Henry Daniell

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Henry Daniell (born March 5, 1894 in London – died October 31, 1963) was an English actor who had a long career on stage and screen.

He is probably best-known for his performance as Professor Moriarty in the Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes film The Woman in Green. He appeared in countless other films such as Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator (he played Garbitsch, a parody of Joseph Goebbels), and The Body Snatcher (with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi) - as well as two other movies in the Sherlock Holmes/Basil Rathbone series "The Voice of Terror" and "Sherlock Holmes in Washington" with fellow Moriarty George Zucco. He is also well-remembered for his role as the treacherous Lord Wolfingham (no relation to Francis Walsingham) in The Sea Hawk (1940 film). Here, he fought Errol Flynn in one of the most spectacular duels ever filmed.

He had a small uncredited role as the British Ambassador in a scene in the 1964 movie My Fair Lady. Although it is often assumed that Daniell is indistinguishable in the film and had no lines, he does speak and is, in fact, very noticeable, especially to fans who remember him from his old films. The scene in which he appears takes place at the Embassy Ball. Daniell presents Eliza to the Queen of Transylvania with the one line, "Miss Doolittle, ma'am". In the commentary on the DVD, at the moment he appeared onscreen in the role, it was mentioned that the day he shot that one scene was "his last day on earth", as he died from a heart attack that very evening.

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