Everything about Brian Aherne totally explained
Brian Aherne (
May 2,
1902 –
February 10,
1986) was an
Oscar-nominated
English actor of both stage and screen, who found success in
Hollywood.
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'd 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.
He 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,
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.
He 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 30 films, including
I Live My Life (
1935), the multi-Oscar nominated brilliant ditzy comedy
Merrily We Live (
1938), Oscar-nominated 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.
Aherne was Oscar nominated for his role as
Emperor Maxmilian in the 1939 movie
Juarez.
Aherne published his autobiography
A Proper Job in 1969, as well as
A Dreadful Man (1979), a biography of his friend
George Sanders.
Between
1939 and
1945 he was married to actress
Joan Fontaine, which ended in divorce. He then married Eleanor de Liagre Labrot.
Brian Aherne died of
heart failure in
Venice, Florida at the age of 83. A star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame remembers him, at 1752 Vine Street.
Selected films
Further Information
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