Howard Marion-Crawford
Encyclopedia
Howard Marion-Crawford (17 January 1914 – 24 November 1969), the grandson of writer F. Marion Crawford, was an English
character actor, best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in the 1954 television adaptation of Sherlock Holmes
. In 1948, Marion-Crawford had played Holmes in a radio adaptation of "The Adventure of the Speckled Band
", making him one of the few actors to portray both Holmes and Watson.
Howard Marion-Crawford is also known for his portrayal of Dr. Petrie in a series of low budget Fu Manchu
movies in the late 1960s, and was a regular broadcaster in BBC Radio Drama. Among his movie appearances are the character of Cranford in The Man in the White Suit
(1951) and a British medical officer in Lawrence of Arabia
(1962). One of his last roles was as another military officer, Sir George Brown, in Tony Richardson
's The Charge of the Light Brigade
(1968).
He often played "blusterers", "old duffers" and upper-class military types, appearing as guest performer in television programmes like The Avengers
, and a role opposite Patrick McGoohan
in the 1965 episode of Danger Man
titled "English Lady Takes Lodgers".
Marion-Crawford was married four times. Early in World War II
, he was married to Jeanne Scott-Gunn, with whom he had a single son, Harold Francis Marion-Crawford. In 1946, he married the actor Mary Wimbush
, with whom he had another son, Charles.
A large man with a very distinctive booming voice, Howard Marion-Crawford had a lot of talent and acting came easily to him. Unfortunately, this sometimes led to him being unreliable and his later years were a struggle. Plagued by ill health later in life, he died from a mixture of alcohol and sleeping pills in 1969.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
character actor, best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in the 1954 television adaptation of Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes (1954 TV Series)
The first and only American television series of Sherlock Holmes adventures aired in syndication in the fall of 1954. The 39 half-hour mostly original stories were produced by Sheldon Reynolds and filmed in France by Guild Films, starring Ronald Howard as Holmes and Howard Marion Crawford as Watson...
. In 1948, Marion-Crawford had played Holmes in a radio adaptation of "The Adventure of the Speckled Band
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
"The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is the eighth of the twelve stories collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It is one of four Sherlock Holmes stories that can be classified as a locked...
", making him one of the few actors to portray both Holmes and Watson.
Howard Marion-Crawford is also known for his portrayal of Dr. Petrie in a series of low budget Fu Manchu
Fu Manchu
Dr. Fu Manchu is a fictional character introduced in a series of novels by British author Sax Rohmer during the first half of the 20th century...
movies in the late 1960s, and was a regular broadcaster in BBC Radio Drama. Among his movie appearances are the character of Cranford in The Man in the White Suit
The Man in the White Suit
The Man In The White Suit is a 1951 satirical comedy film made by Ealing Studios. It starred Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, and Cecil Parker, and was directed by Alexander Mackendrick. It followed a common Ealing Studios theme of the "common man" against the Establishment...
(1951) and a British medical officer in Lawrence of Arabia
Lawrence of Arabia (film)
Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 British film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. It was directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel through his British company, Horizon Pictures, with the screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson. The film stars Peter O'Toole in the title role. It is widely...
(1962). One of his last roles was as another military officer, Sir George Brown, in Tony Richardson
Tony Richardson
Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson was an English theatre and film director and producer.-Early life:Richardson was born in Shipley, Yorkshire in 1928, the son of Elsie Evans and Clarence Albert Richardson, a chemist...
's The Charge of the Light Brigade
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968 film)
The Charge of the Light Brigade is a 1968 British war film made by Woodfall Film Productions and distributed by United Artists . It was directed by Tony Richardson and produced by Neil Hartley....
(1968).
He often played "blusterers", "old duffers" and upper-class military types, appearing as guest performer in television programmes like The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
, and a role opposite Patrick McGoohan
Patrick McGoohan
Patrick Joseph McGoohan was an American-born actor, raised in Ireland and England, with an extensive stage and film career, most notably in the 1960s television series Danger Man , and The Prisoner, which he co-created...
in the 1965 episode of Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
titled "English Lady Takes Lodgers".
