Three words: tall, craggy, and English. That would be Sir C. Aubrey Smith, character actor I love (and also an excellent cricket player). I first saw Sir Aubrey as Colonel MacFay in Another Thin Man, where his character is vaguely English, rather excitable, somewhat paranoid, and ends up murdered. Not his most distinguished role. Luckily, I’ve also seen him in Little Women (perfectly cast as James Laurence), Rebecca, China Seas, Bombshell, and most recently, Love Me Tonight. He sings a little in LMT, and has a lovely deep singing voice. Take a look at his picture and you’ll probably recognize him immediately, what with the bushy eyebrows and giant mustache and all. He almost always played military officers or English gentlemen, being very suitable for either type of role.
Biographical information is somewhat scarce; he was a champion cricket player, captian of the Hollywood Cricket Club, and was knighted in 1944. He died in 1949 and is buried in St. Lawrence Churchyard in England.
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