Leslie Howard

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Leslie Howard (actor)
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For other people named Leslie Howard, see Leslie Howard (disambiguation).

Leslie Howard
Professor Higgins in Pygmalion (1938)
  • Ashley Wilkes
    • in Gone with the Wind (1939)
    Spouse
    Ruth Evelyn Martin
    ​
    (m. 1916)​
    Children2, including Ronald

    Leslie Howard Steiner (3 April 1893 – 1 June 1943) was an English actor, director, producer and writer.[1] He wrote many stories and articles for The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Vanity Fair and was one of the biggest box-office draws and movie idols of the 1930s.

    Active in both Britain and Hollywood, Howard played Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind (1939). He had roles in many other films, often playing the quintessential Englishman, including Berkeley Square (1933), Of Human Bondage (1934), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), The Petrified Forest (1936), Pygmalion (1938), Intermezzo (1939), "Pimpernel" Smith (1941), and The First of the Few (1942). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Berkeley Square and Pygmalion.

    Howard's World War II activities included acting and filmmaking. He helped to make anti-German propaganda and shore up support for the Allies—two years after his death the British Film Yearbook described Howard's work as "one of the most valuable facets of British propaganda". He was rumoured to have been involved with British or Allied Intelligence, sparking conspiracy theories regarding his death in 1943 when the Luftwaffe shot down BOAC Flight 777 over the Atlantic (off the coast of Cedeira, A Coruña), on which he was a passenger.[2]

    Early life

    English Heritage blue plaque at 45 Farquhar Road, Upper Norwood, London

    Howard was born Leslie Howard Steiner to a

    née Blumberg), and a Hungarian Jewish father, Ferdinand Steiner, in Forest Hill, London. His younger brother was actor Arthur Howard. Lilian had been raised as a Christian, but she was of partial Jewish ancestry—her paternal grandfather Ludwig Blumberg, a Jewish merchant originally from East Prussia, had married into the English upper-middle classes.[3][4][5]

    He received his formal education at

    First World War
    , the family anglicised its name, in this case to "Stainer", although Howard's name remained Steiner in official documents, such as his military records.

    He was a 21-year-old bank clerk in Dulwich when the First World War began; in September 1914 he voluntarily enlisted (under the name Leslie Howard Steiner) as a Private with the British Army's Inns of Court Officer Training Corps in London.[6] In February 1915 he received a commission as a subaltern with the 3/1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry, with which he trained in England until 19 May 1916, when he resigned his commission and was medically discharged from the British Army with neurasthenia.[7][8]

    In March 1920, Howard gave public notice in The London Gazette that he had changed his surname, and would thereafter be known by the name of Howard instead of Steiner.[9]

    Theatre career

    Humphrey Bogart (left) and Leslie Howard (standing center) in the Broadway stage production of The Petrified Forest (1935)

    Howard began his professional acting career in regional tours of Peg O' My Heart and Charley's Aunt in 1916–17 and on the London stage in 1917, but had his greatest theatrical success in the United States in Broadway theatre, in plays such as Aren't We All? (1923), Outward Bound (1924) and The Green Hat (1925). He became an undisputed Broadway star in Her Cardboard Lover (1927). After his success as time traveller Peter Standish in Berkeley Square (1929), Howard launched his Hollywood career in the film version of Outward Bound, but didn't like the experience and vowed never to return to Hollywood. However, he did return, many times—later repeating the Standish role in the 1933 film version of Berkeley Square.

    The stage, however, continued to be an important part of his career. Howard frequently juggled acting, producing and directing duties in the Broadway productions in which he starred. Howard was also a dramatist, and starred in the Broadway production of his own play Murray Hill (1927). He played Matt Denant in

    Escape in which he first made his mark as a dramatic actor. His stage triumphs continued with The Animal Kingdom (1932)[10] and The Petrified Forest (1934).[11]
    He later repeated both roles in the film versions.

    Howard loved to play Shakespeare, but according to producer John Houseman he could be lazy about learning lines. He first sprang to fame playing in Romeo and Juliet (1936) in the role of the leading man. During the same period he had the misfortune to open on Broadway in Hamlet (1936) just a few weeks after John Gielgud launched a rival production of the same play that was far more successful[12] with both critics and audiences. Howard's production, his final stage role, lasted for only 39 performances before closing.

    Howard was inducted into the

    American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981.[13]

    Film career

    Howard as Sir Percy Blakeney (alter ego of the Scarlet Pimpernel) next to Merle Oberon as Lady Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)

    In 1920 Howard suggested forming a film production company, British Comedy Films Ltd., to his friend Adrian Brunel. The two eventually settled on the name Minerva Films Ltd. The company's board of directors consisted of Howard, Brunel, C. Aubrey Smith, Nigel Playfair and A. A. Milne. One of the company's investors was H. G. Wells. Although the films produced by Minerva—which were written by A. A. Milne—were well received by critics, the company was only offered £200 apiece for films it cost them £1,000 to produce and Minerva Films Ltd. was short-lived.[14][15][16] Early films include four written by A. A. Milne, including The Bump, starring C. Aubrey Smith; Twice Two; Five Pounds Reward; and Bookworms, the latter two starring Howard. Some of these films survive in the archives of the British Film Institute.

    In British and Hollywood productions, Howard often played

    Academy Award for Best Actor. He played the title role in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), which is often considered the definitive portrayal.[17]

    Scott Sunderland, Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller in Pygmalion (1938), which Howard co-directed

    When Howard co-starred with Bette Davis in The Petrified Forest (1936) – having earlier co-starred with her in the film adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's book Of Human Bondage (1934) – he reportedly insisted that Humphrey Bogart play gangster Duke Mantee, repeating his role from the stage production. This re-launched Bogart's screen career, and the two men became lifelong friends; Bogart and Lauren Bacall later named their daughter "Leslie Howard Bogart" after him.[18] In the same year Howard starred with Norma Shearer in a film version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (1936).

