Reginald Denny

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Reginald Denny (1922)
Reginald Denny with his daughter (1922)

Reginald Denny (born November 20, 1891 in Richmond , Surrey , † June 16, 1967 ibid) was a British actor and engineer.

Life

Denny came to the theater early on through his parents, who were also actors. His father WH Denny was a member of the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company. He made his first stage appearance at the age of six and later attended Oxford University . After serving as a pilot in World War I , he started his career in Hollywood. He also appeared occasionally on Broadway . His career in film took place exclusively in the USA, where he initially played leading roles in small silent films . After the sound film era began, he played supporting roles in major productions, and he was often seen as an honorable friend and advisor to the main character, for example as Benvolio alongside Leslie Howard in Romeo and Juliet (1936) and alongside Laurence Olivier in Alfred Hitchcock's classic film Rebecca (1940). Denny gained considerable popularity, particularly with a number of films in which he played the friend of the detective Bulldog Drummond in the late 1930s .

In the 1940s he was seen less often in films, since he had meanwhile founded a model airplane company with Reginald Denny Industries , which he sold in a store on Hollywood Boulevard . During the Second World War , Denny developed a remote-controlled target display drone for the British Army , of which around 15,000 were produced. In the 1950s he was more active in television and rarely appeared in movies. His last film Batman Keeps the World in Suspense was released a year before his death.

Reginald Denny died at the age of 75. From 1913 to 1927 he was married to the actress Irene Haisman (1897-1950). They had a daughter. In his second marriage, he was married from 1958 to the actress Betsy Lee (1907-1996), with whom Denny had three children. A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is dedicated to him.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 2: C - F. John Paddy Carstairs - Peter Fritz. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 355.
personal data
SURNAME Denny, Reginald
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dugmore, Reginald Leigh (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actor
DATE OF BIRTH November 20, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Richmond , Surrey
DATE OF DEATH June 16, 1967
Place of death Richmond , Surrey