British actor (1886-1972). Born in
Weedon, England, Carroll was a
stage actor in
London and
New York until he finally made the transition to
Hollywood in 1934, where he stuck mainly to
dignified and very British
supporting roles. He served in the British Army during
World War I, where he saw action in
France,
Salonika, and
Palestine. He was badly wounded while serving in Palestine; after his recovery and discharge in 1919, he returned to acting on the British stage.
His first film was "
Sadie McKee" in 1934. He also appeared in the 1938 version of "
A Christmas Carol," playing
Marley's Ghost, and played
Joseph Earnshaw in 1939's "
Wuthering Heights." He soon became one of
Alfred Hitchcock's stable of actors, winning roles in "
Rebecca," "
Suspicion," "
Spellbound," "
The Paradine Case," "
Strangers on a Train," and "
North by Northwest." He also had roles in "
Forever Amber," the 1950 version of "
Father of the Bride," "
The Desert Fox," "
The Snows of Kilimanjaro," "
The Bad and the Beautiful," "
We're No Angels," "
Tarantula"
*, and "
The Parent Trap." He also enjoyed
success on
television, playing the title role in "
Topper" and playing
Alexander Waverly in "
The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (and in a number of related
films).
He died in Hollywood on October 16, 1972, of
pneumonia brought on by
cancer.
* And
sighmoan reminds me that Carroll's performance in this movie was
immortalized in
Richard O'Brian's song "
Science Fiction Double Feature" from "
The Rocky Horror Picture Show":
"I knew Leo G. Carroll was over a barrel when Tarantula took to the hills..."Research from the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com)