    Davis was again Howard's co-star in the romantic comedy It's Love I'm After (1937) (also co-starring Olivia de Havilland). He played Professor Henry Higgins in the film version of George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion (1938), with Wendy Hiller as Eliza, which earned Howard another Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In 1939, as war approached, he played opposite Ingrid Bergman in Intermezzo; that August, Howard was determined to return to the country of his birth. He was eager to help the war effort, but lost any support for a new film, instead being obliged to relinquish £20,000 of holdings in the US before he could leave the country.

    Howard is perhaps best remembered for his role as Ashley Wilkes in

    Second World War effort. He starred in a number of Second World War films including 49th Parallel (1941), "Pimpernel" Smith (1941) and The First of the Few (1942, known in the U.S. as Spitfire), the latter two of which he also directed and co-produced.[19] His friend and The First of the Few co-star David Niven said Howard was "...not what he seemed. He had the kind of distraught air that would make people want to mother him. Actually, he was about as naïve as General Motors. Busy little brain, always going."[20]

    In 1944, after his death, British exhibitors voted him the second-most popular local star at the box office.[21] His daughter said he was a "remarkable man".[22]

    Personal life

    Howard married Ruth Evelyn Martin (1895–1980) in March, 1916,

    Sherlock Holmes (1954).[24] His younger brother Arthur was also an actor, primarily in British comedies. His sister Irene was a costume designer and a casting director for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[25] His sister Doris Stainer founded the Hurst Lodge School in Sunningdale, Berkshire, in 1945 and remained its headmistress until the 1970s.[26]

    Howard was widely known as a "ladies' man", and he once said that he "didn't chase women but ... couldn't always be bothered to run away".[27][28] He reportedly had affairs with Tallulah Bankhead when they appeared on stage in the UK in Her Cardboard Lover (1927), with Merle Oberon while filming The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) and with Conchita Montenegro, with whom he had appeared in the film Never the Twain Shall Meet (1931).[29] There were also rumours of affairs with Norma Shearer and Myrna Loy during filming of The Animal Kingdom.[30] Howard reportedly fathered a daughter - Carol Grace, born 1924 - by Rosheen Marcus; Carol married writer William Saroyan and then actor Walter Matthau.[31]

    Howard fell in love with Violette Cunnington in 1938 while working on Pygmalion. She was secretary to

    Beverly Hills house in his will.[35][36]

    The Howard family's home in Britain was Stowe Maries, a 16th-century, six-bedroom farmhouse on the edge of Westcott, Surrey.[28] His will revealed an estate of £62,761, the equivalent of £3 million as of 2021.[37][38] An English Heritage blue plaque was placed at 45 Farquhar Road, Upper Norwood, London in 2013.[39]

    Death

    Further information: BOAC Flight 777
    BOAC Flight 777 passenger list
    BOAC Flight 777 was shot down over the Bay of Biscay.

    In May 1943, Howard travelled to Portugal to promote the British cause. He stayed in Monte Estoril, at the Hotel Atlântico, between 1 May and 4 May, then again between 8 May and 10 May and again between 25 May and 31 May 1943.[40] The following day, 1 June 1943, he was aboard KLM Royal Dutch Airlines/BOAC Flight 777, "G-AGBB" a Douglas DC-3 flying from Lisbon to Bristol, when it was shot down by Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 C-6 maritime fighter aircraft over the Atlantic (off Cedeira, A Coruña).[2][41] He was among the 17 fatalities, including four KLM flight crew.[42][43]

    The BOAC DC-3 Ibis had been operating on a scheduled Lisbon–Whitchurch route throughout 1942–43 that did not pass over what would commonly be referred to as a war zone. By 1942, however, the Germans considered the region an "extremely sensitive war zone".[44] On two occasions, 15 November 1942 and 19 April 1943, the camouflaged airliner had been attacked by Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters (a single aircraft and six Bf 110s, respectively) whilst en route; each time, the pilots escaped by evasive tactics.[45]

    On 1 June 1943, "G-AGBB" again came under attack by a swarm of eight V/KG40 Ju 88 C-6 maritime fighters. The DC-3's last radio message indicated it was being fired upon at longitude 09.37 West, latitude 46.54 North.[42]

    According to German documents, the DC-3 was shot down at 46°07′N 10°15′W / 46.117°N 10.250°W / 46.117; -10.250, some 500 miles (800 km) from

    La Coruña, Spain. Luftwaffe records indicate that the Ju 88 maritime fighters were operating beyond their normal patrol area to intercept and shoot down the aircraft.[27] First Oberleutnant Herbert Hintze, Staffelkapitän of 14 Staffel, V./Kampfgeschwader 40
    , and based in Bordeaux, stated that his Staffel shot down the DC-3 because it was recognized as an enemy aircraft.

    Hintze further stated that his pilots were angry that the Luftwaffe leaders had not informed them of a scheduled flight between Lisbon and the UK, and that had they known, they could easily have escorted the DC-3 to Bordeaux and captured it and all aboard. The German pilots photographed the wreckage floating in the Bay of Biscay, and after the war, copies of these captured photographs were sent to Howard's family.[41]

    The following day, a search of the waters on the route was undertaken by "N/461", a Short Sunderland flying boat from No. 461 Squadron RAAF. Near the same coordinates where the DC-3 was shot down, the Sunderland was attacked by eight Ju 88s and, after a furious battle, it managed to shoot down three of the attackers, with an additional three "possibles", before crash-landing at Praa Sands near Penzance. In the aftermath of these two actions, all BOAC flights from Lisbon were re-routed and operated only under the cover of darkness.[46]

    The news of Howard's death was published in the same issue of

    Major William Martin, the "Man who never was" created for the ruse involved in Operation Mincemeat.[47]

    Theories regarding the air attack

    Monument to the memory of Leslie Howard and his companions in Cedeira, Galicia, Spain

