Anthony Steel (actor)

Anthony Steel was born in Chelsea, the son of an Indian army officer, Edward (1897–1965), who later became an actor and Kathleen Yate Lee (d. 1962).

Steel spent most of his early childhood in India (in Lahore) and was educated until he was 14 at Alexander House Prep School, Broadstairs, Kent.

He continued his studies at home with a tutor before attending Trinity College, Cambridge.

Steel had only completed a year at Cambridge when the Second World War broke out.

Anthony Maitland Steel (21 May 1920 – 21 March 2001) was a British actor and singer who appeared in British war films of the 1950s such as The Wooden Horse (1950) and Where No Vultures Fly (1951).

He was also known for his tumultuous marriage to Anita Ekberg.

He was described as "a glorious throwback to the Golden Age of Empire... the perfect imperial actor, born out of his time, blue-eyed, square-jawed, clean-cut."

As another writer put it, "whenever a chunky dependable hero was required to portray grace under pressure in wartime or the concerns of a game warden in a remote corner of the empire, Steel was sure to be called upon."

Another said "Never as popular as Stewart Granger or as versatile as Kenneth More, he enjoyed a brief period of fashionability embodying the kind of idealised, true-blue Englishman who probably rowed for his university, played cricket on the village green and exuded calm under pressure as he bravely fought for king and country."

He enlisted in the Grenadier Guards aged 18 and was evacuated from Dunkirk in May 1940.

He received a commission and served in the Middle East where he was badly injured on patrol.

He trained as a parachutist and made nine operational jumps.

He finished the war with the rank of major.

On demobilisation Steel decided to become an actor.

For a time he worked with a pick and shovel at Clapham Junction for £6 a week.

According to a profile in Filmink "Nature blessed him with height, handsomeness, a full head of hair and an excellent speaking voice; he didn't have much natural talent, but those first four things are often more important when it comes to finding acting work."

He began to get some parts on stage, including appearing opposite Margaret Lockwood in Roses for Her Pillow, a stage version of the film Once Upon a Dream which was being given a special performance by Rank contract artists.

He was dating a niece of J. Arthur Rank who introduced Steel to her uncle at a party.

Rank subsequently signed the actor to a long-term contract with his company.

Steel was trained at Rank's "charm school" and given a slow buildup with small parts in several films, starting with Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948).

He also appeared in A Piece of Cake (1948), Portrait from Life (1948), Once Upon a Dream (1949), Marry Me! (1949), Quartet (1948), The Blue Lamp (1949), Trottie True (1949), Poet's Pub (1949), Don't Ever Leave Me (1949), Helter Skelter (1949), Christopher Columbus (1949), and The Chiltern Hundreds (1949).

He also acted on stage in repertory at Aldershot and Worthington.

He tested unsuccessfully for a part in Walt Disney's Treasure Island (1950).

Steel's roles up until then had been essentially bit parts.

His first big break was being cast as one of three British POWs who escape from a camp in The Wooden Horse (1950).

This film, based on a true story, was the third most popular film at the British box office in 1950 and established Steel as a leading man.

Director Jack Lee said that the actor "was fine to work with, just a physical type, a young chap who could do certain things, though he didn't have much acting to do in this."

He was paid £15 a week.

"[Co star] Leo Genn was getting thousands," Steel recalled.

"It made me pretty mad."

Steel was cast as the romantic male lead in The Mudlark (1950), a Hollywood film starring Irene Dunne being shot in London.

He did a play Turn to Page Two (1950).

He had a small part in the comedy Laughter in Paradise (1951) then supported another Hollywood name, Bette Davis in the thriller, Another Man's Poison (1951).

Steel's next big break was being cast as a game park warden inspired by Mervyn Cowie in Where No Vultures Fly (1951), shot mostly on location in Kenya.

This was the most popular British movie of the year and the Royal Command Performance Film for 1951, confirming Steel's status as a genuine box office draw.

In 1952 British exhibitors voted him the fourth most popular British star and he was seen as the successor to Stewart Granger.

One profile argued that:

"Audiences appreciated his lack of 'brood' and neurosis; he seemed fresh-faced and decent: the ideal uncomplicated boyfriend/junior lieutenant/game warden. In addition, at a time when many British leading men seemed 'indoorsy' (i.e. wimps), Steel was a physically active type. He didn’t come across too sleazy on screen, either... he could seem romantically interested in women but not lecherous about it."

He co-starred with Jack Warner in a thriller directed by Lewis Gilbert, Emergency Call (1952).

Rank tried Steel in a comedy, Something Money Can't Buy (1952), with Patricia Roc but the public response was not enthusiastic.