Holmes Herbert

Holmes Herbert
Holmes Herbert
Born	Horace Edward Jenner (1882-07-30)30 July 1882 Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England
Died	26 December 1956(1956-12-26) (aged 74) Hollywood, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1915-1952
Spouse(s)	Elinor Ince (divorced) Beryl Mercer (1 child) Joan Agnes Bartholomew (until her death in 1955)

Holmes Herbert (30 July 1882 – 26 December 1956) was an English character actor who appeared in Hollywood films from 1915 to 1952.

Life and career

Born as Horace Jenner, Holmes Herbert emigrated to the United States in 1912. He was the first son of Ned Herbert (born Edward Jenner), who worked as an actor and comedian in the British theatre. He never made a film in his native country but managed to appear in 228 films during his career in the U.S., beginning with stalwart leading roles during the silent era and numerous supporting roles in many classic Hollywood films of the sound era, including Captain Blood (1935), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Life of Emile Zola (1937), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), and Foreign Correspondent (1940).

In silent films Herbert could play different nationalities, as did his contemporaries like Wyndham Standing, but when sound films came in, their pronounced British accents were revealed.

Herbert is perhaps best known for his role as Dr. Jekyll's friend Dr. Lanyon in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), and made something of a career in horror films of the period, appearing in The Terror (1928), The Thirteenth Chair (1929 and 1937), The Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), The Invisible Man (1933), Mark of the Vampire (1935), Tower of London (1939), The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), The Undying Monster (1942), The Mummy's Curse and The Son of Dr. Jekyll (1952).

He also played in several of Universal's cycle of Sherlock Holmes films during the 1940s. Holmes Herbert retired in 1952 and died in 1956. He was married three times, including to Beryl Mercer, who bore his only child. He died at the age of seventy-four.

Selected filmography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Holmes Herbert.

• Holmes Herbert at the Internet Movie Database
• Holmes Herbert at the Internet Broadway Database
• Holmes Herbert at Find a Grave