Denholm Elliott

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Denholm Elliott
CBE
Elliott in 1985
Born
Denholm Mitchell Elliott

(1922-05-31)31 May 1922
Kensington, Middlesex, England
Died6 October 1992(1992-10-06) (aged 70)
Santa Eulària des Riu, Ibiza, Spain
EducationMalvern College
Alma materRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art
OccupationActor
Years active1949–1992
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1954; div. 1957)​
Susan Robinson
​
(m. 1962)​
Children2

Denholm Mitchell Elliott

CBE (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor. He appeared in numerous productions on stage and screen, receiving BAFTA awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Trading Places (1983), A Private Function (1984) and Defence of the Realm (1986),[a] and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Mr. Emerson in A Room with a View (1985). He is also known for his performances in Alfie (1966), A Doll's House (1973), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Maurice (1987), September (1987), and Noises Off (1992). He portrayed Marcus Brody in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). On television, Elliott won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in 1981 and was nominated for a second for Hotel du Lac (1986).[1]

The American film critic

Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II
in 1988.

Early life

Elliott was born 31 May 1922, in

Arabic at Cambridge before fighting with the Gloucestershire Regiment at Gallipoli and in Mesopotamia. In 1930, Myles Elliott was appointed solicitor-general to the Mandatory Government in Palestine. Three years later, following a series of controversial government prosecutions, he was assassinated outside the King David Hotel and buried in the Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion.[5]
Elliott's elder brother Neil Emerson Elliott (1920–2003) was a land agent to Lady Anne Cavendish-Bentinck.

Elliott attended Malvern College and joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.[6] He was asked to leave after one term. As Elliott later recalled, "They wrote to my mother and said, 'Much as we like the little fellow, he's wasting your money and our time. Take him away!'"[7]

In the

prisoner-of-war camp in Lamsdorf (now Łambinowice), Silesia. While imprisoned, he became involved in amateur dramatics. He formed a theatre group that was so successful it toured other POW camps playing Twelfth Night.[10][11]

Career

After making his film debut in

The Man in Room 17
(1966).

Elliott made many television appearances, which included plays by Dennis Potter such as Follow the Yellow Brick Road (1972), Brimstone and Treacle, (1976) and Blade on the Feather (1980). He starred in the BBC's adaptation of Charles Dickens's short story The Signalman (1976). He also co-starred with Jack Palance in the Canadian-American television film The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1968).

In the 1980s, Elliott won three consecutive

Dr. Marcus Brody, an academic and friend of Indiana Jones, in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). A photograph of his character appears in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), and a reference is made to Brody's death. A statue was also dedicated to Brody outside Marshall College, the school where Indiana Jones teaches. In 1988 Elliott played the Russian mole Povin, around whom the entire plot revolves, in the television miniseries Codename: Kyril
.

Having filmed Michael Winner's The Wicked Lady (1983), Elliott was quoted in a BBC Radio interview as saying that Marc Sinden and he "are the only two British actors I am aware of who have ever worked with Winner more than once, and it certainly wasn't for love. But curiously, I never, ever saw any of the same crew twice." (Elliott in You Must Be Joking! (1965) and The Wicked Lady and Sinden in The Wicked Lady and Decadence). Elliott had worked with Sinden's father, Donald Sinden, in The Cruel Sea.[13] He co-starred with Katharine Hepburn and Harold Gould in the television film Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry (1986) and with Nicole Kidman in Bangkok Hilton (1989).

In 1988, Elliott was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to acting. His career included many stage performances, including with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and an acclaimed turn as the twin brothers in Jean Anouilh's Ring Round the Moon. His scene-stealing abilities led Gabriel Byrne, his co-star in Defence of the Realm, to say, "Never act with children, dogs, or Denholm Elliott."[14]

Described by the British Film Institute's Screenonline as an actor of "versatile understanding and immaculate technique,"[15] Elliott described himself as an instinctive actor and was a critic of Stanislavski's system of acting, saying, "I mistrust and am rather bored with actors who are of the Stanislavski school who think about detail."[16]

