Herbert Mundin

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Herbert Thomas Mundin (born August 21, 1897 in St. Helens , England , † March 5, 1939 in Van Nuys , California ) was a British actor .

Life

Herbert Mundin was born the son of the primitive missionary William Mundin (1847-1924) and his wife Jane Lewis (1861-after 1939) in the English city of St. Helens. The family later moved to St Albans , where Herbert attended St Albans School. He was largely related to the future sound engineer George Groves . He served in the Royal Navy between 1916 and 1918 in the First World War . It was there that Mundin discovered his comedic talent and worked as a troop entertainer . After serving in the war, he began working as an actor, but also worked as a telephone fitter for a few months. He quickly established himself as a comedy actor on the Londoner and received good reviews for his performances. In 1925, Mundin first appeared on Broadway in the United States for a stage play , where he played with Gertrude Lawrence and Jessie Matthews , among others . He was in Australia towards the end of the decade.

Like many other theater actors, Mundin came to Hollywood after the start of the sound film era . He had his first appearance in the short film Ashes . In the next few years he had major appearances in some short films as well as minor supporting roles in larger films. He achieved his breakthrough with a supporting supporting role in the Oscar-winning drama Kavalkade (1933), in which Mundin embodies a butler who opens his own pub, but increasingly leans towards his alcohol and finally dies. In this film, Mundin played the husband of Una O'Connor for the first time , with whom he formed a mostly comical pair of lovers in a few more, as well as in 1938 in one of his most famous roles as Robin's loyal follower Much in Robin Hood, King of the Vagabonds . Until his death, Mundin played mostly good-natured but rather eccentric characters in around 60 films who were much older than himself. He often gave the comic note to more serious films than Comic Relief . He also played the stupid sailor Smith in the adventure film Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) alongside Clark Gable and Charles Laughton . In the same year he got a small supporting role in the star-studded biography David Copperfield , in which he played the phlegmatic coachman Barkis.

In 1921 he married Hilda Frances Hoyes in Brentford . The marriage ended in divorce after a short time and remained childless. In his second marriage, Mundin was married to actress Ann Shaw from 1925 to 1934. They had a daughter. In March 1939, 41-year-old Mundin was on his way to dinner with friends when the car collided with another car at an intersection and Mundin rolled out of the vehicle. He died shortly afterwards in the hospital. Herbert Mundin is buried in Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Herbert Mundin  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Herbert Mundin's obituary notice
personal data
SURNAME Mundin, Herbert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mundin, Herbert Thomas (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actor
DATE OF BIRTH August 21, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Helens , England
DATE OF DEATH March 5, 1939
Place of death Van Nuys , California