    A long-standing but ultimately unsupported hypothesis suggested that the Germans believed that the

    Casablanca conference] had been fully reported", and German agents at the Lisbon airfield mistook a "thickset man smoking a cigar" boarding the plane for Churchill returning to England. This thickset man was Howard's agent, Alfred Chenhalls.[49] The death of the fourteen civilians including Leslie Howard "was a painful shock to me", Churchill wrote; "the brutality of the Germans was only matched by the stupidity of their agents".[50]

    Two books focusing on the final flight, Flight 777 (Ian Colvin, 1957) and In Search of My Father: A Portrait of Leslie Howard (Ronald Howard, 1984), asserted that the target was Howard instead: that Germans deliberately shot down Howard's DC-3 to demoralise Britain.[27][51] Howard had been travelling through Spain and Portugal lecturing on film, but also meeting with local propagandists and shoring up support for the Allies. The British Film Yearbook for 1945 described Leslie Howard's work as "one of the most valuable facets of British propaganda".[52]

    The Germans could have suspected even more surreptitious activities, since Portugal, like

    Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in Nazi Germany, who had been ridiculed in one of Leslie Howard's films, and believed Howard to be the most dangerous British propagandist.[27]

    Most of the 13 passengers were either British businessmen with commercial connections to Portugal, or lower-ranking British government civil servants. There were also two or three children of British military personnel.

    William Cecil, the teenage sons of Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt, who had been recalled to London from their Swiss boarding school, thus saving their lives.[54]

    A 2008 book by Spanish writer José Rey Ximena[55] argues that Howard was on a top-secret mission for Churchill to dissuade Spanish dictator Francisco Franco from joining the Axis powers.[56] Via an old girlfriend, Conchita Montenegro,[56] Howard had contacts with Ricardo Giménez Arnau, a young diplomat in the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    Further merely circumstantial background evidence is revealed in Jimmy Burns's 2009 biography of his father, spymaster Tom Burns.[57] According to author William Stevenson in A Man Called Intrepid, his biography of Sir William Samuel Stephenson (no relation), the senior representative of British Intelligence for the western hemisphere during the Second World War,[58] Stephenson postulated that the Germans knew about Howard's mission and ordered the aircraft shot down. Stephenson further argued that Churchill knew in advance of the German intention to shoot down the aircraft, but allowed it to proceed to protect the fact that the British had broken the German Enigma code.[59] Former CIA agent Joseph B. Smith recalled that, in 1957, he was briefed by the National Security Agency on the need for secrecy and that Leslie Howard's death had been brought up. The NSA stated that Howard knew his aircraft was to be attacked by German fighters and risked himself to protect the British code-breakers.[60]

    A secretly taped account by one of the pilots involved appears in Sönke Neitzel and Harald Welzer's Soldiers: German POWs on Fighting, Killing, and Dying. In a recently declassified transcript of a surreptitiously recorded conversation by two German Luftwaffe prisoners of war[who?] talking about the shooting down of Howard's flight, one seems to express pride in his accomplishment, but states clearly he knew nothing of the passengers' identities or importance until hearing an English broadcast later that evening. Asked why he shot down a civil aircraft, he states it was one of four such planes he shot down: "Whatever crossed our path was shot down."[61]

    The 2010 biography by Estel Eforgan, Leslie Howard: The Lost Actor, examines then recently available evidence and concludes that Howard was not a specific target,[62] corroborating the statements by German sources that the shootdown was "an error in judgement".[46]

    There is a monument in

    San Andrés de Teixido, Spain, dedicated to the victims of the crash. Howard's aircraft was shot down over the sea north of this village.[63]

    The Mystery of Flight 777 (documentary)

    The Mystery of Flight 777, by film-maker Thomas Hamilton, explores the circumstances, theories and myths which have grown around the shooting down of Howard's plane. The film also aims to examine in detail some of the other passengers on board. Originally intended as a short companion piece to the Leslie Howard film, this project expanded in scope and as of January 2021 is still in production.[citation needed]

    Biographies

    Howard's premature death preempted any autobiography. A compilation of his writings, Trivial Fond Records, edited and with occasional comments by his son Ronald, was published in 1982. This book includes insights on his family life, first impressions of America and Americans when he first moved to the United States to act on Broadway, and his views on democracy in the years prior to and during the Second World War.

    Howard's son and daughter each published memoirs of their father: In Search of My Father: A Portrait of Leslie Howard (1984) by Ronald Howard, and A Quite Remarkable Father: A Biography of Leslie Howard (1959) by Leslie Ruth Howard.

    Estel Eforgan's Leslie Howard: The Lost Actor is a full-length book biography published in 2010.

    Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn

    Leslie Howard: A Quite Remarkable Life, as it was initially known, is a film documentary biography produced by Thomas Hamilton of Repo Films. It was shown privately at the NFB Mediatheque,

    Warners
    then delayed further screenings until May 2012.

    From 2012 to early 2014 the film remained in limbo due to these issues. However, in early 2014, independent producer Monty Montgomery and Hamilton entered a co-production agreement to complete and release the documentary. This involved a complete re-edit of the documentary, from June 2014 to February 2015, with added material including archival interviews (Michael Powell, John Houseman, Ronald Howard and Irene Howard - all originally filmed in 1980 for the BBC's British Greats series), much historical footage and an additional interview. In addition a score was commissioned from composer Maria Antal and considerable post-production sweetening was undertaken on the original material.

    This new version, of Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn was screened as a "work in progress" at the San Francisco Mostly British Film Festival on 14 February 2015, with Hamilton, Tracy Jenkins and Derek Partridge in attendance. The film won the award for Best Documentary Film.

    Subsequent screenings (with minor changes to the commentary) took place at the

    Margaret Mitchell Museum in Atlanta in May 2016 as part of the Britweek Atlanta
    launch.

    Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn had its world premiere broadcast on Talking Pictures TV on 27 December 2017, followed by the US TV premiere on Turner Classic Movies on 4 June 2018, which opened a month-long tribute to Howard's films.[65] It airs regularly on Talking Pictures TV and occasionally on Turner Classic Movies.

    Complete filmography

    Year Country Title Credited as
    Director Producer Actor Screenwriter Role Notes
    1914 UK The Heroine of Mons Yes Short
    1917 UK The Happy Warrior Yes Rollo
    1919 UK The Lackey and the Lady Yes Tony Dunciman
    1920 UK Twice Two Yes Short
    1920 UK The Bump Yes Short
    1920 UK Bookworms Yes Yes Richard Short
    1920 UK Five Pounds Reward Yes Yes Tony Marchmont Short
    1921 UK Two Many Cooks Yes Short
    1921 UK The Temporary Lady Yes Short
    1930 US Outward Bound Yes Tom Prior
    1931 US Never the Twain Shall Meet Yes Dan Pritchard
    1931 US A Free Soul Yes Dwight Winthrop
    1931 US Five and Ten Yes Bertram "Berry" Rhodes
    1931 US Devotion Yes David Trent
    1932 UK Service for Ladies Yes Max Tracey
    1932 US Smilin' Through Yes Sir John Carteret
    1932 US The Animal Kingdom Yes Tom Collier
    1933 US Secrets Yes John Carlton
    1933 US Captured! Yes Captain Fred Allison
    1933 US Berkeley Square Yes Peter Standish
    1934 US Of Human Bondage Yes Philip Carey
    1934 UK The Lady Is Willing Yes Albert Latour
    1934 US British Agent Yes Stephen "Steve" Locke
    1934 UK The Scarlet Pimpernel Yes Sir Percy Blakeney
    1936 US The Petrified Forest Yes Alan Squier
    1936 US Romeo and Juliet Yes
    Romeo
    1937 US It's Love I'm After Yes Basil Underwood
    1937 US Stand-In Yes Atterbury Dodd
    1938 UK Pygmalion Yes Yes Professor Henry Higgins
    1939 US Intermezzo Yes Yes Holger Brandt
    1939 US Gone with the Wind Yes Ashley Wilkes
    1940 UK Common Heritage Narrator Short
    1941 UK "Pimpernel" Smith Yes Yes Yes Professor Horatio Smith
    1941 UK 49th Parallel Yes Philip Armstrong Scott
    1942 UK The First of the Few Yes Yes Yes R. J. Mitchell
    1942 UK From the Four Corners Yes Short
    1942 UK In Which We Serve Yes Narrator Uncredited
    1943 UK The Gentle Sex Yes Yes Yes Narrator (final film role)
    1943 UK The Lamp Still Burns Yes Final production

    Theatre credits

    Date Title Role Notes
    20 December 1913 Deception[66] Wilson Smith Author
    Stanley Hall, Upper Norwood, London
    (Amateur Production)
    20 December 1913 The Perplexed Husband[66] Stanley Hall, Upper Norwood, London
    (Amateur Production)
    1916
    October/November Tour     		Peg O' My Heart[66][67] Jerry England Tour
    1916–1917
    Winter–Spring Tour     		Charley's Aunt[66][67] Jack Chesney England Tour
    10 June 1917 The Tidings Brought to Mary[66][68] the Apprentice Strand Theatre, London
    1917
    Summer–Fall Tour     		Under Cover[66][67] Monty Vaughan England Tour
    14 February – 30 March 1918[68] The Freaks[66][67][68] Ronald Herrick New Theatre, London
    19 March 1918 Romanticismo[66][68] Marquis Giacomino d'Arfo Comedy Theatre, London
    14 April 1918 Romanticismo[66] Marquis Giacomino d'Arfo King's Hall, London
    1 April 1918 The Morals of Vanda[66] Leonard Mortimer Grand Theatre, Croydon, London
    6 May 1918 Box B[66] Capt. Robert Stroud London Coliseum, London
    3 June 1918 Sinners[66] Robert Ransom Prince of Wales Theatre, Birmingham, England
    20 July 1918 – Spring 1919[68] The Title[66][67][68] John Culver Royalty Theatre, London
    3 April 1919 Our Mr. Hepplewhite[66][67][68] Lord Bagley Criterion Theatre, London
    24 November 1919 Just A Wife Or Two[66] Victor Hamilton West Pier, Brighton, England
    5 January 1920 Mr. Pim Passes By[66][67][68] Brian Strange New Theatre, London and The Garrick Theatre, London
    10 February 1920 The Young Person in Pink[66][67][68] Lord Stevenage Prince of Wales Theatre, London
    16 February 1920 Kitty Breaks Loose[66][68] Jack Wilson/Sir John Wilde Duke of York's Theatre, London
    9 June 1920 East Is West[66][67][68] Billy Benson Lyric Theatre, London
    July 1920 Rosalind of the Farmyard[68] Captain L'Estrange Shaftesbury Theatre, London
    1 November 1920 – January 1921 Just Suppose Hon. Sir Calverton Shipley Henry Miller's Theatre, New York[10]
    10 December 1920 P's and Q's Charley Stark Morosco Theatre, New York
    10 October – October 1921 The Wren Roddy Gaiety Theatre, New York[10]
    22 December 1921 – February 1922 Danger Percy Sturgess 39th Street Theatre, New York[10]
    14 March – June 1922 The Truth About Blayds Oliver Blayds Booth Theatre, New York[10]
    24 August – September 1922 A Serpent's Tooth Jerry Middleton
    Little Theatre, New York[10]
    14 November – December 1922 The Romantic Age Gervase Mallory Comedy Theatre, New York[10]
    25 December 1922 – January 1923 The Lady Cristilinda Martini Broadhurst Theatre, New York[10]
    20 February – April 1923 Anything Might Happen Hal Turner Comedy Theatre, New York[10]
    21 May – June 1923 Aren't We All? The Hon. William Tatham Gaiety Theatre, New York[10]
    7 January – May 1924 Outward Bound Henry Ritz Theatre, New York[10]
    25 August – December 1924 The Werewolf Paolo Moreira 49th Street Theatre, New York[10]
    13 January – February 1925 Shall We Join the Ladies? Mr. Preen Empire Theatre, New York[10]
    13 January – February 1925 Isabel Peter Graham Empire Theatre, New York[10]
    15 September 1925 – February 1926 The Green Hat Napier Harpenden Broadhurst Theatre, New York[10]
    27 July 1926 The Way You Look At It[66][67][68] Bobby Rendon Queen's Theatre, London
    20 December 1926 Mayfair[66] Broad Street Theatre,
    Newark (Out-of-Town Tryout)
    21 March – August 1927 Her Cardboard Lover Andre Sallicel Empire Theatre, New York[10]
    29 September – October 1927 Murray Hill[69] Wrigley Author
    Bijou Theatre, New York[10]
    26 October 1927 – March 1928 Escape Matt Denant Booth Theatre, New York[10]
    June 1928 Tell Me the Truth (A Bit of Tomfoolery)[68] — Author
    Ambassadors Theatre, London
    21 August 1928 Her Cardboard Lover[67][68] Andre Sallicel Lyric Theatre, London
    6 March 1929 Berkeley Square[67][68] Peter Standish Lyric Theatre, London
    1929 Candle Light[67] Josef Southampton, England
    30 September 1929 – January 1930 Candle Light Josef Empire Theatre, New York[10]
    4 November 1929 – May 1930 Berkeley Square Peter Standish Co-producer, Co-director
    Lyceum Theatre, New York[10]
    8 February – February 1930 Out of a Blue Sky — Author, Director
    Booth Theatre, New York[10]
    12 January – June 1932 The Animal Kingdom Tom Collier Co-producer
    Broadhurst Theatre, New York[10]
    31 March – April 1932 We Are No Longer Children — Co-director
    Booth Theatre, New York[10]
    19–28 October 1933[70] This Side Idolatry[67][68] William Shakespeare Producer
    Lyric Theatre, London
    July 1934 Elizabeth Sleeps Out[68][69] — Author
    Whitehall Theatre
    , London
    7 January – June 1935 The Petrified Forest Alan Squier Co-producer
    Broadhurst Theatre, New York[10]
    20 April – May 1936 Elizabeth Sleeps Out[69] — Author
    Comedy Theatre, New York[10]
    10 November – December 1936 Hamlet Hamlet Director, producer
    Imperial Theatre, New York[10]
    27 September 1937 Alias Mrs. Jones[66] — Author, Director
    Little Theatre, Bristol, England
    May 1938 Here's to Our Enterprise[68] Lyceum Theatre, London
    25 September 1942 Cathedral Steps[68] Horatio Nelson[71]
    St. Paul's Cathedral
    , London

