Holmes Herbert

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Holmes Herbert (1917)

Holmes Herbert , actually Edward Horace Jenner (born July 30, 1882 in Mansfield , Nottinghamshire , England , † December 26, 1956 in Hollywood , California ) was a British actor who played the dignified "English gentleman" in many Hollywood films.

Life

Holmes Herbert was born Edward Horace Jenner , his pseudonym "Holmes" was inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle's master detective Sherlock Holmes . Appropriately, Herbert was to appear in six of the Sherlock Holmes films with Basil Rathbone towards the end of his career in the 1940s . Herbert already appeared in the so-called minstrel shows or in the circus in his early years . Born in Britain, he relocated entirely to the United States in the early 20th century. He first appeared there on Broadway , but then found his way to Hollywood in the 1910s, where he quickly established himself. Similar to Roland Young and Reginald Denny , for example , he mostly played British gentlemen, who at the end of the film, however, are often abandoned by the leading actress. The change from silent film to sound film initially succeeded him well. Herbert played some of his best-known roles in the early sound film era, for example as Dr. Lanyon in the horror film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) alongside Fredric March .

With his well-groomed, somewhat aristocratic appearance, Holmes embodied mostly elegant figures of authority. In the course of his career he played politicians, generals, lawyers and doctors, among others. From the mid-1930s, the size of Herbert's film roles decreased significantly. More and more of his roles in major films were not mentioned in the credits. Alongside Errol Flynn , Herbert appeared in the films Under Pirate Flag , The Treason of Surat Khan , Favorite of a Queen , and Robin Hood, King of the Vagabonds . In the 1940s he was a supporting actor in several films in the Sherlock Holmes film series with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce . In 1952 he retired from the film business. Holmes Herbert was married three times, including the actress Beryl Mercer , and the father of one child. He was 74 years old.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Holmes Herbert  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Holmes Herbert in the Internet Broadway Database (English)
  2. ↑ Holmes Herbert | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos | AllMovie. Retrieved September 13, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Herbert, Holmes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jenner, Edward Horace (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actor
DATE OF BIRTH July 30, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Mansfield , Nottinghamshire , England
DATE OF DEATH December 26, 1956
Place of death Hollywood , California