# Denholm Elliott

Denholm Mitchell Elliott CBE (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor. He appeared in numerous productions on stage and screen, receiving BAFTA awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Trading Places (1983), A Private Function (1984) and Defence of the Realm (1986), and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Mr. Emerson in A Room with a View (1985). He is also known for his performances in Alfie (1966), A Doll's House (1973), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Maurice (1987), September (1987), and Noises Off (1992). He portrayed Marcus Brody in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). On television, Elliott won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in 1981 and was nominated for a second for Hotel du Lac (1986).
The American film critic Roger Ebert described Elliott as "the most dependable of all British character actors." The New York Times called him "a star among supporting players" and "an accomplished scene-stealer". He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 1988.

## Early life

Elliott was born 31 May 1922, in Kensington, London, the son of Nina (née Mitchell; 1893–1966) and Myles Layman Farr Elliott, MBE (1890–1933), a barrister who had read law and Arabic at Cambridge before fighting with the Gloucestershire Regiment at Gallipoli and in Mesopotamia. In 1930, Myles Elliott was appointed solicitor-general to the Mandatory Government in Palestine. Three years later, following a series of controversial government prosecutions, he was assassinated outside the King David Hotel and buried in the Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion. Elliott's elder brother Neil Emerson Elliott (1920–2003) was a land agent to Lady Anne Cavendish-Bentinck.
Elliott attended Malvern College and joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. He was asked to leave after one term. As Elliott later recalled, "They wrote to my mother and said, 'Much as we like the little fellow, he's wasting your money and our time. Take him away!'"
In the Second World War, he joined the Royal Air Force, training as a wireless operator/air gunner and serving with No. 76 Squadron RAF under the command of Leonard Cheshire. On the night of 23/24 September 1942, his Handley Page Halifax DT508 bomber took part in an air raid on the U-boat pens at Flensburg, Germany. The aircraft was hit by flak and subsequently ditched in the North Sea near Sylt, Germany. Elliott and four of his crewmen survived, and he spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft VIIIb, a prisoner-of-war camp in Lamsdorf (now Łambinowice), Silesia. While imprisoned, he became involved in amateur dramatics. He formed a theatre group that was so successful it toured other POW camps playing Twelfth Night.

## Career

After making his film debut in Dear Mr. Prohack (1949) Elliott went on to play a wide range of parts, including an officer in The Cruel Sea (1953), and often ineffectual and occasionally seedy characters, including the criminal abortionist in Alfie (1966) and the washed-up film director in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974). Elliott and Natasha Parry played the main roles in the 1955 television play The Apollo of Bellac. He took over for an ill Michael Aldridge for one season of The Man in Room 17 (1966).
Elliott made many television appearances, which included plays by Dennis Potter such as Follow the Yellow Brick Road (1972), Brimstone and Treacle, (1976) and Blade on the Feather (1980). He starred in the BBC's adaptation of Charles Dickens's short story The Signalman (1976). He also co-starred with Jack Palance in the Canadian-American television film The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1968).
In the 1980s, Elliott won three consecutive British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards for Best Supporting Actor, for playing the butler to Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy in the American comedy film Trading Places (1983), Dr. Swaby in the British comedy film A Private Function (1984), and the drunken journalist Vernon Bayliss in the British political thriller film Defence of the Realm (1986). He received an Academy Award nomination for playing Mr. Emerson in A Room with a View (1985). He also played Dr. Marcus Brody, an academic and friend of Indiana Jones, in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). A photograph of his character appears in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), and a reference is made to Brody's death. A statue was also dedicated to Brody outside Marshall College, the school where Indiana Jones teaches. In 1988 Elliott played the Russian mole Povin, around whom the entire plot revolves, in the television miniseries Codename: Kyril.
Having filmed Michael Winner's The Wicked Lady (1983), Elliott was quoted in a BBC Radio interview as saying that Marc Sinden and he "are the only two British actors I am aware of who have ever worked with Winner more than once, and it certainly wasn't for love. But curiously, I never, ever saw any of the same crew twice." (Elliott in You Must Be Joking! (1965) and The Wicked Lady and Sinden in The Wicked Lady and Decadence). Elliott had worked with Sinden's father, Donald Sinden, in The Cruel Sea. He co-starred with Katharine Hepburn and Harold Gould in the television film Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry (1986) and with Nicole Kidman in Bangkok Hilton (1989).
In 1988, Elliott was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to acting. His career included many stage performances, including with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and an acclaimed turn as the twin brothers in Jean Anouilh's Ring Round the Moon. His scene-stealing abilities led Gabriel Byrne, his co-star in Defence of the Realm, to say, "Never act with children, dogs, or Denholm Elliott."
Described by the British Film Institute's Screenonline as an actor of "versatile understanding and immaculate technique," Elliott described himself as an instinctive actor and was a critic of Stanislavski's system of acting, saying, "I mistrust and am rather bored with actors who are of the Stanislavski school who think about detail."

