Reginald Gardiner

Reginald Gardiner
William Reginald Gardiner (27 February 1903 – 7 July 1980) was an English actor on the stage, in films and on television.
Early years
Gardiner was born in Wimbledon, England, and he was a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His parents wanted him to be an architect, but he insisted on a career as an actor.
Stage and radio
Gardiner started as a super on stage and eventually became well known on the West End stage. "He appeared in British revues, plays and films before delighting Broadway audiences in 1935 with a wallpaper imitation act in At Home Abroad." His other Broadway credits include Little Glass Clock and An Evening with Beatrice Lillie.
He was also well known to radio listeners, and was known on the air for his amusing train and car noises.
Film
Gardiner worked in almost 100 movies. He started film work in crowd scenes, making his big film break in 1927 the silent film The Lodger, by Alfred Hitchcock.
[[File:Dictator charlie-10.jpg|thumb|Gardiner and Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator (1940)]]
His Hollywood film debut came in 1936. During his career he was cast in numerous roles, often as a British butler. One of his most famous roles was that of Schultz in Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator. He also performed memorable turns as Beverly Carlton (a parody of Noël Coward) in The Man Who Came to Dinner, the spurned "almost-husband" in The Doctor Takes a Wife, Christmas in Connecticut and – one of his most memorable roles – in the Laurel and Hardy epic The Flying Deuces.
Television
He made guest appearances on television sitcoms of the 1960s, including Fess Parker's ABC series, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Stanley Holloway's Our Man Higgins. He appeared in the 1964 Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Ugly Duckling", as business owner Albert Charity, and in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("Banquo's Chair"). In 1966, he was featured on Green Acres as orchestra conductor Sir Geoffrey in the first-season episode "Culture". In 1968, Gardiner appeared as a butler in an episode of “The Monkees” titled “The Monkees Mind Their Manor”. His last major role was alongside Phyllis Diller in her 1966–1967 ABC series The Pruitts of Southampton. Also in 1967 he made a guest appearance on Petticoat Junction, in the episode "Uncle Joe and the Master Plan", as Gaylord Martindale. He played role of Mr. Maudlin in season 6, episode 19, "Dead as a Dude" of 77 Sunset Strip.
Recordings
Gardiner recorded a curious and eccentric classic called "Trains", which was regularly played on the 1950s British radio programme Children's Favourites. This record consisted of a tipsy-sounding Gardiner reciting a monologue, which he first introduced in the 1935 Broadway revue At Home Abroad, about steam railway engines (which he claimed were 'livid beasts') and impersonating both the engines themselves and the sound of trains running on the track. This latter he famously characterised as 'diddly-dee, diddly-dum' to mimic the sound pattern as the four pairs of bogie wheels ran over joins between the lengths of track – a sound no longer heard since welded rail joins were introduced. "Trains" was released as a 78 and a 45 by English Decca Records (F 5278) which remained on catalogue into the 1970s. At the end of the record Gardiner signs off with "Well folks, that's all: back to the asylum." He was summoned to Buckingham Palace to give a performance in person.
Personal life
Gardiner was married twice. He first married Wyn Richmond, a British actress, but they divorced. Later he married model Nadia Petrova.
Gardiner had a son out of wedlock with Jane Bagnato in Toronto, Canada: Reginald James "Jamie" Gardiner was born January 1, 1939. He left Jane and his son after three years to marry Nadia. Jamie's last name was changed to Williams at age 8, after his mother married Reginald Williams in 1947.
Death
Gardiner died of a heart attack at his home in Westwood, California, on 7 July 1980. He was survived by his wife.
Filmography
The Lodger (1927) - Dancer at Ball (uncredited)
The Perfect Lady (1931) - Lord Tony Carderay
Josser on the River (1932) - Donald
Leave It to Smith (1933) - Lord Redwood
Radio Parade (1933) - Himself
The Diplomatic Lover (1934) - Dersingham
Virginia's Husband (1934) - John Craddock
Borrow a Million (1934) - Alastair Cartwright
A Little Bit of Bluff (1935) - Hugh Rigby
Royal Cavalcade (1935) - Bus Conductor
Opening Night (1935)
Born to Dance (1936) - Policeman
A Damsel in Distress (1937) - Keggs
Everybody Sing (1938) - Jerrold Hope
Marie Antoinette (1938) - Comte d'Artois
Sweethearts (1938) - Norman Trumpett
The Girl Downstairs (1938) - Willie
The Flying Deuces (1939) - François
The Night of Nights (1939) - J. Neville Prime
The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940) - John Pierce
Dulcy (1940) - Schuyler Van Dyke
The Great Dictator (1940) - Commander Schultz
My Life with Caroline (1941) - Paul
A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941) - Roger Pillby
Sundown (1941) - Lt. Rodney 'Roddy' Turner
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) - Beverly Carlton
Captains of the Clouds (1942) - Scrounger Harris
Immortal Sergeant (1943) - Tom Benedict
Forever and a Day (1943) - Assistant Hotel Manager
Claudia (1943) - Jerry Seymour
Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943) - Charles, Duke of Trippingham
The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) - Composer / Archibald 'Archie' Dexter
Molly and Me (1945) - Harry Phillips / Peabody, the Butler
Christmas in Connecticut (1945) - John Sloan
The Dolly Sisters (1945) - Tony, Duke of Breck
Do You Love Me (1946) - Herbert Benham
One More Tomorrow (1946) - James 'Jim' Aloysius Fisk
Cluny Brown (1946) - Hilary Ames
I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now (1947) - Will Hough
Fury at Furnace Creek (1948) - Capt. Grover A. Walsh
That Lady in Ermine (1948) - Alberto
That Wonderful Urge (1948) - Count André de Guyon
Wabash Avenue (1950) - English Eddie
I'll Get By (1950) - Himself (uncredited)
Halls of Montezuma (1951) - Sgt. Johnson
Elopement (1951) - Roger Evans
Androcles and the Lion (1952) - Lentulus
Black Widow (1954) - Brian Mullen
Ain't Misbehavin' (1955) - Anatole Piermont Rogers
The Birds and the Bees (1956) - Gerald
The Story of Mankind (1957) - William Shakespeare
Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) - Harold Hermann
Back Street (1961) - Dalian
Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) - Reggie McHugh
What a Way to Go! (1964) - Painter
Sergeant Deadhead (1965) - Lt. Comm. Talbott
Do Not Disturb (1965) - Simmons
Selected stage credits
Chance Acquaintance by John Van Druten (1927)
A Present from Margate'' by Ian Hay (1933)
Radio appearances
References
External links
1903 births
1980 deaths
English male stage actors
English male radio actors
English male film actors
English male television actors
20th-century English male actors
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
20th-century American male actors
Alumni of RADA
British expatriate male actors in the United States
People from Westwood, Los Angeles
Male actors from London
Actors from Wimbledon, London