    Radio career

    Howard was not only an accomplished actor on stage and screen, he appeared many times on radio as well. Howard began his career on radio in the early 1930s when he performed dramatic readings for The Yardley Program. Not much is known about the programme because the recordings have been lost, but references to the show can be found in fan magazines of the time[72] and the show is listed in The New York Times radio programme guide.[73] Howard was also a guest performer on such shows as The Rudy Vallee Show/Fleischmann's Yeast Hour, Lux Radio Theatre, The Silver Theatre, The Magic Key of RCA, Your Hit Parade and Kraft Music Hall with Bing Crosby.

    In May, 1935, Leslie Howard and his daughter, Leslie Ruth Howard, aged 10, appeared on The Rudy Vallee Show/Fleischmann's Yeast Hour in "The Enchanted Forest" scene from

    James M. Barrie's Dear Brutus. The show was so popular with audiences that for the first time in the show's history an encore was performed six weeks later on 27 June 1935. That show survives and can be heard on the Old Time Radio Library's website.[74]

    At the end of 1936 Howard began appearing as a guest on Eddie Cantor's Texaco Town. It took six months and three appearances before he and Cantor finally delivered the punchline in the skit "Three Pairs of Rubbers." Howard's appearances were not limited to guest spots. Beginning in October 1935 and into the spring of 1936 Howard had his own show on CBS. It was a serial titled The Amateur Gentleman.[75] The show eventually became Leslie Howard's Matinee[76] with each week bringing a new adapted play popular at the time to radio listeners. Howard also appeared in Columbia Presents Shakespeare as Benedick in the play Much Ado About Nothing with Rosalind Russell in the summer of 1937.[77] Howard produced two shows for Lux Radio Theatre: Lady for A Day, starring May Robson and Guy Kibbee, and The Life of Émile Zola, starring Paul Muni and Josephine Hutchinson.

    His last known radio appearance in the United States before returning to Britain to help with the war effort was the Radio Tribute to the King and Queen in which dozens of British stars performed skits while King

    President Roosevelt and Mrs. Roosevelt from Hyde Park.[78][79] Howard's appearances on the BBC's Britain Speaks were broadcast to the United States from 16 July 1940, after the onset of the Second World War, urging America to enter the war in support of Britain. By January 1941 Howard had completed 27 broadcasts of Britain Speaks.[80] Howard also appeared on a panel programme for the BBC called The Brains Trust
    .

    Unfortunately, most of Howard's radio broadcasts have been lost, but a few have survived for the enjoyment of audiences today.

