Mervyn Johns
| Mervyn Johns | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
David Mervyn Johns 18 February 1899 Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Wales |
| Died |
6 September 1992 (aged 93) Northwood, London, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1934-1979 |
| Spouse(s) |
Alys Steele (1920-1971) (her death) Diana Churchill (1976-1992) (his death) |
| Children | Glynis Johns |
David Mervyn Johns (18 February 1899 – 6 September 1992) was a distinctive Welsh film and television character actor who became a star of British films during World War II. Continuing into the postwar era, he was a notable mainstay of Ealing Studios.
Mervyn Johns started his career in the theatre in the 1920s, and then made his first film in 1935. Among his dozens of film roles were the church Warden in Went the Day Well? (1942), the fearful architect Walter Craig in the mystery film Dead of Night (1945) and Bob Cratchit in Scrooge (1951) with Alastair Sim. Johns also made many television appearances, in series such as The Avengers, Danger Man and Dixon of Dock Green. He was well-known for his "mostly mild-mannered, lugubrious, amusing, sometimes moving 'little men'" in over 100 film and television series.[1]
Johns was twice married. His first wife was the concert pianist Alys Steele. They had one daughter, the actress Glynis Johns, born in South Africa, with whom he appeared in The Halfway House (1944) and The Sundowners (1960). After Alys's death in 1971 he married the actress Diana Churchill in 1976.
A popular misunderstanding is that he was the elder brother of the actor Stratford Johns, but they were not related.
Selected films
- Foreign Affaires (1935)
- In the Soup (1936)
- The Last Curtain (1937)
- Jamaica Inn (1939)
- Convoy (1940)
- Girl in the News (1940)
- Went the Day Well? (1942)
- The Foreman Went to France (1942)
- The Next of Kin (1942)
- San Demetrio London (1943)
- My Learned Friend (1943)
- The Bells Go Down (1943)
- The Halfway House (1944)
- Dead of Night (1945)
- Pink String and Sealing Wax (1945)
- The Captive Heart (1946)
- They Knew Mr. Knight (1946)
- Captain Boycott (1947)
- Counterblast (1948)
- Quartet (1948) (segment "The Kite")
- Easy Money (1948)
- Edward, My Son (1949)
- Helter Skelter (1949)
- Diamond City (1949)
- Scrooge (1951)
- The Magic Box (1951)
- The Master of Ballantrae (1953)
- Romeo and Juliet (1954)
- The Blue Peter (1955)
- Moby Dick (1956)
- 1984 (1956)
- The Intimate Stranger (1956)
- The Counterfeit Plan (1957)
- Doctor at Large (1957)
- The Vicious Circle (1957)
- The Surgeon's Knife (1957)
- The Gypsy and the Gentleman (1958)
- Danger List (1959)
- The Devil's Disciple (1959)
- The Sundowners (1960)
- Never Let Go (1960)
- No Love for Johnnie (1961)
- The Rebel (1961)
- Francis of Assisi (1961)
- The Day of the Triffids (1962)
- The Victors (1963)
- The Old Dark House (1963)
- 80,000 Suspects (1963)
- 55 Days at Peking (1963)
- A Jolly Bad Fellow (1964)
- The Heroes of Telemark (1965)
- Who Killed the Cat? (1966)
- The National Health (1973)
- House of Mortal Sin (1976)
References
External links
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