Personal life and death

Secretly

bisexual,[17] Elliott was married twice: first to actress Virginia McKenna in 1954, and later in an open marriage to American actress Susan Robinson, with whom he had two children, Mark and Jennifer (b. Manhattan, New York, USA 8 June 1964), the latter of whom committed suicide at her father's home in Santa Eulària des Riu on Ibiza, Spain, in May 2003, after being exposed by the News of the World as a drug-addicted prostitute.[18]

Elliott was diagnosed with

AIDS-related tuberculosis at his home in Santa Eulària des Riu on Ibiza, on 6 October 1992, aged 70. Tributes were paid by actors Donald Sinden and Peter Ustinov, the dramatist Dennis Potter, and Virginia McKenna. Sinden said: "He was one of the finest screen actors and a very special actor at that. He was one of the last stars who was a real gentleman. It is a very sad loss." Ustinov said: "He was a wonderful actor and a very good friend on the occasions that life brought us together." Potter called him "a complicated, sensitive, and slightly disturbing actor" and "a dry, witty, and slightly menacing individual." McKenna added, "It is absolutely dreadful, but the person I am thinking of at the moment more than anybody is his wife. It must be terrible for her."[19] Ismail Merchant described Elliott as "an all-giving person, full of life ... He had an affection and feeling for other actors, which is very unusual in our business."[20]

Elliott's widow set up a charity, the Denholm Elliott Project, and collaborated on his biography.[21] She worked closely with the UK Coalition of People Living with HIV and AIDS. She died on 12 April 2007, aged 65, in a fire in her flat in Hornsey, London.[17]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1949 Dear Mr. Prohack Oswald Morfrey
1952 The Sound Barrier Christopher Ridgefield Breaking the Sound Barrier in USA [14]
The Holly and the Ivy Michael Gregory
The Ringer John Lemley
1953 The Cruel Sea Morell [14]
The Heart of the Matter Wilson [14]
1954 Lease of Life Martin Blake [14]
They Who Dare Sergeant Corcoran [19]
1955 The Man Who Loved Redheads Denis [14]
The Night My Number Came Up Mackenzie
1956 Pacific Destiny Arthur Grimble [14]
1960 Scent of Mystery Oliver Larker
1963 Station Six-Sahara Macey
1964
Nothing But the Best
 Charlie Prince [14]
1965 The High Bright Sun Baker
King Rat Larkin [14]
1966 Alfie The Abortionist [14]
1967 Maroc 7 Inspector Barrada
1968 The Night They Raided Minsky's Vance Fowler [14]
The Sea Gull Dorn, a doctor [14]
1970 Too Late the Hero Captain Hornsby [17]
The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer Peter Niss
1971 Percy Emmanuel Whitbread
The House That Dripped Blood Charles Hillyer Segment 1: Method for Murder
Quest for Love
 Tom Lewis
1972 Madame Sin Malcolm De Vere
1973 The Vault of Horror Diltant Segment 5: Drawn and Quartered
A Doll's House Krogstad [14]
1974 The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz Friar [14]
1975 Russian Roulette Commander Petapiece
1976 Robin and Marian Will Scarlet
To the Devil a Daughter Henry Beddows
Partners John Grey
Voyage of the Damned Admiral Canaris
1977 A Bridge Too Far R.A.F. Met. Officer
1978 The Hound of the Baskervilles Stapleton
Watership Down Cowslip (voice)
The Boys From Brazil Sidney Beynon
Sweeney 2 Detective Chief Superintendent Jupp
1979 Zulu Dawn Colonel Pulleine
Saint Jack William Leigh
Cuba Donald Skinner
1980 Bad Timing Stefan Vognic
Rising Damp Charles Seymour
Sunday Lovers Parker Segment: An Englishman's Home
1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark Dr. Marcus Brody [14]
1982 Brimstone and Treacle Mr. Tom Bates
1983 The Wicked Lady Sir Ralph Skelton
Trading Places Coleman
1984 The Razor's Edge Elliott Templeton [22]
A Private Function Dr. Charles Swaby [19]
1985 A Room with a View Mr. Emerson [14]
Underworld Dr. Savary
1986 Defence of the Realm Vernon Bayliss [19]
The Whoopee Boys Colonel Phelps
1987 September Howard
Maurice Dr. Barry
1988 Stealing Heaven Fulbert
1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Dr. Marcus Brody [14]
1989 Killing Dad Nathy
1991 Toy Soldiers Headmaster
Scorchers
 Howler
1992 Noises Off Selsdon Mowbray Final film role [14]