    Radio credits

    Date Network Show Title Episode Title Episode Number Appearing Listen (Shows filed under show title)
    27 March 1932 to 8 May 1932 NBC Networks Yardley Program[81] Yardley Program Leslie Howard Reading, London String Quartet[82]
    1933 or 1934[83] NBC Rudy Vallee – Fleischmann's Yeast Hour Leslie Howard,
    Margaret Sullavan
    23 May 1934 NBC Sketch: Without the Benefit of Clergy[82][84] Without the Benefit of Clergy Leslie Howard
    9 December 1934 NBC Lux Radio Theatre Berkeley Square 9 Leslie Howard,
    Helen Chandler
    14 February 1935 NBC Rudy Vallee – Fleischmann's Yeast Hour A Minuet 278[85] Leslie Howard,
    Merle Oberon     		Old Time Radio Library Archived 13 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
    31 March 1935 NBC Lux Radio Theatre The Romantic Age 25 Leslie Howard,
    Sidney Fox
    16 May 1935 NBC Rudy Vallee – Fleischmann's Yeast Hour Dear Brutus 291 Leslie Howard,
    Leslie Ruth Howard
    27 June 1935 NBC Rudy Vallee – Fleischmann's Yeast Hour Dear Brutus 297 Leslie Howard,
    Leslie Ruth Howard     		Old Time Radio Library Archived 13 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
    6 October 1935 to 1 December 1935 CBS The Amateur Gentleman[86] The Amateur Gentleman Leslie Howard,
    Elizabeth Love
    8 December 1935 CBS Play: Dear Brutus[82] Dear Brutus Leslie Howard,
    Leslie Ruth Howard
    22 December 1935 CBS Play: Purple and Fine Linen[82] Purple and Fine Linen Leslie Howard
    29 December 1935 CBS Play: An Unfinished Story[82] An Unfinished Story Leslie Howard,
    Paula Winslowe[87]
    5 January 1936 CBS Play: Her Cardboard Lover[82][88] Her Cardboard Lover Leslie Howard
    12 January 1936 CBS Play: The Admirable Crichton[82] The Admirable Crichton Leslie Howard
    26 January 1936 CBS Leslie Howard's Matinee[89] There's Always Juliet[82] Leslie Howard
    2 February 1936 CBS Leslie Howard's Matinee The Guardsman[82] Leslie Howard
    9 February 1936 CBS Leslie Howard's Matinee Murray Hill[82] Leslie Howard
    16 February 1936 CBS Leslie Howard's Matinee Journey's End[82] Leslie Howard
    23 February 1936 CBS Leslie Howard's Matinee Springtime for Henry[82] Leslie Howard
    8 March 1936 CBS Leslie Howard's Matinee The Scarlet Pimpernel[82] Leslie Howard
    15 March 1936 CBS Leslie Howard's Matinee Raffles[82] Leslie Howard
    22 March 1936 CBS Leslie Howard's Matinee Just Suppose[82] Leslie Howard
    29 March 1936 CBS Leslie Howard's Matinee The Second Man[82] Leslie Howard
    5 April 1936 CBS Magic Key of RCA, The Galsworthy's Justice 026 Leslie Howard Old Time Radio Library Archived 13 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
    17 September 1936 NBC Rudy Vallee – Fleischmann's Yeast Hour The Miraculous Visitor 7 Leslie Howard,
    Beatrice Barrett,
    Carl Hubble
    6 December 1936 CBS Eddie Cantor's Texaco Town Three Pairs of Rubbers 12 Leslie Howard Old Time Radio Library Archived 13 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
    14 February 1937 CBS Eddie Cantor's Texaco Town Hamlet 22 Leslie Howard Old Time Radio Library Archived 13 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
    19 May 1937 CBS Your Hit Parade Interview and Lucky Strike Ad Leslie Howard Transcript Variety Radio Directory
    30 May 1937 CBS Eddie Cantor's Texaco Town Aired in England 37 Leslie Howard Old Time Radio Library Archived 13 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
    21 June 1937 CBS Lux Radio Theatre Monsieur Beaucaire 138 Leslie Howard,
    Elissa Landi     		Old Time Radio Library – Lux Archived 13 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
    19 July 1937 CBS Columbia Presents Shakespeare[90] Much Ado About Nothing 2nd show in series Leslie Howard,
    Rosalind Russell[91]     		Old Time Radio Library Archived 13 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
    2 January 1938 BBC Hamlet Leslie Howard
    28 November 1938 CBS Lux Radio Theatre Interference 195 Leslie Howard,
    Mary Astor,
    Herbert Marshall
    12 December 1938 CBS Lux Radio Theatre The Scarlet Pimpernel 197 Leslie Howard,
    Olivia de Havilland     		Old Time Radio Library – Lux Archived 13 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
    15 December 1938 NBC The Kraft Music Hall[92] Leslie Howard,
    Jane Bryan
    8 January 1939 CBS Silver Theatre, The A Study in Triangles 028 Leslie Howard,
    Rita Johnson     		Old Time Radio Library Archived 3 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
    26 March 1939 CBS The Gulf Screen Guild Theater Never in This World[93] 012 Leslie Howard,
    Kay Francis,
    Mary Nash,
    Irving Pichel,
    Virginia Weidler,
    Morgan Wallace     		Screen Guild Theater
    1 May 1939 CBS Lux Radio Theatre Lady for a Day[94] 217 May Robson,
    Guy Kibbee,
    Warren William,
    Jean Parker     		Old Time Radio Library – Lux Archived 13 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
    8 May 1939 CBS Lux Radio Theatre The Life of Émile Zola[94] 218 Paul Muni,
    Josephine Hutchinson     		Old Time Radio Library – Lux Archived 13 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
    11 June 1939 NBC Radio Tribute to the King and Queen[95] Goodbye, Mr. Chips Segment Leslie Howard,
    Greer Garson     		Tribute To Their Majesties

    Influence

    The late Hongkongese singer and actor, Leslie Cheung (Chinese: 張國榮), adopted Leslie as his first name out of his admiration of Howard.

