released: 1943-12-24

After a harsh childhood, orphan Jane Eyre is hired by Edward Rochester, the brooding lord of a...

Movie page

The Sun Also Rises

as Doctor
Released: 1957-08-23

A group of disillusioned American expatriate writers live a dissolute, hedonistic lifestyle in...

Movie page

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

as Dr. Zucco
Released: 1961-07-12

The crew of an atomic submarine battle to save the world from global destruction.

Movie page

A Woman's Face

as Public Prosecutor
Released: 1941-05-09

A female blackmailer with a disfiguring facial scar meets a plastic surgeon who offers her the...

Movie page

Hotel Berlin

as Baron Von Stetten
Released: 1945-03-02

An assortment of diverse characters gather at the Hotel Berlin in World War II Germany as the...

Movie page

Diane

as Gondi
Released: 1956-01-12

Asked by Francis I to tutor his son, Diane de Poitiers becomes the future King Henry II's...

Movie page

The Notorious Landlady

as Stranger
Released: 1962-04-13

An American junior diplomat in London rents a house from, and falls in love with, a woman...

Movie page

All This, and Heaven Too

as Broussais
Released: 1940-07-05

When lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the...

Movie page

Sherlock Holmes in Washington

as William Easter
Released: 1943-03-24

In World War II, a British secret agent carrying a vitally important document is kidnapped en...

Movie page

Les Girls

as Judge
Released: 1957-10-03

After writing a tell-all book about her days in the dance troupe "Barry Nichols and Les Girls",...

Movie page

Reunion in France

as Emile Fleuron
Released: 1942-12-25

Frenchwoman Michele de la Becque, an opponent of the Nazis in German-occupied Paris, hides a...

Movie page

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

as Bill Ogden
Released: 1956-04-12

Tom Rath is a suburban father and husband haunted by his memories of World War II, including a...

Movie page

Marie Antoinette

as La Motte
Released: 1938-08-26

The young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette is arranged to marry Louis XVI, future king of...

Movie page

Buccaneer's Girl

as Capt. Duval
Released: 1950-03-01

A New Orleans performer loves a pirate who robs only from the shipowner who ruined his father.

Movie page

Five Weeks in a Balloon

as Sheik Ageiba
Released: 1962-08-22

Professor Fergusson plans to make aviation history by making his way across Africa by balloon....

Movie page

The Feminine Touch

as Shelley Mason
Released: 1941-10-01

A college professor who believes there's no place for jealousy in modern marriage, John Hathaway...

Movie page

The Great Impersonation

as Frederick Seamon
Released: 1942-12-18

An Englishman kills a German look-alike and poses as a Nazi spy in London.

Movie page

Nightmare

as Capt. Edgar Stafford
Released: 1942-11-10

An ex-gambler helps a beautiful widow, and becomes involved with a murder, secret agents, and...

Movie page

Watch on the Rhine

as Phili Von Ramme
Released: 1943-08-27

On the eve of World War II, the German Kurt Müller, his American-born wife Sara, and their three...

Movie page

The Unguarded Hour

as Hugh Lewis
Released: 1936-04-10

A blackmailer tries to stop a woman from revealing evidence that could save a condemned man.

Movie page

Wake of the Red Witch

as Jacques Desaix
Released: 1948-12-30

Captain Ralls fights Dutch shipping magnate Mayrant Sidneye for the woman he loves, Angelique...

Movie page

The Prodigal

as Ramadi
Released: 1955-05-06

A wealthy young Hebrew traveling in Damascus renounces his faith after he is seduced by an...

Movie page

Mission to Moscow

as Minister von Ribbentrop
Released: 1943-04-29

Ambassador Joseph Davies is sent by FDR to Russia to learn about the Soviet system and returns...

Movie page

Song of Love

as Franz Liszt
Released: 1947-10-09

Composer Robert Schumann struggles to compose his symphonies while his loving wife Clara offers...

Movie page

The Story of Mankind

as Pierre Cauchon - Bishop of Beauvais
Released: 1957-11-08

The devil and the spirit of mankind argue as to whether or not humanity is ultimately good or evil.

Movie page

From the Earth to the Moon

as Morgana
Released: 1958-11-26

Set just after the American civil war, businessman and inventor Victor Barbicane invents a new...

Movie page

Siren of Atlantis

as Blades
Released: 1949-01-04

Two Foreign Legion soldiers, Jean (Dennis O'Keefe) and Andre (Jean Pierre Aumont), accidentally...

Movie page

The Chapman Report

as Dr. Jonas
Released: 1962-10-05

A research psychologist gets involved in the personal lives of four women.

Movie page

We Are Not Alone

as Sir Ronald Dawson
Released: 1939-11-25

A British doctor and his son's Austrian governess have an affair and are accused of killing his...

Movie page

The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake

as Dr. Emil Zurich
Released: 1959-11-13

Jonathan Drake, while attending his brother's funeral, is shocked to find the head of the...

Movie page

Dressed to Kill

as Julian Davis
Released: 1941-08-08

A detective's wedding is postponed when gunshots are heard nearby.

Movie page

Madame X

as Lerocle
Released: 1937-10-01

An alcoholic woman was charged and tried for murder and a young defense attorney, unaware that...