Marion-Crawford was married four times. Early in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he was married to Jeanne Scott-Gunn, with whom he had a single son, Harold Francis Marion-Crawford. In 1946, he married the actor Mary Wimbush
Mary Wimbush
Mary Wimbush was an English actress, whose career spanned sixty years from the 1940s to the 2000s...
, with whom he had another son, Charles.
A large man with a very distinctive booming voice, Howard Marion-Crawford had a lot of talent and acting came easily to him. Unfortunately, this sometimes led to him being unreliable and his later years were a struggle. Plagued by ill health later in life, he died from a mixture of alcohol and sleeping pills in 1969.
Selected filmography
- Brown on ResolutionBrown on Resolution (film)Brown on Resolution is a 1935 film adaptation of the CS Forester novel Brown on Resolution. The plot is centred on the illegitimate son of a British naval officer singlehandedly bringing about the downfall of a German battleship during World War I...
(1935) - Freedom RadioFreedom RadioFreedom Radio is a 1941 British propaganda film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Clive Brook, Diana Wynyard, Raymond Huntley and Derek Farr. It is set in Nazi Germany during the Second World War about an underground German resistance group who run a radio station broadcasting against the...
(1941) - Man on the RunMan on the RunMan on the Run is a 1949 British drama film directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring Derek Farr, Joan Hopkins, Edward Chapman, Kenneth More and Laurence Harvey.-Synopsis:...
(1949) - The Hasty HeartThe Hasty HeartThe Hasty Heart is a 1949 British-American co-production film based on the play of the same name by John Patrick. It tells the story of a group of wounded Allied soldiers in a mobile surgery unit at the end of World War II who, after initial resentment and ostracism, rally around a loner, a...
(1949) - Mister Drake's DuckMister Drake's DuckMister Drake's Duck is a 1951 British science fiction comedy film directed by Val Guest and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Yolande Donlan, Jon Pertwee, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Reginald Beckwith. Mr Drake, a farmer, discovers that his hens have started laying radioactive eggs.-Cast:* Douglas...
(1951) - The Man in the White SuitThe Man in the White SuitThe Man In The White Suit is a 1951 satirical comedy film made by Ealing Studios. It starred Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, and Cecil Parker, and was directed by Alexander Mackendrick. It followed a common Ealing Studios theme of the "common man" against the Establishment...
(1951) - West of ZanzibarWest of Zanzibar (1954 film)West of Zanzibar is a 1954 British adventure film directed by Harry Watt and starring Anthony Steel, Sheila Sim and Edric Connor.-Cast:* Anthony Steel - Bob Payton* Sheila Sim - Mary Payton* Edric Connor - Ushington* Orlando Martins - M'Kwongi...
(1954) - The Rainbow JacketThe Rainbow JacketThe Rainbow Jacket is a 1954 British drama film directed by Basil Dearden, and featuring Robert Morley, Kay Walsh, Bill Owen, Honor Blackman and Sid James.-Cast:* Robert Morley as Lord Logan* Kay Walsh as Barbara Crain...
(1954) - Reach for the Sky (1956)
- The Silken AffairThe Silken AffairThe Silken Affair is a 1956 British romantic comedy film directed by Roy Kellino and starring David Niven, Geneviève Page, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Joan Sims, Irene Handl and Ronald Squire.-Cast:* David Niven as Roger Tweakham...
(1956) - The Birthday PresentThe Birthday PresentThe Birthday Present is a 1957 British drama film directed by Pat Jackson. It stars Tony Britton, a top toy salesmen returning from a business trip to Germany with a watch hidden inside a toy, intended as a birthday present for his wife Sylvia Syms. He is caught by customs, arrested, and sentenced...
(1957) - The Silent EnemyThe Silent Enemy (film)The Silent Enemy is a 1958 action film directed by William Fairchild. It stars Laurence Harvey as Lionel "Buster" Crabb and describes his exploits during World War II...
(1958) - Gideon's DayGideon's Day (film)Gideon's Day is a 1958 British crime film directed by John Ford and starring Jack Hawkins, Dianne Foster and Cyril Cusack. An adaptation of John Creasey's novel of the same name it is the first film to feature the character George Gideon of Scotland Yard, here played by Jack Hawkins. A police...