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1958 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Jack Lyons Season 3 Episode 34: "The Crocodile Case"
1959 Alfred Hitchcock Presents John Manbridge Season 4 Episode 21: "Relative Value"
1963 Hancock Peter Dartford 1 episode
1965 Danger Man Basil Jordan Season 3 Episode 18:
The Hunting Party
1966 The Man in Room 17 Defraits 13 episodes
Mystery and Imagination Roderick Usher Episode: The Fall of the House of Usher
1968 The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde George Devlin TV film
1968 Mystery and Imagination Count Dracula Episode: Dracula
1972 The Persuaders! Roland Episode: A Death in the Family
Follow the Yellow Brick Road Jack Black TV play
1975 Thriller Dr. Frank Henson Episode: The Crazy Kill
1976 Brimstone and Treacle Mr. Tom Bates TV play: Play for Today
Clayhanger Tertius Ingpen 9 episodes
The Signalman The Signalman TV play
1977 Ripping Yarns Mr. Gregory Episode: Across The Andes by Frog
1980 Hammer House of Horror Norman Shenley Episode: Rude Awakening
1980 Blade on the Feather Jack Hill TV film
1980 Tales of the Unexpected Harold TV Series, Season 3 ep 7, 'The Stinker'
1982
Marco Polo
 		Niccolò Polo 8 episodes
1983 The Hound of the Baskervilles Dr. Mortimer TV film
1984 Camille Count de Noilly TV film
1985 Bleak House John Jarndyce 7 episodes
1986 Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry George Parker TV film
1987 Hotel du Lac Phillip Neville TV film
Scoop Mr. Salter TV film
A Child's Christmas in Wales Old Geraint TV film
The Happy Valley Sir Henry 'Jock' Delves Broughton TV film
1988 Codename: Kyril Povin 4 episodes
The Ray Bradbury Theater Tom Cotter Episode: The Coffin
The Bourne Identity Dr Geoffrey Washburn TV mini-series
Noble House Alastair Struan 4 episodes
1989 Bangkok Hilton Hal Stanton 3 episodes
1990 A Green Journey James O'Hannon TV film
1991 A Murder of Quality George Smiley TV film
One Against the Wind Father LeBlanc TV film
The Black Candle William Filmore TV film

Stage

Year Title Role(s) Notes Ref.
1946 The Guinea Pig West End debut [23]
1950 Venus Observed Edgar [24]
1950 Ring Round the Moon Frederic, Hugo Broadway debut [25]
1951 The Green Bay Tree Julian [26]
1951 A Sleep of Prisoners [27]
1953 The Confidential Clerk [28]
1957 Monique Fernand Ravinel [29][30]
1958 Traveller Without Luggage [31]
1960 The Merchant of Venice Bassanio [32]
1960 The Two Gentlemen of Verona Valentine [33]
1960 Troilus and Cressida Troilus [34]
1961 Write Me a Murder The Hon. Clive Rodingham [35]
1964 The Seagull Trigorin [36]
1964 The Crucible Reverend John Hale [37]
1967 The Imaginary Invalid Dr. Diaforus [38]
1967 A Touch of the Poet Cornelius Melody [39]
1967 Tonight at 8.30 Alec Harvey [40]
1970 Come As You Are [41]
1975 The Return of A. J. Raffles A. J. Raffles [42]
1977
The New York Idea
 		[43]
1977 Three Sisters [44]
1989 A Life in the Theatre Robert [45]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nomination Result
1986 Academy Awards Best Supporting Actor
A Room with a View
 Nominated
1973 British Academy Film Awards Best Supporting Actor A Doll's House Nominated
1979 Saint Jack Nominated
1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark Nominated
1983 Trading Places Won
1984 A Private Function Won
1985 Defence of the Realm Won
1986 A Room with a View Nominated
1981 British Academy Television Awards Best Actor BBC2 Playhouse: Gentlefolk & In Hiding

Blade on the Feather
Tales of the Unexpected: The Stinker

Won
1986 Screen Two: Hotel du Lac Nominated

See also

Notes

  1. ^ to this day, a still-unbeaten record.