## Personal life and death

Secretly bisexual, Elliott was married twice: first to actress Virginia McKenna for a few months in 1954, and later in an open marriage to American actress Susan Robinson, with whom he had two children, Mark and Jennifer (b. Manhattan, New York, USA 8 June 1964), the latter of whom committed suicide at her father's home in Santa Eulària des Riu on Ibiza, Spain, in May 2003, after being exposed by the News of the World as a drug-addicted prostitute.
Elliott was diagnosed with HIV in 1987 and died of AIDS-related tuberculosis at his home in Santa Eulària des Riu on Ibiza, on 6 October 1992, aged 70. Tributes were paid by actors Donald Sinden and Peter Ustinov, the dramatist Dennis Potter, and Virginia McKenna. Sinden said: "He was one of the finest screen actors and a very special actor at that. He was one of the last stars who was a real gentleman. It is a very sad loss." Ustinov said: "He was a wonderful actor and a very good friend on the occasions that life brought us together." Potter commented: "He was a complicated, sensitive, and slightly disturbing actor. Not only was he a very accomplished actor, he was a dry, witty, and slightly menacing individual. As a man, I always found him very open, very straightforward and very much to the point." McKenna added, "It is absolutely dreadful, but the person I am thinking of at the moment more than anybody is his wife. It must be terrible for her." Ismail Merchant described Elliott as "an all-giving person, full of life ... He had an affection and feeling for other actors, which is very unusual in our business."
Elliott's widow set up a charity, the Denholm Elliott Project, and collaborated on his biography. She worked closely with the UK Coalition of People Living with HIV and AIDS. She died on 12 April 2007, aged 65, in a fire in her flat in Hornsey, London.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1949 | Dear Mr. Prohack | Oswald Morfrey | |
| 1952 | The Sound Barrier | Christopher Ridgefield | Breaking the Sound Barrier in USA |
| 1952 | The Holly and the Ivy | Michael Gregory | |
| 1952 | The Ringer | John Lemley | |
| 1953 | The Cruel Sea | Morell | |
| 1953 | The Heart of the Matter | Wilson | |
| 1954 | Lease of Life | Martin Blake | |
| 1954 | They Who Dare | Sergeant Corcoran | |
| 1955 | The Man Who Loved Redheads | Denis | |
| 1955 | The Night My Number Came Up | Mackenzie | |
| 1956 | Pacific Destiny | Arthur Grimble | |
| 1960 | Scent of Mystery | Oliver Larker | |
| 1963 | Station Six-Sahara | Macey | |
| 1964 | Nothing But the Best | Charlie Prince | |
| 1965 | The High Bright Sun | Baker | |
| 1965 | King Rat | Larkin | |
| 1966 | Alfie | The Abortionist | |
| 1967 | Maroc 7 | Inspector Barrada | |
| 1968 | The Night They Raided Minsky's | Vance Fowler | |
| 1968 | The Sea Gull | Dorn, a doctor | |
| 1970 | Too Late the Hero | Captain Hornsby | |
| 1970 | The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer | Peter Niss | |
| 1971 | Percy | Emmanuel Whitbread | |
| 1971 | The House That Dripped Blood | Charles Hillyer | Segment 1: Method for Murder |
| 1971 | Quest for Love | Tom Lewis | |
| 1972 | Madame Sin | Malcolm De Vere | |
| 1973 | The Vault of Horror | Diltant | Segment 5: Drawn and Quartered |
| 1973 | A Doll's House | Krogstad | |
| 1974 | The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz | Friar | |
| 1975 | Russian Roulette | Commander Petapiece | |
| 1976 | Robin and Marian | Will Scarlet | |
| 1976 | To the Devil a Daughter | Henry Beddows | |
| 1976 | Partners | John Grey | |
| 1976 | Voyage of the Damned | Admiral Canaris | |
| 1977 | A Bridge Too Far | R.A.F. Met. Officer | |
| 1978 | The Hound of the Baskervilles | Stapleton | |
| 1978 | Watership Down | Cowslip | (voice) |
| 1978 | The Boys From Brazil | Sidney Beynon | |
| 1978 | Sweeney 2 | Detective Chief Superintendent Jupp | |
| 1979 | Zulu Dawn | Colonel Pulleine | |
| 1979 | Saint Jack | William Leigh | |
| 1979 | Cuba | Donald Skinner | |
| 1980 | Bad Timing | Stefan Vognic | |
| 1980 | Rising Damp | Charles Seymour | |
| 1980 | Sunday Lovers | Parker | Segment: An Englishman's Home |
| 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Dr. Marcus Brody | |
| 1982 | Brimstone and Treacle | Mr. Tom Bates | |
| 1983 | The Wicked Lady | Sir Ralph Skelton | |
| 1983 | Trading Places | Coleman | |
| 1984 | The Razor's Edge | Elliott Templeton | |
| 1984 | A Private Function | Dr. Charles Swaby | |
| 1985 | A Room with a View | Mr. Emerson | |
| 1985 | Underworld | Dr. Savary | |
| 1986 | Defence of the Realm | Vernon Bayliss | |
| 1986 | The Whoopee Boys | Colonel Phelps | |
| 1987 | September | Howard | |
| 1987 | Maurice | Dr. Barry | |
| 1988 | Stealing Heaven | Fulbert | |
| 1989 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | Dr. Marcus Brody | |
| 1989 | Killing Dad | Nathy | |
| 1991 | Toy Soldiers | Headmaster | |
| 1991 | Scorchers | Howler | |
| 1992 | Noises Off | Selsdon Mowbray | Final film role |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1958 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Jack Lyons | Season 3 Episode 34: "The Crocodile Case" |
| 1959 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | John Manbridge | Season 4 Episode 21: "Relative Value" |
| 1963 | Hancock | Peter Dartford | 1 episode |
| 1965 | Danger Man | Basil Jordan | Season 3 Episode 18: The Hunting Party |
| 1966 | The Man in Room 17 | Defraits | 13 episodes |
| 1966 | Mystery and Imagination | Roderick Usher | Episode: The Fall of the House of Usher |
| 1968 | The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | George Devlin | TV film |
| 1968 | Mystery and Imagination | Count Dracula | Episode: Dracula |
| 1972 | The Persuaders! | Roland | Episode: A Death in the Family |
| 1972 | Follow the Yellow Brick Road | Jack Black | TV play |
| 1975 | Thriller | Dr. Frank Henson | Episode: The Crazy Kill |
| 1976 | Brimstone and Treacle | Mr. Tom Bates | TV play: Play for Today |
| 1976 | Clayhanger | Tertius Ingpen | 9 episodes |
| 1976 | The Signalman | The Signalman | TV play |
| 1977 | Ripping Yarns | Mr. Gregory | Episode: Across The Andes by Frog |
| 1980 | Hammer House of Horror | Norman Shenley | Episode: Rude Awakening |
| 1980 | Blade on the Feather | Jack Hill | TV film |
| 1980 | Tales of the Unexpected | Harold | TV Series, Season 3 ep 7, 'The Stinker' |
| 1982 | Marco Polo | Niccolò Polo | 8 episodes |
| 1983 | The Hound of the Baskervilles | Dr. Mortimer | TV film |
| 1984 | Camille | Count de Noilly | TV film |
| 1985 | Bleak House | John Jarndyce | 7 episodes |
| 1986 | Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry | George Parker | TV film |
| 1987 | Hotel du Lac | Phillip Neville | TV film |
| 1987 | Scoop | Mr. Salter | TV film |
| 1987 | A Child's Christmas in Wales | Old Geraint | TV film |
| 1987 | The Happy Valley | Sir Henry 'Jock' Delves Broughton | TV film |
| 1988 | Codename: Kyril | Povin | 4 episodes |
| 1988 | The Ray Bradbury Theater | Tom Cotter | Episode: The Coffin |
| 1988 | The Bourne Identity | Dr Geoffrey Washburn | TV mini-series |
| 1988 | Noble House | Alastair Struan | 4 episodes |
| 1989 | Bangkok Hilton | Hal Stanton | 3 episodes |
| 1990 | A Green Journey | James O'Hannon | TV film |
| 1991 | A Murder of Quality | George Smiley | TV film |
| 1991 | One Against the Wind | Father LeBlanc | TV film |
| 1991 | The Black Candle | William Filmore | TV film |

