1 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trev_howard.jpg]] |
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3 | Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith (29 September 1913 – 7 January 1988), known professionally as Trevor Howard, was an English actor. If you needed a StiffUpperLip authority figure or, alternately, a fearsome LargeHam, Howard was your go-to actor. |
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5 | Howard studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in the 1930s and began a stage career before UsefulNotes/WorldWarII intervened. He served in the Royal Signal Corps, though the nature of his service remains controversial. In his lifetime, Howard was regarded as a war hero; it was posthumously revealed that he was discharged for mental instability. |
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7 | Howard began acting in films with 1944's ''The Way Ahead'' and 1945's ''The Way to the Stars''. He came to the attention of Creator/DavidLean, who cast him as Alec Harvey in ''Film/BriefEncounter'' opposite Celia Johnson. Howard followed this with another Lean collaboration, ''Film/ThePassionateFriends'', playing a similar role. Despite becoming a star as a romantic lead, Howard was soon typecast as military officers. |
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9 | Arguably Howard's most famous role is the unflappable Major Calloway in Carol Reed's ''Film/TheThirdMan'', which provided the template for his career. In movies like ''The Cockleshell Heroes'', ''The Key'' and ''The Roots Of Heaven'' he exemplified the StiffUpperLip British officer. Howard played against-type as the eccentric AntiHero of Reed's ''Outcast of the Islands'' and cameoed in ''Film/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays1956''. In 1960, he played against type again as a roughneck coal miner and earned a Best Actor nomination for Jack Cardiff's ''Film/SonsAndLovers''. |
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11 | His notable performances in the '60s and '70s include Captain Bligh in ''Film/{{Mutiny on the Bounty|1962}}'', Colonel Fincham in ''Film/VonRyansExpress'', Lord Cardigan in ''Film/TheChargeOfTheLightBrigade'' and Father Collins in Lean's ''Film/RyansDaughter''. |
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13 | Increasingly relegated to character parts, Howard looked to independent movies for leading roles. He played a Cheyenne Indian in ''Windwalker'' and the title character, a depraved aristocrat, in the surreal comedy ''Sir Henry at Rawlinson End''. He also did a lot of television work; among other roles, he played George Frideric Handel in John Osborne's 1985 teleplay, ''God Rot Tunbridge Wells!'' His final role came in the 1988 horror movie ''The Unholy''. |
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15 | Howard's appeal and screen image were well-summarized by Creator/RichardAttenborough, director of ''Film/{{Gandhi}}'', who said that he needed an actor to play Judge Broomfield who could convey British justice and fair play with a minimum of screen time, and naturally turned to Howard. That said, he was equally adept at [[EvilIsHammy scenery-chewing villains]], as his roles as Captain Bligh and Lord Cardigan demonstrate. |
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17 | To the public, Howard was known off-screen for both his [[TheAlcoholic fondness for alcohol]] and obsession with cricket. His contracts included a clause to excuse him from filming whenever a test match was in play. To directors and fellow actors, however, Howard was almost universally regarded as one of British cinema's most friendly and hard-working stars. He was married to actress Helen Cherry. |
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19 | !!Trevor Howard works on this wiki: |
20 | |
21 | * ''Film/BriefEncounter'' |
22 | * ''Film/ISeeADarkStranger'' |
23 | * ''Film/GreenForDanger'' |
24 | * ''Film/TheyMadeMeAFugitive'' |
25 | * ''Film/ThePassionateFriends'' |
26 | * ''Film/TheThirdMan'' |
27 | * ''Film/RunForTheSun'' |
28 | * ''Film/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays1956'' |
29 | * ''Film/SonsAndLovers'' |
30 | * ''Film/{{Mutiny on the Bounty|1962}}'' |
31 | * ''Film/FatherGoose'' |
32 | * ''Film/VonRyansExpress'' |
33 | * ''Film/{{Morituri}}'' |
34 | * ''Film/TheChargeOfTheLightBrigade'' |
35 | * ''Film/BattleOfBritain'' |
36 | * ''Film/RyansDaughter'' |
37 | * ''Film/MaryQueenOfScots1971'' |
38 | * ''Film/{{Ludwig}}'' |
39 | * ''Theatre/ADollsHouse'' (1973) |
40 | * ''Film/ConductUnbecoming'' |
41 | * ''Film/TheLastRemakeOfBeauGeste'' |
42 | * ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' |
43 | * ''Film/{{Meteor}}'' |
44 | * ''Film/TheSeaWolves'' |
45 | * ''Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper'' |
46 | * ''Film/{{Gandhi}}'' |
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48 | !!Tropes associated with the actor: |
49 | * IAmNotSpock: He eventually came to view ''Film/BriefEncounter'''s success as a hindrance to his career, blinding people to his other achievements. When one too many interviewers asked about the film, he slammed down the phone after yelling, "Anyone would think I made nothing else." |
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