Brian Aherne

William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 1902 – 10 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States.

He first appeared on the stage in Birmingham with the Pilgrim Players (which developed into the Birmingham Repertory Theatre) on 5 April 1910 in Fifinella, and he made his first appearance on the London stage at the Garrick Theatre, 26 December 1913 in Where the Rainbow Ends, a play by Clifford Mills and John Ramsey, with music by Roger Quilter, which ran at various theatres for over 25 years.

He then studied with a view to becoming an architect, but, having had considerable amateur experience in Birmingham and with Liverpool's Green Room Club, he obtained an engagement under Robert Courtneidge, and appeared at London's Savoy Theatre, opening on 26 December 1923, as Jack O'Hara in a revival of Paddy the Next Best Thing, the play by W. Gayer-Mackay and Robert Ord (from the novel).

He then toured with Violet Vanbrugh as Hugo in The Flame and appeared at the London Playhouse in May 1924 as Langford in Leon Gordon's White Cargo, in which he played all through 1924–1925.

Aherne's first screen appearance was in The Eleventh Commandment in 1924.

He made several appearances in productions at Cricklewood Studios by Stoll Pictures, then the largest British film company, including two directed by Sinclair Hill: The Squire of Long Hadley (1925) and A Woman Redeemed (1927).

He was also in King of the Castle (1925) and the comedy Safety First (1926).

In 1926.

he accompanied Dion Boucicault Jr.. to Australia, where he appeared in several plays by J.M. Barrie (as Valentine Brown in the comedy Quality Street, John Shand in the comedy What Every Woman Knows, Crichton in The Admirable Crichton, Simon and Harry in Mary Rose) and Willocks in Aren't We All?, another comedy by Frederick Lonsdale.

Aherne reappeared in London at the Strand in March 1927, again as Langford, in White Cargo and continued on the London stage in a succession of plays until late 1930 when he went to the U.S.

His latter silents were two films Shooting Stars and Underground by director Anthony Asquith.

Aherne made his sound debut in The W Plan (1930), directed by Victor Saville.

His first Broadway appearance in The Barretts of Wimpole Street in 1931 teamed him with Katharine Cornell, with whom he appeared in many productions.

He appeared opposite Madeleine Carroll in Madame Guillotine (1931).

Aherne made his first appearance on the New York City stage at the Empire Theatre on 9 February 1931, playing Robert Browning in Rudolf Besier's play The Barretts of Wimpole Street opposite Katharine Cornell.

The play was a big success, running for 370 performances.

Cornell and Aherne remained lifelong friends and he played in many of her productions.

Aherne returned to Broadway in 1932 for Lucrece, which starred Cornell.

It only had a short run.

He then went to Hollywood, where he made his American film debut in The Song of Songs (1933) with Marlene Dietrich.

He returned to England, where he starred in the film of Basil Dean's The Constant Nymph (1933).

In 1934, he was reunited with Cornell on Broadway in Romeo and Juliet, playing Mercutio; Cornell was Juliet, and Basil Rathbone was Romeo.

It only ran 77 performances.

In Hollywood, Aherne supported Ann Harding in The Fountain (1934), released by RKO Pictures.

At Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Aherne co-starred with Helen Hayes in What Every Woman Knows (1934), and Joan Crawford in I Live My Life (1935), which was a big hit.

In 1935, Aherne and Cornell revived The Barretts of Wimpole Street on Broadway for 24 performances.

Aherne returned to RKO for Sylvia Scarlett (1935) with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, a notorious flop.

He returned to Broadway, where he appeared in Cornell's production of Saint Joan (1936), co-starring Maurice Evans.

Back in Hollywood, he appeared in Beloved Enemy (1936) with Merle Oberon at Goldwyn Productions.

Then, in 1937, he appeared as Iago on Broadway in Othello.

At Warner Bros., Aherne was top-billed in The Great Garrick (1937), directed by James Whale.

He supported Constance Bennett in the hit comedy Merrily We Live (1938) for Hal Roach Studios, distributed by MGM.

In films, he played opposite Madeleine Carroll, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth and Carole Lombard, and was Oscar-nominated for his role as Emperor Maximilian in Juarez (1939).

On TV, he appeared in The Twilight Zone episode, "The Trouble With Templeton", Wagon Train and Rawhide.

He was born in King's Norton, Worcestershire, the second and younger son of the architect William de Lacy Aherne and his wife Louise (née Thomas).

His elder brother Pat Aherne was also an actor.

Educated in Edgbaston, Birmingham, he received stage training at Italia Conti Academy in London as a child actor and then completed his education at Malvern College.

He was Oscar-nominated for his role as Emperor Maxmilian in Juarez (1939).

Hal Roach gave Aherne the star role in Captain Fury (1939) as a bushranger in colonial Australia.

He supported Carole Lombard in Vigil in the Night (1940) at RKO, then reunited with Madeleine Carroll in My Son, My Son! (1940) for Edward Small.