Percy Herbert (actor)

Percy Herbert
Herbert in 1967
Born (1920-07-31)31 July 1920
London, England
Died 6 December 1992(1992-12-06) (aged 72)
Kent, England
Cause of death Heart attack
Education Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation Actor
Years active 1951–1987

Percy Herbert (31 July 1920 – 6 December 1992)[1] was an English actor. He worked predominantly from the 1950s into the 1970s and became one of the most recognisable faces in post-war British cinema.

Biography

He served in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps during the Second World War and spent four years in the Japanese prisoner of war camp Changi. After the war, he was helped by Dame Sybil Thorndike[2] to secure an interview with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he won a scholarship. His acting career began in the theatre, which included working at John Gielgud's Old Vic Company.

Beginning in the early 1950s, he went on to make nearly seventy films, often playing soldiers, most notably in The Cockleshell Heroes, The Bridge on the River Kwai (for which he also worked as consultant), Sea of Sand, Tunes of Glory, The Guns of Navarone, Guns at Batasi, Tobruk and The Wild Geese. However, he was equally at home in comedies (Barnacle Bill, Casino Royale, two Carry On films), fantasy (One Million Years B.C., Mysterious Island), drama (Becket, Bunny Lake is Missing), and science fiction (Quatermass 2, Night of the Big Heat).

He also acted on television; he was a regular on the short-lived American series Cimarron Strip, during a brief foray to Hollywood. Other television work includes Danger Man, The Saint, Z-Cars, Dixon of Dock Green and Worzel Gummidge.

Herbert died of a heart attack on 6 December 1992 aged 72.

Complete filmography

References

  1. ↑ "Herbert, Percy". Film & TV Database. BFI. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
  2. ↑ "Percy Herbert Biography". Allmovie (allmovie.com). Retrieved 13 December 2007.
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