Biography for
Leslie Howard (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

3 April 1893, Forest Hill, London, England, UK

Date of Death

1 June 1943, Bay of Biscay (casualty of war)

Birth Name

Leslie Howard Stainer

Height

5' 10½" (1.79 m)

Mini Biography

Leslie Howard Stainer was born to Hungarian parents in London and went to Dulwich College. After school, he worked as a bank clerk until the outbreak of World War I, when he went into the army. In 1917, diagnosed as shell-shocked, he was invalided out and advised to take up acting as therapy. In a few years his name was famous on the stages of London and New York. He became known as the perfect Englishman (slim, tall, intellectual and sensitive), a part that he played in many movies and a part women would dream about. He made his first movie in 1930, Outward Bound (1930), an adaptation of the stage play in which he starred. In Never the Twain Shall Meet (1931) and Smilin' Through (1932), he was playing the Englishman role to the hilt. His screen persona could, perhaps, be best summed up by his role as Sir Percy Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), a foppish member of society.

It was Howard who insisted that Humphrey Bogart get the role of Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest (1936), a role Humphrey Bogart had played in the stage production. As he became more successful, he also became quite picky about which roles he would do and usually performed in but two films per year. In 1939, he played the character that will always be associated with him, that of Ashley Wilkes, the honour-bound disillusioned intellectual Southern gentleman in Gone with the Wind (1939). However, war clouds were gathering over England and he devoted all his energy on behalf of the war effort. He directed films, wrote articles and made radio broadcasts. He died in 1943, when the KLM plane he was in was shot down by German fighters over the Bay of Biscay.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Tony Fontana

Mini Biography

Leslie Howard Stainer was born in Forest Hill on 3rd April, 1893. He was the eldest son of Frank Stainer (a Hungarian-born immigrant who changed his name from Steiner, when he adopted his new nationality) and Lilian Howard (who changed her maiden name from Blumberg to Howard, when she arrived in Britain). Soon after the arrival of their eldest child, Frank and Lilian moved to Vienna in Austria, which resulted in the boy only speaking German upon their subsequent return to Britain. Frank worked in a stockbrokers office in the City of London and he had hopes that his son would settle for a banking career. Leslie was educated at Dulwich College and, after an early banking experience, he was commissioned as a subaltern in the 20th Hussars.

Leslie met and married Ruth Martin in 1916 and they had two children, the actor Ronald Howard and Leslie Ruth Howard. They both later published biographies of their father.

In 1917, Leslie was severely shell-shocked and was invalided out of the army. Instead of following his father's wishes, he took both his mother's advice and her maiden name, in embarking on a successful cinema and theatre acting career, which endured until his premature death in June 1943, while on active service. He was 50. His brother Arthur Howard and his nephew Alan Howard became respected character actors.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Huw Nathan

Spouse

Ruth Evelyn Martin

(March 1916 - 1 June 1943) (his death) 2 children

Trivia

Died when the 1936 Douglas aircraft «Isis» he was in, with 4 crew members and 12 other passengers, KLM flight #777 of the regular line Bristol - Lisbon, was shot down by Luftwaffe fighter planes over the Bay of Biscay.

Father of actor Ronald Howard, who appeared with him in 'Pimpernel' Smith (1941).

Oldest of five siblings: Dorice Howard; casting director Irene Howard; Jimmy Howard; and actor Arthur Howard.

Nephew of director Wilfred Noy.

Father of Leslie Ruth Dale-Harris (b. 1924). 17 years old she married Robert Dale-Harris, a chartered accountant. They lived in Toronto, Canada, with three children. In 1960 she published a biography of her father, "A Quite Remarkable Father".

Uncle of actor Alan Howard.

Humphrey Bogart was so grateful at Howard's insistence that he repeat his stage performance in the film of The Petrified Forest (1936), the role that proved to be his big break in movies, that he named his daughter Leslie in Howard's honor.

His death was mentioned in the World War II film Bright Victory (1951).

In 1934, he accepted the Oscar for "Best Actor in a Leading Role" on behalf of Charles Laughton, who was not present at the awards ceremony.

Is portrayed by Stephen Keep Mills in Bogie (1980) (TV).

Personal Quotes

[Describing one of his Gone with the Wind (1939) costumes]: I look like that sissy doorman at the Beverly Wilshire, a fine thing at my age.

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