(1958) - Virgin IslandVirgin Island (film)Virgin Island is a 1959 British drama film directed by Pat Jackson and starring John Cassavetes, Virginia Maskell and Sidney Poitier. It is an adaptation of the novel Our Virgin Island by Robb White...
(1958) - Model for MurderModel for MurderModel for Murder is a 1959 British crime film directed by Terry Bishop and starring Keith Andes, Hazel Court and Jean Aubrey.-Plot:American sailor David Martens, on shore leave in England, visits his brother Jack's grave...
(1959) - North West Frontier (1959)
- Foxhole in CairoFoxhole in CairoFoxhole in Cairo is a 1960 British war film directed by John Llewellyn Moxey and based on a novel by Leonard Mosley itself based upon the real-life Operation Salaam. It starred James Robertson Justice, Adrian Hoven, Fenella Fielding and Henry Oscar...
(1960) - Carry On RegardlessCarry On RegardlessCarry on Regardless was the fifth in the series of Carry On films to be made. It was released in 1961. By now a fairly regular team was established with Sid James, Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims and Kenneth Williams all having appeared in previous entries. Hattie Jacques - who was...
(1961) - The Longest DayThe Longest Day (film)The Longest Day is a 1962 war film based on the 1959 history book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II....
(1962) - Lawrence of ArabiaLawrence of Arabia (film)Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 British film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. It was directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel through his British company, Horizon Pictures, with the screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson. The film stars Peter O'Toole in the title role. It is widely...
(1962) - Tamahine (1963)
- Man in the MiddleMan in the Middle (film)Man in the Middle is a 1963 film, starring Robert Mitchum and directed by Guy Hamilton. The movie, set in World War II India, tells the story of the murder trial of an American Army officer who killed a British soldier. Mitchum plays Lieut. Col. Barney Adams, who has been assigned as the accused...
(1963) - The Face of Fu ManchuThe Face of Fu ManchuThe Face of Fu Manchu is a 1965 British/German Constantin Film co-production thriller based on the character of Fu Manchu, the Chinese villain created by Sax Rohmer...
(1965) - The Brides of Fu ManchuThe Brides of Fu ManchuThe Brides of Fu Manchu is a 1966 British/German Constantin Film co-production adventure crime film based on the fictional Asian villain Fu Manchu, created by Sax Rohmer. It was the second film in a series, and was preceded by The Face of Fu Manchu. The Vengeance of Fu Manchu followed in 1967, The...
(1966) - The Vengeance of Fu ManchuThe Vengeance of Fu ManchuThe Vengeance of Fu Manchu is a 1967 British film directed by Jeremy Summers starring Christopher Lee, Douglas Wilmer and Tsai Chin. It was the third British/German Constantin Film co-production of the Fu Manchu series and the first to be filmed in Hong Kong.-Plot:In his remote hideaway in the...
(1967) - Smashing TimeSmashing TimeSmashing Time is a 1967 British comedy film starring Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave. It is a satire on the 1960s media-influenced phenomenon of Swinging London.It was written by George Melly and directed by Desmond Davis...
(1967) - The Charge of the Light BrigadeThe Charge of the Light Brigade (1968 film)The Charge of the Light Brigade is a 1968 British war film made by Woodfall Film Productions and distributed by United Artists . It was directed by Tony Richardson and produced by Neil Hartley....
(1968) - The Blood of Fu ManchuThe Blood of Fu ManchuThe Blood of Fu Manchu, also known as Fu Manchu and the Kiss of Death, Kiss and Kill and Against All Odds, is a 1968 British adventure crime film based on the fictional Asian villain Fu Manchu, created by Sax Rohmer. It was the fourth film in a series, and was preceded by The Vengeance of Fu...
(1968) - The Castle of Fu ManchuThe Castle of Fu ManchuThe Castle of Fu Manchu also known by its German title Die Folterkammer des Dr. Fu Man Chu, is the fifth and final Fu Manchu film with Christopher Lee portraying the title character. The spy/crime film was filmed on location in Spain and Istanbul and originally released in West Germany in 1969...
(1969)