Biography for
Denholm Elliott More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

31 May 1922, Ealing, London, England, UK

Date of Death

6 October 1992, Ibiza, Spain (AIDS)

Birth Name

Denholm Mitchell Elliott

Height

5' 10¾" (1.80 m)

Mini Biography

Much-loved character actor who specialised in playing slightly sleazy/slightly eccentric and often flawed upper middle class English gentlemen. His career spanned nearly 40 years, becoming a well-known face both in Britain and in the States.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Roger Davies

Spouse

Susan Robinson	(1962 - 6 October 1992) (his death) 2 children
Virginia McKenna	(1 March 1954 - November 1954) (divorced)

Trivia

Served in the RAF during WWII. His plane was shot down over Germany in 1942 and he spent the rest of the War in Stalag 8B POW camp in Silesia.

Father of Jennifer Elliott

Lost the top of his right thumb in a childhood accident.

He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1988 New Year's Honours List for his services to Drama.

Performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

A bisexual, he tested HIV positive in 1987 and was diagnosed with AIDS in 1988.

Best known to movie audiences as the bumbling Marcus Brody in the Indiana Jones series. He appeared in both Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade.

Educated at Malvern College, Worcestershire.

Some sources state that he acquired the AIDS virus from a blood transfusion. However, his widow Susan documented their open marriage and her husband's bisexuality in her book "Denholm Elliott: Quest for Love", published two years after his death.

Rather than recast the role of Marcus Brody in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), director Steven Spielberg and writer David Koepp created a new character, Charles Stanforth, played by Jim Broadbent. The passing of Marcus Brody is acknowledged several times in the film, with a portrait of him hanging in the hallway outside Indy's classroom, a statue of him in a University courtyard, and a malt shop named "Brody's.".

Father was Myles Layman Elliott and mother Nina Mitchell.

His wife Susan, born March 7th, 1942 in Cleveland, died from injuries from a fire in her one bedroom flat April 12, 2007 in northern London. Her neighbor, journalist Rob Lyons, tried to save her during the fire and was able to move her from her wheelchair down to the street waiting for the ambulance to arrive, she died a day later.

Has a son named Mark.

His daughter Jennifer was addicted to heroin and she hanged herself 2003.

Personal Quotes

"I like actors - such as Margaret Rutherford and Peter Lorre - who aren't afraid to over-act like real people. When I take a job I can always come up with ten different ways of doing the part. But I'll always choose the flashiest one. You've got to dress the window a bit."

I'm often given parts that aren't as big as they are colorful, but people remember them. When it's a minor or supporting role, you learn to make the most of what you're given. I can make two lines seem like 'Hamlet'.

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