Movie page

Four Jacks and a Jill

as Bobo
Released: 1942-01-23

Karanina "Nina" Novak, is befriended by Nifty, the leader of a four-piece orchestra, and in...

Movie page

Castle in the Desert

as Watson King
Released: 1942-02-02

Charlie Chan, with son Jimmy on a week's pass from the Army, takes up a request for help at a...

Movie page

Mister Cory

as Mr. Earnshaw
Released: 1957-02-23

An opportunistic young man from the slums gambles his way to wealth, power and high society.

Movie page

The Firefly

as General Savary
Released: 1937-11-05

Nina Maria Azara is the beautiful and alluring singing spy for Spain during the Napoleonic Wars....

Movie page

The Bandit of Sherwood Forest

as The Regent - William of Pembroke
Released: 1946-02-21

Robin Hood's swashbuckling son comes to the rescue when England's boy-king is captured by the...

Movie page

The Thirteenth Chair

as John Wales
Released: 1937-05-07

A phony psychic tries to solve a murder that took place during her seance.

Movie page

The Exile

as Colonel Ingram
Released: 1947-10-17

In 17th-century England, Charles II, the rightful heir to the kingdom, is driven from his...

Movie page

Madison Avenue

as Stipe
Released: 1961-04-13

An adman and an adwoman put a dangerous milk tycoon in line for the White House.

Movie page

The Last of the Lone Wolf

as Count von Rimpau (as Henry Daniel)
Released: 1930-08-26

In this entry in the Lone Wolf series, the first to have a soundtrack, the jealousies of the...

Movie page

Hitler: The Comedy Years

as Garbitsch (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: 2007-05-10

A documentary about the portrayal of Adolf Hitler in popular culture.

Movie page

Under Cover of Night

as Professor Marvin Griswald
Released: 1937-01-08

A detective (Edmund Lowe) trails a professor (Henry Daniell) who stole credit for his wife's...

Movie page

Jealousy

as Clement
Released: 1929-09-13

Yvonne, proprietor of a Paris gown shop, marries Pierre, a poor artist, concealing from him an...

Movie page

The Awful Truth

as Norman Warriner
Released: 1929-08-10

Story of a wealthy couple whose individual infidelities lead inexorably to the divorce court.

Movie page

Maverick

as uncredited
First aired: 1957-09-22

The Maverick boys - Bret, Bart, Beau and Brent - are a clan of well-dressed dandies, gamblers...

TV Show page

Combat!

as Minister
First aired: 1962-10-02

Combat! is an American television program that originally aired on ABC from 1962 until 1967. The...

TV Show page

Wagon Train

as Morton W. Snipple
First aired: 1957-09-18

The series initially starred veteran movie supporting actor Ward Bond as the wagon master, later...

TV Show page

Matinee Theater

as uncredited
First aired: 1955-10-31

Matinee Theater is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of...

TV Show page

The Philco Television Playhouse

as Colonel Chart
First aired: 1948-10-03

The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC...

TV Show page

Studio One

as uncredited
First aired: 1948-11-07

An American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher...

TV Show page

Peter Gunn

as uncredited
First aired: 1958-09-22

Peter Gunn is an American private eye television series. Filmed in a film noir atmosphere and...

TV Show page

Thriller

as Dirk Van Prinn
First aired: 1960-09-13

Thriller is an American anthology television series that aired during the 1960–61 and 1961–62...

TV Show page

Thriller

as Squire Moloch
First aired: 1960-09-13

Thriller is an American anthology television series that aired during the 1960–61 and 1961–62...

TV Show page

Thriller

as Count Alexander Cagliostro
First aired: 1960-09-13

Thriller is an American anthology television series that aired during the 1960–61 and 1961–62...

TV Show page

Thriller

as Pierre Radin
First aired: 1960-09-13

Thriller is an American anthology television series that aired during the 1960–61 and 1961–62...

TV Show page

Thriller

as Vicar John Weatherford
First aired: 1960-09-13

Thriller is an American anthology television series that aired during the 1960–61 and 1961–62...

TV Show page

77 Sunset Strip

as uncredited
First aired: 1958-10-10

Stu Bailey and Jeff Spencer are the wisecracking, womanizing private-detective heroes of this...

TV Show page

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse

as uncredited
First aired: 1958-10-06

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse is an American television anthology series produced by Desilu...

TV Show page

Telephone Time

as uncredited
First aired: 1956-04-08

Telephone Time is an American anthology drama series that aired on CBS in 1956, and on ABC from...

TV Show page

Riverboat

as Graham
First aired: 1959-09-13

Riverboat is a 44-episode western television series starring Darren McGavin and Burt Reynolds...

TV Show page

Lights Out

as uncredited
First aired: 1949-07-19

Lights Out was an extremely popular American old-time radio program, an early example of a...

TV Show page

The Islanders

as Jarden
First aired: 1960-10-02

The Islanders is an American adventure television series which aired on ABC from 1960 to 1961,...

TV Show page

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

as Count Maverin
First aired: 1951-10-05

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars is an anthology series that was telecast from 1951 until 1959 on CBS....

TV Show page