References

  1. ^ "Actor". Bafta. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  2. ISBN 978-0740771798
    .
  3. ^ Lambert, Bruce (7 October 1992). "Denholm Elliott, Actor, 70, Dies; A Star Among Supporting Players". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  4. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/51023. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  5. ^ "Obituary Neil Elliott". Daily Telegraph. 14 April 2003. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  6. ^ "RADA Student & graduate profiles: Denholm Elliott". rada.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  7. ^ BBC Radio. Desert Island Discs, 14 September 1974.
  8. ^ "Encyclopædia Britannica". Retrieved 24 September 2007.
  9. ^ Record for Halifax DT508, LostAircraft.com
  10. ISBN 978-0-7509-1819-0
    .
  11. ISBN 978-1-909166-32-5
    .
  12. ^ "Giraudoux Play On Television 'The Apollo Of Bellac'", The Times, 13 August 1955.
  13. ^ Woods, Judith (8 February 2011). "Michael Winner: 'The life I've lived, the girls I've had... it's been incredible'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Obituary: Denholm Elliott". The Independent. 7 October 1992.
  15. ^ "British Film Institute Biography". Retrieved 24 September 2007.
  16. ^ Oliver, Myrna (7 October 1992). "Denholm Elliott; Veteran Character Actor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  17. ^ a b c d "Susan Elliott obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 24 April 2007. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.
  18. ^ Privacy Is For Paedos - Paul McMullan (Yellow Press, London 2023)
  19. ^ a b c d Boggan, Steve (7 October 1992). "Denholm Elliott dies from AIDS-related TB, aged 70". The Independent.
  20. ^ "Oscar nominee Elliott dies of AIDS problems". Variety. 7 October 1992.
  21. ^ Elliott, Susan; Turner, Barry (1994). Denholm Elliott: Quest for Love.
  22. ISBN 9781526111975
    . Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  23. ^ "Denholm Elliott". Britannica Kids. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  24. ISBN 978-0-8108-9308-5
    .
  25. ^ "Ring Round the Moon (Broadway, Al Hirschfeld Theatre, 1950)". Playbill. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  26. ^ "The Green Bay Tree – Broadway Play – 1951 Revival | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  27. ^ "Actors Leonard White, Denholm Elliott and Stanley Baker during..." Getty Images. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  28. ^ "BFI Screenonline: Elliott, Denholm (1922–1992) Biography". www.screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  29. ^ "Monique (Broadway, John Golden Theatre, 1957)". Playbill. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  30. ISSN 0040-781X
    . Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  31. ^ "Image of TRAVELLER WITHOUT LUGGAGE, Elizabeth Sellars, Denholm Elliott, The Arts Theater". www.bridgemanimages.com. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  32. ^ "Search | RSC Performances | MER196004 – The Merchant of Venice | Shakespeare Birthplace Trust". collections.shakespeare.org.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  33. ^ "Search | RSC Performances | TWO196004 – The Two Gentlemen of Verona | Shakespeare Birthplace Trust". collections.shakespeare.org.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  34. ^ "Troilus and Cressida timeline | Royal Shakespeare Company". www.rsc.org.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  35. ^ "Write Me a Murder – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  36. ^ "The Seagull – Broadway Play – 1964 Revival | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  37. ^ "The Crucible – Broadway Play – 1964 Revival | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  38. ^ "The Imaginary Invalid – Broadway Play – 1967 Revival | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  39. ^ "A Touch of the Poet – Broadway Play – 1967 Revival | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  40. ^ "Tonight at 8:30 – Broadway Play – 1967 Revival | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  41. ^ "Theater: 'Come as You Are,' Comic Report on Sex". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  42. ^ "Search | RSC Performances | RET197512 – The Return of A J Raffles | Shakespeare Birthplace Trust". collections.shakespeare.org.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  43. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  44. ^ "BAM Archive". levyarchive.bam.org. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  45. ^ "Billington On A Life In The Theatre". The Guardian. 2 November 1989. p. 30. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Denholm_Elliott&oldid=1282842586"