Denholm Elliott

**Denholm Mitchell Elliott**, CBE (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English film, television and theatre actor. He was in more than 120 movies and television programmes. In the 1981, he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

## Early life

Elliott was born in London, England. He was the son of Nina (née Mitchell) and Myles Laymen Farr Elliott. He attended Malvern College and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

## Career

In the 1980s, he won three consecutive British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards – Best Supporting Actor for _Trading Places_ as Dan Aykroyd's kindly butler, _A Private Function_, and _Defence of the Realm_ – as well as an Academy Award nomination for _A Room with a View_. He also became familiar to a wider audience as the well-meaning but addlepated Dr. Marcus Brody in _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ (1981) and _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_. A photograph of his character appears in  _Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull_ and a reference is made to Brody's death. In 1988, Elliott played the Russian mole Povin in the television miniseries _Codename: Kyril_.

## Death

Elliott was diagnosed with HIV in 1987. He died of AIDS-related tuberculosis at his home on Ibiza, Spain, in 1992. His widow set up a charity, the Denholm Elliott Project, in his honour and collaborated on his biography.

## Movies

- _Dear Mr. Prohack_ (1949)
- _The Ringer_ (1952)
- _The Sound Barrier_ (1952)
- _The Holly and the Ivy_ (1952)
- _The Cruel Sea_ (1953)
- _The Heart of the Matter_ (1953)
- _They Who Dare_ (1954)
- _Lease of Life_ (1954)
- _The Man Who Loved Redheads_ (1955)
- _The Night My Number Came Up_ (1955)
- _Pacific Destiny_ (1956)
- _Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Relative Value_ (1959)
- _Scent of Mystery_ (1960)
- _Nothing But the Best_ (1964)
- _The High Bright Sun_ (1964)
- _You Must Be Joking!_ (1965)
- _King Rat_ (1965)
- _Alfie_ (1966)
- _The Spy with a Cold Nose_ (1966)
- _The Night They Raided Minsky's_ (1967)
- _Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush_ (1967)
- _The Sea Gull_ (1968)
- _Too Late the Hero_ (1970)
- _The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer_ (1970)
- _Quest for Love_ (1971)
- _Percy_ (1971)

- _The House That Dripped Blood_ (1971)
- _Follow the Yellow Brick Road_ (1972; television play)
- _Madame Sin_ (1972)
- _A Doll's House_ (1973)
- _The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz_ (1974)
- _Brimstone and Treacle_ (1976; television play)
- _A Ghost Story for Christmas_: _The Signalman _ (1976)
- _Robin and Marian_ (1976)
- _To the Devil a Daughter_ (1976)
- _Voyage of the Damned_ (1976)
- _A Bridge Too Far_ (1977)
- _Shooting the Chandelier_ (1977; television movie)
- _Watership Down_ (1978; voice)
- _The Boys from Brazil_ (1978)
- _Sweeney 2_ (1978)
- _Cuba_ (1979)
- _Zulu Dawn_ (1979)
- _Saint Jack_ (1979)
- _A Game for Vultures_ (1979)
- _Bad Timing_ (1980)
- _Blade on the Feather_ (1980)
- _Sunday Lovers_ (1980)
- _Rising Damp_ (1980)
- _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ (1981)
- _Brimstone and Treacle_ (1982)
- _Marco Polo_ (1982; television miniseries)
- _The Missionary_ (1982)

- _Trading Places_ (1983)
- _The Wicked Lady_ (1983)
- _The Razor's Edge_ (1984)
- _Camille_ (1984)
- _A Private Function_ (1984)
- _A Room with a View_ (1985)
- _Past Caring_ (1985; television film)
- _Bleak House_ (1985; television series)
- _Defence of the Realm_ (1985)
- _Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry_ (1986; television movie)
- _The Whoopee Boys_ (1986)
- _Hotel du Lac_ (1987; television movie)
- _Maurice_ (1987)
- _September_ (1987)
- _A Child's Christmas in Wales_ (1987)
- _Codename: Kyril_ (1988; television series)
- _The Bourne Identity_ (1988; television movie)
- _Noble House_ (1988; television miniseries)
- _Stealing Heaven_ (1988)
- _Bangkok Hilton_ (1989)
- _Killing Dad_ (1989)
- _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_ (1989)
- _Return from the River Kwai_ (1989)
- _The Love She Sought_ (1990; television movie)
- _Toy Soldiers_ (1991)
- _Scorchers_ (1991)
- _A Murder of Quality_ (1991)
- _Noises Off_ (1992)

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Denholm Elliott
- **honorific suffix**: Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE
- **birth name**: Denholm Mitchell Elliott
- **birth place**: Ealing, London, England, United Kingdom
- **death place**: Ibiza, Spain
- **death cause**: Tuberculosis complicated by AIDS
- **nationality**: British
- **education**: Malvern College
- **alma mater**: Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
- **occupation**: Actor
- **years active**: 1949–1992
- **spouse**: Virginia McKenna
(m. 1954; divorced)
Susan Robinson
(m. 1962–1992; his death)