Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
September 29, 1913
Place of Birth:
Cliftonville, Kent, England, UK
Howard was born in Cliftonville, Kent, England, the son of Mabel Grey (Wallace) and Arthur John Howard. He was educated at Clifton College (to which he left in his will a substantial legacy for a drama scholarship) and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), acting on the London stage for several years before World War II. His first paid work was in the play Revolt in a Reformatory (1934), before he left RADA in 1935 to take small roles.
Although stories of his courageous wartime service in the British Army's Royal Corps of Signals earned him much respect among fellow actors and fans alike, files held in the Public Record Office reveal that he had actually been discharged from the British Army in 1943 for mental instability and having a "psychopathic personality". The story, which surfaced in Terence Pettigrew's biography of the actor, published by Peter Owen in 2001, was initially denied by Howard's widow, actress Helen Cherry. Later, confronted with official records, she told the Daily Telegraph (24 June 2001) that his mother had claimed he was a holder of the Military Cross. She added that Howard had an honourable military record and "had nothing to be ashamed of".
Year | Movie | Role |
---|---|---|
1988 | The Unholy | Father Silva |
1988 | The Dawning | Grandfather |
1987 | White Mischief | Jack Soames |
1987 | Hand in Glove | Vicar |
1986 | Foreign Body | Dr Stirry |
1986 | Time After Time | Brigadier Croshawe |
1986 | Christmas Eve | Maitland |
1985 | Dust | Father |
1985 | God Rot Tunbridge Wells! | Georg Friedrich Handel |
1985 | Memory of the Camps | Narrator |
1984 | Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | The King |
1984 | The Bengal Lancers! | Uncle George |
1982 | Gandhi | Judge Broomfield |
1982 | The Missionary | Lord Henry Ames |
1982 | Inside the Third Reich | Prof. Heinrich Tessenow |
1982 | The Deadly Game | Gustave Kummer |
1981 | Light Years Away | Yoshka Poliakeff |
1980 | Sir Henry at Rawlinson End | Sir Henry Rawlinson |
1980 | The Sea Wolves | Jack Cartwright |
1980 | The Shillingbury Blowers | Saltie |
1980 | Windwalker | Windwalker |
1980 | Staying On | Col. Tusker Smalley |
1980 | The Making of 'Superman: The Movie' | Self |
1980 | Flashpoint Africa | Program Controller |
1980 | Superman II | Krypton Elder (archive footage) (uncredited) |
1979 | Meteor | Sir Michael Hughes |
1979 | Hurricane | Father Malone |
1979 | The Spirit of Adventure: Night Flight | Riviere |
1978 | Superman | 1st Elder |
1978 | Slavers | Alec Mackenzie |
1978 | Stevie | The Man |
1977 | The Last Remake of Beau Geste | Sir Hector |
1976 | Aces High | Lieutenant Colonel Silkin |
1976 | The Adventures of Eliza Fraser | Capt. Foster Fyans |
1976 | Death in the Sun | Johannes |
1976 | The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones | Squire Western |
1975 | The Count of Monte-Cristo | Abbé Faria |
1975 | Hennessy | Comdr. Rice |
1975 | Conduct Unbecoming | Colonnello Benjamin Strang |
1974 | Who? | Colonel Azarin |
1974 | Persecution | Paul Bellamy |
1974 | Craze | Supt. Bellamy |
1974 | 11 Harrowhouse | Clyde Massey |
1973 | Ludwig | Richard Wagner |
1973 | The Offence | Lieutenant Cartwright, Detective Superintendant |
1973 | The Catholics | The Abbot |
1973 | A Doll's House | Dr. Rank |
1972 | Pope Joan | Pope Leo |
1971 | Kidnapped | Lord Advocate |
1971 | Mary, Queen of Scots | William Cecil |
1971 | The Night Visitor | Inspector |
1971 | Catch Me a Spy | Trevor Dawson |
1970 | Ryan's Daughter | Father Collins |
1970 | Twinky | Twinky's Grandfather |
1969 | Battle of Britain | Air Vice Marshal Keith Park |
1968 | The Charge of the Light Brigade | Lord Cardigan |
1967 | The Long Duel | Freddie Young |
1967 | Pretty Polly | Robert Hook |
1966 | Triple Cross | Freddie Young (Distinguished Civilian) |
1966 | The Poppy Is Also a Flower | Sam Lincoln |
1965 | Von Ryan's Express | Major Eric Fincham |
1965 | The Liquidator | Mostyn |
1965 | Operation Crossbow | Professor Lindemann |
1965 | Morituri | Colonel Statter |
1965 | Eagle in a Cage | Napoleon |
1964 | Father Goose | Commander Frank Houghton |
1964 | Man in the Middle | Major Kensington |
1963 | The Invincible Mr. Disraeli | Benjamin Disraeli |
1962 | Mutiny on the Bounty | Capt. William Bligh |
1962 | The Lion | John Bullit |
1962 | Hedda Gabler | Ejlert Lövborg |
1960 | Sons and Lovers | Walter Morel |
1960 | Moment of Danger | John Bain |
1958 | The Roots of Heaven | Morel |
1958 | The Key | Capt. Chris Ford |
1957 | Interpol | Frank McNally |
1957 | Manuela | James Prothero |
1956 | Around the World in Eighty Days | Denis Fallentin |
1956 | Run for the Sun | Browne |
1955 | The Cockleshell Heroes | Captain Thompson |
1955 | Lovers' Net | Inspector Lewis |
1954 | The Stranger's Hand | Major Roger Court |
1953 | The Heart of the Matter | Harry Scobie |
1952 | Gift Horse | Lt. Cmdr Hugh Alginon Fraser |
1951 | Outcast of the Islands | Peter Willems |
1951 | Lady Godiva Rides Again | Guest at Theater Accepting Program (uncredited) |
1950 | The Clouded Yellow | Maj. David Somers |
1950 | Odette | Captain Peter Churchill |
1950 | Golden Salamander | David Redfern |
1949 | The Third Man | Major Calloway |
1949 | The Passionate Friends | Prof. Steven Stratton |
1947 | They Made Me a Fugitive | George Clement 'Clem' Morgan |
1947 | So Well Remembered | Dr. Richard Whiteside |
1946 | I See a Dark Stranger | Lt. David Bayne |
1946 | Green for Danger | Dr. Barnes |
1945 | Brief Encounter | Dr. Alec Harvey |
1945 | The Way to the Stars | Squadron Leader Carter |
1944 | The Way Ahead | Officer on Ship (uncredited) |
1944 | The Aircraft Rocket, Part 4: Tactics, Section 2: Coastal | Briefing Officer |
1941 | Squaring the Circle |
Year | TV Show | Role |
---|---|---|
1986 | Shaka Zulu | Lord Charles Somerset |
1986 | Peter the Great | Sir Isaac Newton |
1985 | Time for Murder | Sir Daniel Penwarden |
1984 | George Washington | Lord Fairfax |
1983 | Frontline | Narrator (voice) |
1981 | Ludwig | Richard Wagner |
1980 | Shillingbury Tales | Dan 'Saltie' Wicklow |
1978 | Scorpion Tales | Mavor |
1976 | Origins of the Mafia | Don Consalvo Saccone |
1974 | Spécial cinéma | Self |
1968 | The Dick Cavett Show | Self - Guest |
1962 | The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Self |
1958 | Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse | Dr. Derek Lester |
1957 | Tonight Starring Jack Paar | Self |
1955 | The 20th Century Fox Hour | Doug Elliott |
1951 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Benjamin Disraeli |
1951 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Napoleon |
1948 | Studio One | Vittorio |