Percy Herbert (actor)

Percy Herbert
Herbert as MacGregor in Cimarron Strip, 1967.
Born	(1920-07-31)31 July 1920 London, England, UK
Died	6 December 1992(1992-12-06) (aged 72) Kent, England, UK
Occupation	actor
Years active	1951-87

Percy Herbert (31 July 1920 – 6 December 1992) was an English character actor who worked predominately during the 1950s, 60s and 70s, becoming one of the most recognisable faces in post war British cinema.

He served in the Royal Army Ordnanace Corps during the Second World War and spent four years in the notorious Japanese prisoner of war camp Changi. After the war he was helped by Dame Sybil Thorndike ]]. to secure an interview with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he won a scholarship. His acting career began in the theatre, which included working at John Gielgud'a Old Vic Company.

Beginning his film career in the eraly fifties he went onto make nearly seventy films, often playing soldiers, most notably in The Cockleshell Heroes, The Bridge on the River Kwai (for which he also worked as consultant), Sea of Sand, Tunes of Glory, The Guns of Naverone, Guns at Batasi and Tobruk. However, he was equally at home in comedies (Barnacle Bill, Casino Royale, two Carry On films), fantasy (One Million Years B.C., Mysterious Island), and drama (Becket, Bunny Lake is Missing).

He also acted on television; he was a regular on the short-lived American series Cimarron Strip, during a brief foray to Hollywood. Other television work includes Danger Man, The Saint, Z Cars, Dixon of Dock Green, and Worzel Gummidge.

Herbert died of a heart attack on 6 December 1992.

Partial filmography

• Confession (1955)
• The Night My Number Came Up (1955)
• The Cockleshell Heroes (1955)
• A Hill in Korea (1956)
• Tiger in the Smoke (1956)
• The Steel Bayonet (1957)
• Quatermass 2 (1957)
• The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
• Barnacle Bill (1957)
• The Safecracker (1958)
• Sea of Sand (1958)
• Serious Charge (1959)
• Yesterday's Enemy (1959)
• The Devil's Disciple (1959)
• The Challenge (1960)
• There Was a Crooked Man (1960)
• Tunes of Glory (1960)
• The Guns of Navarone (1961)
• Mysterious Island (1961)
• Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
• Call Me Bwana (1963)
• The Cracksman (1963)
• Carry On Jack (1963)

• The Counterfeit Constable (1964)
• Becket (1964)
• Guns at Batasi (1964)
• Joey Boy (1965)
• Carry On Cowboy (1965)
• One Million Years B.C. (1966)
• Casino Royale (1967)
• Tobruk (1967)
• The Viking Queen (1967)
• Mister Ten Per Cent (1967)
• Night of the Big Heat (1967)
• The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969)
• Too Late the Hero (1970)
• Man in the Wilderness (1971)
• The Fiend (1972)
• The Mackintosh Man (1973)
• One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975)
• Valentino (1977)
• The Wild Geese (1978)
• The London Connection (1979)
• The Sea Wolves (1980)
• The Love Child (1987)

External links

• Percy Herbert at IMDb