Alan Mowbray MM (born Alfred Ernest Allen; 18 August 1896 – 25 March 1969) was an English stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood.
Early life
Mowbray was born in London, England. He served with distinction in the British Army in World War I, being awarded the Military Medal and the French Croix de Guerre for bravery in action. He applied for transfer to the Royal Air Force, which was granted just six days before the war ended. This placed him in London on Armistice Day. His service came to an end when the Royal Air Force wanted another seven years from him. More than sixty years later, in Julian Fellowes' Gosford Park (2001) the fictitious Hollywood film producer spending a weekend in an English country house tells an associate on a transatlantic telephone call that Alan Mowbray would be a good casting choice as a butler for a proposed Charlie Chan movie set in England, then goes on to say "These people here look like Alan Mowbray. I mean, they're sort of tall, and they don't say too much. And they have fucking British accents, right?"
Mowbray appeared in five more pictures in 1931, notably portraying George Washington in Alexander Hamilton. In 1935, he played one of the male leads in Becky Sharp, the first feature-length film in full-colour Technicolor, as well as playing the lead in the farcical Night Life of the Gods, based on a Thorne Smith novel. It was for another Thorne Smith–derived film, Topper (1937), that Mowbray may be best remembered; he played Topper's butler Wilkins, a role he reprised the following year in Topper Takes a Trip. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Mowbray worked steadily, appearing in over 120 films, including the Oscar-nominated My Man Godfrey (1936), That Hamilton Woman (1941), and John Ford's My Darling Clementine (1946).
Unusually for a Hollywood star, Mowbray was less of a fan of seeing himself on the screen, but enjoyed working behind the scenes. In addition to helping found the Screen Actors Guild, he was among the founders of the Hollywood Cricket Club. He was a prominent early member of the Masquers Club, and donated to the group's long-time clubhouse at 1765 N. Sycamore Street in Hollywood. He also was a founder of the British United Services Club, a club for ex British Military members in Hollywood that met at the Masquers.
Mowbray cooperated heavily with the FBI in the investigation of Japanese spy Frederick Rutland, keeping it secret for the rest of his life, even though he ironically played a spy in the original The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Mowbray died of a heart attack in 1969 in Hollywood, survived by his wife and children. His body is interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Filmography
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Film
! Role
! Director
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1931 || God's Gift to Women || Auguste, Toto's Butler || Michael Curtiz ||
|-
| 1931 || The Man in Possession || Sir Charles Cartwright || Sam Wood (uncredited) ||
|-
| 1931 || Guilty Hands || Gordon Rich || Lionel Barrymore ||
|-
| 1931 || Alexander Hamilton || George Washington || John G. Adolfi ||
|-
| 1931 || Left Over Ladies || Jerry || Erle C. Kenton ||
|-
| 1931 || Honor of the Family || Tony Revere || Lloyd Bacon ||
|-
| 1931 || Nice Women || Mark Chandler || Edwin H. Knopf ||
|-
