Brian Aherne (May 2, 1902 –
February 10, 1986) was a British
actor of both stage and screen, who found success in
Hollywood
.
Early life and stage career
He was
born William Brian de Lacy Aherne in King's Norton
, Worcestershire, the
son of William de Lacy Aherne by his spouse Louise née
Thomas. Educated at Edgbaston
, Birmingham
, he had also carried out some early stage training
at Italia Conti Academy in
London and had some child roles before completing his education at
Malvern
College
. He first appeared on the stage in Birmingham with the Pilgrim Players (which subsequently
developed into the Birmingham Repertory Theatre), on April 5, 1910,
in Fifinella; and made his first appearance on the London
stage at the Garrick
Theatre
, December 26, 1913, in Where the Rainbow Ends, a fairy
play by Clifford Mills and John Ramsey, with music by Roger Quilter, which ran at various theatres
for over 25 years.
He then
studied with a view to becoming an architect, but, having had
considerable amateur experience in Birmingham, and with the
Liverpool Green Room Club, he obtained an engagement under Robert
Courtneidge, and appeared at London's Savoy Theatre
, opening on December 26, 1923, as Jack O'Hara in a
revival of Paddy the Next Best Thing, the play by
W. Gayer-Mackay and Robert Ord (from the novel). He then
toured with Violet Vanbrugh as Hugo in
The Flame, and
appeared at the London Playhouse in May 1924 as Langford in Leon
Gordon's
White Cargo, in which he played all through
1924-5. In 1926 he accompanied
Dion
Boucicault Jr. to
Australia, where he
appeared in several plays by
J.
M. Barrie:
as Valentine Brown in the comedy
Quality Street, John
Shand in the comedy
What Every Woman Knows, Crichton in
The Admirable Crichton, Simon and Harry in
Mary
Rose; and Willocks in
Aren't We All? another comedy
by
Frederick Lonsdale.
Aherne
reappeared in London at the Strand
in March
1927 again as Langford in White Cargo and continued on the
London stage in a succession of plays until late 1930 when he went
to America
, making his first appearance on the New York
stage at the Empire
Theatre in New York on February 9, 1931, playing Robert
Browning in Rudolph Besier's play The Barretts of Wimpole
Street. He was back in London in 1934 but returned that
year to New York, where he appeared in December at the
Martin Beck Theatre as Mercutio in
Romeo and Juliet, with
Katharine Cornell. He continued
his stage appearances during his film career, which he commenced in
1924 in
silent film.
Film and television career
Aherne made his
talkie debut in
Madame Guillotine (1931). After a few more British talkies
he moved on to lead roles in Hollywood, where he made over thirty
films, including
I Live My
Life (1935), the multi-Oscar nominated brilliant ditzy
comedy
Merrily We Live
(1938), Oscar-nominated for his role as
Emperor Maxmilian in
Juarez (1939),
Vigil in the Night (1940),
Titanic (1953), and
The Best of
Everything (1959). In 1945, he played sleuth
Simon Templar in the radio mystery series,
The Saint. He also appeared in many TV theatrical series,
including
G E Theatre,
The Twilight Zone,
and
Rawhide. He also
appeared as guest host on the TV panel show
The Name's the
Same.
Aherne published his autobiography
A Proper Job in 1969,
as well as
A Dreadful Man (1979), a biography of his
friend
George Sanders.
Personal life and death
Between 1939 and 1945, Aherne was married to actress
Joan Fontaine, which ended in divorce. He then
married Eleanor de Liagre Labrot.
Aherne
died of heart failure in
Venice,
Florida
at the age of 83. Brian Aherne was
honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 1772 Vine Street.
Selected filmography
Award nominations
Footnotes
References
- Parker, John, editor, Who's Who in the Theatre, 10th
edition revised, London, 1947, p.200-1.
External links
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