    See also

    References

    Notes

    1. ^ Obituary Variety, 9 June 1943.
    2. ^ a b "Patrick Gerassi, la conexión viguesa de Leslie Howard". La Voz de Galicia (in European Spanish). 4 June 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
    3. ^ Eforgan 2010, pp. 1–10.
    4. ^ Nathan, John. "Leslie Howard: The Lost Actor, The life and death of a non-spy." Archived 21 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine The Jewish Chronicle, 20 December 2010. Retrieved: 20 December 2010.
    5. ^ Quintessential British Actor's Jewishness Not 'Gone With the Wind' Ivry, Benjamin. The Jewish Daily Forward. Forward.com. Published 17 November 2010. Accessed 28 December 2015.
    6. ^ Leslie Howard Steiner's WW1 British Army service file, document order code WO 374/65089, The National Archives, London, published at 'The Great War Forum.org' website, 4 November 2005.
    7. ^ The London Gazette (Supplement) dated 18 May 1916, p. 4961
    8. ^ Leslie Howard's World War I British Army service file, document order code WO 374/65089, The National Archives, London, published at 'The Great War Forum.org' website, 4 November 2005.
    9. ^ "Notice of Change of Name by Deed Poll" in The London Gazette, Issue 31809 dated 5 March 1920, p. 2821
    10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z "Leslie Howard". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
    11. Newspapers.com
      .
    12. ISBN 978-0-8264-1333-8
      .
    13. ^ "26 Elected to the Theater Hall of Fame." The New York Times, 3 March 1981.
    14. ^ Brooke, Michael. Howard, Leslie (1893–1943). BFI Screenonline.
    15. ^ Eforgan 2010, pp. 39–46.
    16. ^ Howard, L.R. 1959, pp. 46–48, 66–67
    17. ^ Richards, Jeffrey (2014). Swordsmen of the Screen: From Douglas Fairbanks to Michael York. Routledge. p. 163.
    18. ^ Sklar 1992, pp. 60–62.
    19. ^ Costanzi, Karen. "Leslie Howard: Actor & Patriot". things-and-other-stuff.com. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
    20. ^ Finnie, Moira. "A Few Kind Words for Leslie Howard." Skeins of Thought, 2008. Retrieved: 4 August 2010.
    21. Townsville Daily Bulletin
      , 6 January 1944, p. 2 via National Library of Australia, Retrieved: 11 July 2012.
    22. ^ "The Man Who Gave a Damn". Repo Films for Talking Pictures TV. 2016. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
    23. ^ "Leslie H. Steiner = Ruth E. Martin." GRO Register of Marriages: Colchester, March 1916, 4a 1430.
    24. ^ "Ronald H. Stainer, mmn = Martin." GRO Register of Births: Lambeth, June 1918, 1d 598.
    25. ISBN 0-312-41161-8
    26. ^ The Times, issue 50336 dated Saturday, 29 December 1945, p. 1
    27. ^ a b c d e Howard 1984
    28. ^ a b Gazeley, Helen. "Memories of Hollywood, in the hills of Surrey." The Daily Telegraph (London), 29 April 2007. Retrieved: 4 August 2010.
    29. ^ IMDb Never the Twain Shall Meet (1931) imdb.com, accessed 1 June 2018
    30. ^ "Leslie Howard found footage."The Guardian, 12 September 2010. Retrieved: 3 May 2012.
    31. ^ "Matthau family official website", matthau.com; accessed April 17, 2021.
    32. ^ Howard, L. R. 1959.
    33. ^ Howard, L., ed. with R. Howard 1982.
    34. ^ Howard, R. 1984.
    35. ^ "Milestones, 8 May 1944." Time Magazine, 8 May 1944.
    36. ^ Gates, Anita. "The Good Girl Gets the Last Word (interview with Olivia de Havilland)." The New York Times, 7 November 2004. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
    37. ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
    38. ^ Parker, John. "1939." Who's Who in the Theatre, 10th ed. London: Pitmans, 1947.
    39. ^ "Howard, Leslie (1893–1943)". English Heritage. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
    40. ^ Exiles Memorial Center.
    41. ^ a b Goss 2001, pp. 50–56.
    42. ^ a b "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-3-194 G-AGBB Bay of Biscay." Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved: 23 July 2010.
    43. ^ "Casualty details: Leslie Howard." Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). Retrieved: 4 August 2010.
    44. ^ Rosevink and Hintze 1991, p. 14.
    45. ^ "Douglas DC-3-194 PH-ALI 'Ibis'". Archived from the original on 6 November 2004. Retrieved 14 May 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Retrieved: 23 July 2010.
    46. ^ a b Matthews, Rowan. "N461: Howard & Churchill", n461.com , 2003. Retrieved: 23 July 2010.
    47. ^ The Times, Thursday, 3 June 1943, p. 4.
    48. ^ Wilkes, Donald E., Jr. "The Assassination of Ashley Wilkes." Archived 11 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine The Athens Observer, 8 June 1995 p. 7A, via law.uga.edu. Retrieved: 23 July 2010.
    49. ^ Lochery, Neill. Lisbon: War in the Shadows of the City of Light, 1939-1945. New York: Public Affairs, 2011, pp. 156, 159.
    50. ^ Winston Churchill, The Second World War: The Hinge of Fate (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1950) Vol. 4 p. 830.
    51. ^ Colvin 2007, p. 187.
    52. ^ Noble 1945, p. 74.
    53. ^ "Leslie Howard." Archived 24 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine lesliehowardsociety.multiply.com. Retrieved: 22 July 2010.
    54. ^ Covington 2006, pp. 102–103.
    55. ^ Rey Ximena 2008
    56. ^ a b "Book: Howard kept Spain from joining WWII." United Press International, 6 October 2008. Retrieved: 25 May 2009.
    57. ^ Ridley, Jane. "From Madrid with Love" Archived 7 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine The Spectator via spectator.co.uk, 24 October 2009. Retrieved: 4 August 2010.
    58. ^ Stevenson 2000, p. 179.
    59. ^ "Intrepid Book Brings Spy's Life From Shadows." Archived 29 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine trueintrepid.com. Retrieved: 23 July 2010.
    60. ^ Smith 1976, p. 389.