| 1932 || Lovers Courageous || Lamone || Robert Z. Leonard ||
|-
| 1932 || The Silent Witness || Arthur Drinton || Marcel Varnel ||
|-
| 1932 || Hotel Continental || Walter Underwood || Christy Cabanne ||
|-
| 1932 || The World and the Flesh || Dimitri || John Cromwell ||
|-
| 1932 || Man About Town || Ivan Boris || John Francis Dillon ||
|-
| 1932 || The Man from Yesterday || Dr. Waite || Berthold Viertel ||
|-
| 1932 || Winner Take All || the Etiquette Teacher || Roy Del Ruth ||
|-
| 1932 || The Man Called Back || King's Counsel || Robert Florey ||
|-
| 1932 || Jewel Robbery || Detective Fritz || William Dieterle ||
|-
| 1932 || Two Against the World || George 'Georgie' Walton || Archie Mayo ||
|-
| 1932 || The Phantom President || George Washington || Norman Taurog || uncredited
|-
| 1932 || Sherlock Holmes || Colonel Gore-King || William K. Howard ||
|-
| 1933 || Our Betters || Lord George Grayston || George Cukor ||
|-
| 1933 || A Study in Scarlet || Inspector Lastrade || Edwin L. Marin ||
|-
| 1933 || Peg o' My Heart || Capt. Christopher 'Chris' Brent || Robert Z. Leonard (uncredited) ||
|-
| 1933 || The Midnight Club || Arthur Bradley || Alexander Hall, George Somnes||
|-
| 1933 || Voltaire || Count De Sarnac || John G. Adolfi ||
|-
| 1933 || Berkeley Square || Major Clinton || Frank Lloyd ||
|-
| 1933 || The World Changes || Sir Phillip Ivor || Mervyn LeRoy ||
|-
| 1933 || Roman Scandals || Majordomo || Frank Tuttle ||
|-
| 1933 || Her Secret || Nils Norton || Warren Millais ||
|-
| 1934 || Long Lost Father || Sir Tony Gelding || Ernest B. Schoedsack ||
|-
| 1934 || The House of Rothschild || Prince Metternich || Alfred L. Werker ||
|-
| 1934 || Where Sinners Meet || Nicholas || J. Walter Ruben ||
|-
| 1934 || Little Man, What Now? || Franz Schluter || Frank Borzage||
|-
| 1934 || Cheaters || Paul Southern || Phil Rosen ||
|-
| 1934 || The Girl from Missouri || Lord Douglas || Jack Conway ||
|-
| 1934 || One More River || Forsythe || James Whale ||
|-
| 1934 || Embarrassing Moments || Aheam || Edward Laemmle ||
|-
| 1934 || Charlie Chan in London || Geoffrey Richmond || Eugene Forde ||
|-
| 1935 || Night Life of the Gods || Hunter Hawk || Lowell Sherman ||
|-
| 1935 || Becky Sharp || Rawdon Crawley || Rouben Mamoulian ||
|-
| 1935 || Lady Tubbs || Elyot Wembsleigh || Alan Crosland ||
|-
| 1935 || The Gay Deception || Lord Clewe || William Wyler ||
|-
| 1935 || She Couldn't Take It || Alan Bartlett || Tay Garnett ||
|-
| 1935 || In Person || Jay Holmes || James Anderson ||
|-
| 1936 || Rose-Marie || Premier || W. S. Van Dyke||
|-
| 1936 || Muss 'em Up || Paul Harding || Charles Vidor ||
|-
| 1936 || Give Us This Night || Forcellini || Alexander Hall ||
|-
| 1936 || Desire || Dr. Maurice Pauquet || Frank Borzage ||
|-
| 1936 || The Case Against Mrs. Ames || Lawrence Waterson || William A. Seiter ||
|-
| 1936 || Fatal Lady || Uberto Malla || Edward Ludwig ||
|-
| 1936 || Mary of Scotland || Throckmorton || John Ford ||
|-
| 1936 || My Man Godfrey || Tommy Gray || Gregory La Cava ||
|-
| 1936 || Ladies in Love || Paul Sandor || Edward H. Griffith ||
|-
| 1936 || Four Days' Wonder || Archibald Fenton || Sidney Salkow||
|-
| 1936 || Rainbow on the River || Ralph Layton || George Sherman ||
|-
| 1937 || On the Avenue || Frederick Sims || William Seiter (fill-in) ||
|-
| 1937 || The King and the Chorus Girl || Donald Taylor || Mervyn LeRoy ||
|-