## Stage

| Year | Title | Role(s) | Notes |
| 1946 | The Guinea Pig | | West End debut |
| 1950 | Venus Observed | Edgar | |
| 1950 | Ring Round the Moon | Frederic, Hugo | Broadway debut |
| 1951 | The Green Bay Tree | Julian | |
| 1951 | A Sleep of Prisoners | | |
| 1953 | The Confidential Clerk | | |
| 1957 | Monique | Fernand Ravinel | |
| 1958 | Traveller Without Luggage | | |
| 1960 | The Merchant of Venice | Bassanio | |
| 1960 | The Two Gentlemen of Verona | Valentine | |
| 1960 | Troilus and Cressida | Troilus | |
| 1961 | Write Me a Murder | The Hon. Clive Rodingham | |
| 1964 | The Seagull | Trigorin | |
| 1964 | The Crucible | Reverend John Hale | |
| 1967 | The Imaginary Invalid | Dr. Diaforus | |
| 1967 | A Touch of the Poet | Cornelius Melody | |
| 1967 | Tonight at 8.30 | Alec Harvey | |
| 1970 | Come As You Are | | |
| 1975 | The Return of A. J. Raffles | A. J. Raffles | |
| 1977 | The New York Idea | | |
| 1977 | Three Sisters | | |
| 1989 | A Life in the Theatre | Robert | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nomination | Result |
| 1986 | Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actor | A Room with a View | Nominated |
| 1973 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor | A Doll's House | Nominated |
| 1979 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Saint Jack | Nominated |
| 1981 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Nominated |
| 1983 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Trading Places | Won |
| 1984 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor | A Private Function | Won |
| 1985 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Defence of the Realm | Won |
| 1986 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor | A Room with a View | Nominated |
| 1981 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Actor | BBC2 Playhouse: Gentlefolk & In Hiding Blade on the Feather Tales of the Unexpected: The Stinker | Won |
| 1986 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Actor | Screen Two: Hotel du Lac | Nominated |