    61. ^ Sönke Neitzel and Harald Welzer, Soldiers: German POWs on Fighting Killing, and Dying. Translated by Jefferson Chase. Vintage Books (NY: 2013). p. 139.
    62. ^ Eforgan 2010, pp. 217–245.
    63. ^ Castro, Jesus (translated by Rachael Harrison). "The actor, the Jew and Churchill's double" eyeonspain.com. Retrieved: 18 August 2011.
    64. YouTube
      , 7 September 2011.
    65. ^ "Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn". TCM. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
    66. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Leslie Howard On Stage
    67. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Ronald Howard, In Search of My Father, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1981
    68. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Estel Eforgan, Leslie Howard: The Lost Actor, Vallentine Mitchell & Co., Ltd., 2013
    69. ^ a b c First performed in 1927 as Murray Hill and later as Elizabeth Sleeps Out
    70. ^ University of Birmingham: Cadbury Research Library Special Collections – This Side Idolatry by Talbot Jennings
    71. ^ Last public performance
    72. ^ "Leslie Howard, the favourite of stage and screen, whose brilliant dramatic readings are a delightful feature of the popular Yardley programme." "The Radio Hall of Fame," Silver Screen, July, 1932.
    73. ^ "Radio Program Guide" The New York Times, 27 March 1932, pg. 162
    74. ^ "Dear Brutus" Archived 28 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Old Time Radio, Rudy Vallee – Fleischmann's Yeast Hour, Dear Brutus Episode 197
    75. ^ "Radio Guide 36-03-07" Radio Guide, Week Ending 7 March 1936, pg. 22
    76. ^ "Radio Guide 36-02-01" Radio Guide, Sunday, 26 January 1936, pg. 28
    77. ^ "Round Up of Actors" The New York Times, Sunday, 27 June 1937, pg. 146
    78. ^ "The British Royal Visit" FDR Presidential Library and Museum
    79. ^ "Scenes from the Royal visit to Hyde Park" The Washington Post
    80. ISBN 978-0-7183-0418-8
      .
    81. ^ Leslie Howard photo with caption: "Leslie Howard, the favorite of stage and screen, whose brilliant dramatic readings are a delightful feature of the popular Yardley program". "The Radio Hall of Fame", Silver Screen, July, 1932 (Pages missing from archived copy of magazine but photo with caption available on the internet)
    82. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Listing as it appears in The New York Times, Radio Program Guide Section
    83. ^ It is known that Leslie Howard appeared on Rudy Vallee's show sometime in 1933 or 1934 because he made a reference to his appearance on the show that aired on 14 February 1935 stating he had been there "a year ago." Two pictures exist, the first with Howard, Margaret Sullavan, William Gargan and Rudy Vallee standing in front of the audience holding scripts and the second picture with Howard, Sullavan and Vallee standing with scripts in front of an NBC microphone. It is unlikely that Howard appeared on the 16 November 1933 show when Margaret Sullavan appeared because he had appeared in This Side Idolatry in London during October, 1933, and wouldn't have been in the United States at that time. Also, Howard is not introduced as part of the cast on that show. The other show Margaret Sullavan appeared on in the right timeframe aired 14 June 1934. This was Episode 243 "Coquette" and is lost. Episode listings, however, show guests as: Willie and Eugene Howard, not Leslie Howard.
    84. ^ Series opened on WJZ's network on Wednesday, 9 May 1934 with Clive Brook appearing in an adaptation of Michael Arlen's Three-Cornered Moon. The show featured "dramatized love stories by well-known authors". Article "Stars of the Screen to Act in Radio Plays", The New York Times, Sunday, 6 May 1934.
    85. ^ Episode number is transposed in the Old Time Radio Library website to "287"
    86. ^ Show began on 6 October 1935 as a serial, The Amateur Gentleman. Each week brought a new episode of that story. However, the format was changed to present a new play adapted for radio each week beginning 8 December 1935. Play titles appeared in The New York Times, Radio Program Section.
    87. ^ Co-star appears in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sunday Morning Edition, 29 December 1935
    88. ^ Show moved from 8:30pm EST to 2:00pm EST on Sundays, The New York Times, Radio Guide
    89. ^ Show title changed to Leslie Howard's Matinee "Radio Guide 36-02-01" Radio Guide, Sunday, 26 January 1936, pg. 28
    90. ^ CBS/WABC Columbia Presents Shakespeare was an hour long show that ran for 8 weeks on Monday nights at 9:00pm EST on more than ninety stations starting on 12 July 1937 with John Barrymore in Hamlet
    91. ^ Appearing with Leslie Howard and Rosalind Russell were Ben Webster, Charlotte Evans, Dennis Green, John Davidson, Stefan Schnabel, Wright Kraemer, Julia Walsh, Lionel Braham and Nancy Leach; Conway Tearle, Narrator
    92. ^ Listed in The New York Times, Radio Guide, Sunday, 11 December 1938 as "Bing Crosby, Songs; Foursome Quartet: Trotter Orch.; Bob Burns, Comedian; Leslie Howard; Jane Bryan, Actors; Jan Smeterlin, Polish Pianist, and Others"
    93. ^ Although The New York Times, Radio Guide and other sources show the title as Never of This World the host on the actual recording states the title multiple times as Never in This World
    94. ^ a b Leslie Howard was guest producer/director filling in for Cecil B. DeMille
    95. ^ Listed in The New York Times, Radio Guide, Sunday, 11 June 1939, as "Musical Tribute to King George and Queen Elizabeth; NBC Symphony, Sir Adrian Boult, Conductor; Gertrude Lawrence, Mistress of Ceremonies; Ronald Colman, Madeleine Carroll, Freddie Bartholomew, Leslie Howard and Others from New York, Hollywood"

    Bibliography

    External links

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leslie Howard.
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