| 1937 || As Good as Married || Wally || Edward Buzzell ||
|-
| 1937 || Marry the Girl || Dr. Hayden Stryker || William C. McGann ||
|-
| 1937 || Topper || Wilkins || Norman Z. McLeod ||
|-
| 1937 || Walter Wanger's Vogues of 1938 || Henry Morgan || Charles Kerr ||
|-
| 1937 || On Such a Night || Professor Ricardo Montrose Candle || Ewald André Dupont ||
|-
| 1937 || Music for Madame || Leon Rodowsky || John G. Blystone ||
|-
| 1937 || Stand-In || Koslofski || Tay Garnett ||
|-
| 1937 || Hollywood Hotel || Alexander Duprey || Busby Berkeley ||
|-
| 1938 || Merrily We Live || Butler || Norman Z. McLeod ||
|-
| 1938 || There Goes My Heart || Pennypepper E. Pennypepper || Norman Z. McLeod ||
|-
| 1938 || Topper Takes a Trip || Wilkins || Norman Z. McLeod ||
|-
| 1939 || Never Say Die || Prince Smirnov || Elliott Nugent ||
|-
| 1939 || Way Down South || Jacques Bouton || Bernard Vorhaus ||
|-
| 1939 || The Llano Kid || John Travers || Edward Venturini ||
|-
| 1940 || Music in My Heart || Charles Gardner || Joseph Santley ||
|-
| 1940 || Curtain Call || Donald Avery || Frank Woodruff ||
|-
| 1940 || Scatterbrain || J.R. Russell || Gus Meins ||
|-
| 1940 || The Boys from Syracuse || Angelo || A. Edward Sutherland ||
|-
| 1940 || The Villain Still Pursued Her || Silas Cribbs || Edward F. Cline ||
|-
| 1940 || The Quarterback || Professor Hobbs || H. Bruce Humberstone ||
|-
| 1941 || Footlight Fever || Mr. Don Avery || Irving Reis ||
|-
| 1941 || That Hamilton Woman || Sir William Hamilton || Alexander Korda ||
|-
| 1941 || That Uncertain Feeling || Dr. Vengard || Ernst Lubitsch ||
|-
| 1941 || The Cowboy and the Blonde || Phineas Johnson || Ray McCarey ||
|-
| 1941 || Ice-Capades || Pete Ellis || Joseph Santley||
|-
| 1941 || Moon Over Her Shoulder || Grover Sloan || Alfred L. Werker ||
|-
| 1941 || I Wake Up Screaming || Robin Ray || H. Bruce Humberstone ||
|-
| 1941 || The Perfect Snob || Freddie Browning || Ray McCarey ||
|-
| 1942 || Yokel Boy || Movie Producer || Joseph Santley ||
|-
| 1942 || We Were Dancing || Grand Duke Basil || Robert Z. Leonard ||
|-
| 1942 || The Mad Martindales || Hugo Martindale || Alfred L. Werker ||
|-
| 1942 || Panama Hattie || Jay Jerkins, Dick's Butler || Norman Z. McLeod ||
|-
| 1942 || A Yank at Eton || Mr. Duncan || Norman Taurog ||
|-
| 1942 || Isle of Missing Men || Dr. Henry Brown || Richard Oswald ||
|-
| 1942 || The Devil with Hitler || Gesatan || Gordon Douglas ||
|-
| 1943 || The Powers Girl || John Robert Powers || Norman Z. McLeod ||
|-
| 1943 || Slightly Dangerous || English Gentleman || Buster Keaton ||
|-
| 1943 || Stage Door Canteen || Alan Mowbray || Frank Borzage ||
|-
| 1943 || So This Is Washington || Chester W. Marshall || Ray McCarey ||
|-
| 1943 || Holy Matrimony || Mr. Pennington || John M. Stahl ||
|-
| 1943 || His Butler's Sister || Buzz Jenkins || Frank Borzage ||
|-
| 1944 || The Doughgirls || Breckenridge Drake || James V. Kern ||
|-
| 1944 || Ever Since Venus || J. Webster Hackett || Arthur Dreifuss ||
|-
| 1944 || My Gal Loves Music || Rodney Spoonyer || Edward C. Lilley||
|-
| 1945 || Bring on the Girls || August || Sidney Lanfield ||
|-
| 1945 || Earl Carroll Vanities || Grand Duke Paul || Joseph Santley ||
|-
| 1945 || The Phantom of 42nd Street || Cecil Moore || Albert Herman ||
|-
| 1945 || Where Do We Go from Here? || General George Washington || Gregory Ratoff, George Seaton||
|-
| 1945 || Tell It to a Star || Colonel Ambrose Morgan || Frank McDonald ||
|-
| 1945 || Men in Her Diary || Douglas Crane || Charles Barton||
|-
| 1945 || Sunbonnet Sue || Jonathan || Ralph Murphy||
|-
| 1946 || Terror by Night || Major Duncan-Bleek || Roy William Neill ||
|-
| 1946 || Idea Girl || J.C. Crow || Will Jason ||
|-
| 1946 || My Darling Clementine || Granville Thorndyke || John Ford ||
|-
| 1947 || The Pilgrim Lady || Clifford Latimer || Lesley Selander ||
|-
| 1947 || Lured || Lyle Maxwell || Douglas Sirk ||
|-
| 1947 || Merton of the Movies || Frank Mulvaney || Robert Alton ||
|-
| 1947 || Captain from Castile || Prof. Botello || Henry King ||
|-
| 1948 || The Main Street Kid || The Great Martine || R. G. Springsteen ||
|-
| 1948 || The Prince of Thieves || The Friar || Howard Bretherton ||
|-
| 1948 || An Innocent Affair || Ken St. Clair || Lloyd Bacon ||
|-
| 1948 || My Dear Secretary || Deveny || Charles Martin ||
|-
| 1948 || Every Girl Should Be Married || Mr. Spitzer || Don Hartman ||
|-
| 1949 || The Lone Wolf and His Lady || Jamison, Lanyard's Valet || John Hoffman ||
|-
| 1949 || The Lovable Cheat || Justin || Richard Oswald ||
|-
| 1949 || You're My Everything || Joe Blanton || Walter Lang ||
|-
| 1949 || Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff || Melton || Charles Barton ||
|-
| 1950 || Wagon Master || Dr. A. Locksley Hall || John Ford ||
|-
| 1950 || The Jackpot || Leslie || Walter Lang ||
|-
| 1951 || Dick Turpin's Ride || Lord Charles Willoughby || Ralph Murphy ||
|-
| 1951 || Crosswinds || Sir Cecil Daubrey || Lewis R. Foster ||
|-
| 1952 || Just Across the Street || Davis || Joseph Pevney ||
|-
| 1952 || Androcles and the Lion || Editor of Gladiators || Chester Erskine, Edward Killy (uncredited) ||
|-
| 1952 || Blackbeard the Pirate || Noll || Raoul Walsh ||
|-
| 1954 || Ma and Pa Kettle at Home || Alphonsus Mannering || Charles Lamont ||
|-
| 1954 || The Steel Cage || Lee Filbert || Walter Doniger|| segment "The Chef"
|-
| 1955 || The King's Thief || Sir Gilbert Talbot || Robert Z. Leonard, Hugo Fregonese (uncredited) ||
|-
| 1956 || The Man Who Knew Too Much || Val Parnell || Alfred Hitchcock ||
|-
| 1956 || The King and I || Sir John Hay || Walter Lang ||
|-
| 1956 || Around the World in 80 Days || the British Consul at Suez || Michael Anderson ||
|-
| 1956 || Once Upon a Honeymoon || Gordon || Gower Champion || Short
|-
| 1961 || A Majority of One || Captain Norcross || Mervyn LeRoy||
|-
|}
TV appearances
- Four Star Playhouse in Dick Powell's episode "The House Always Wins" (1955)
- Whispering Smith, in the "Poet and Peasant Case" episode (1960)
- Maverick with James Garner and Kathleen Crowley, in "The Misfortune Teller" episode as Luke Abigor (1960)
- The Investigators with James Franciscus and James Philbrook, in the episode "Quite a Woman" as Cranshaw
- The Patty Duke Show, as Strassman, the director of the high school play in which both Patty and Cathy appeared (1963)
- The Beverly Hillbillies, in the episode "A Bundle for Britain" as Montrose, hired by Mr Drysdale to pretend to be the Queen of England's financial servant (1968)
References
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External links
- The Adventures of Colonel Flack
- "Up From Central Park: Scenes From an Actor's Life", book review of Mowbray's memoirs at Immortal Ephemera, including excerpts; accessed 6 November 2015.