Victor McLaglen Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen ( 10 December 1886 – 7 November 1959 ) was an English boxer and World War I veteran who became a successful film actor . Towards the end of his life he was naturalised as a U . S . citizen . Early life . McLaglen was born in Tunbridge Wells , Kent . His father , later a bishop of the Free Protestant Episcopal Church of England , moved the family to South Africa when McLaglen was a child . He had eight brothers and a sister . Four of his brothers also became actors : Arthur ( 1888 – 1972 ) , an actor and sculptor , and Clifford ( 1892 – 1978 ) , Cyril ( 1899 – 1987 ) and Kenneth ( circa 1901 - 1979 ) . Other siblings included Frederick ( b . circa 1882 ) , Sydney ( b . circa 1884 ) , Lewis ( b . circa 1889 ) , and a sister , Lily ( b . circa 1893 ) . Another brother , Leopold McLaglen , who appeared in one film , gained notoriety prior to World War I as a showman and self - proclaimed World Jujutsu Champion , who authored a book on the subject . Before Hollywood . He left home at fourteen to join the British Army with the intention of fighting in the Second Boer War . However , much to his chagrin , he was stationed at Windsor Castle with the Life Guards and was later forced to leave the army when his true age was discovered . Four years later , he moved to Canada , where he earned a living as a wrestler and heavyweight boxer , with several notable wins in the ring . One of his most famous fights was against Heavyweight Champion Jack Johnson , in a 6 round exhibition bout . This was Johnson ' s first bout since winning the heavyweight title from Tommy Burns . Between bouts , McLaglen toured with a circus , which offered $ 25 to anyone who could go three rounds with him . He returned to Britain in 1913 and during World War I served as a Captain ( acting ) with the 10th Battalion , Middlesex Regiment , part of The Princess of Wales ' s Royal Regiment ( Queen ' s and Royal Hampshires ) . Later he claimed to have served with the Royal Irish Fusiliers . He served for a time as military Provost Marshal for the city of Baghdad . He also continued boxing , and was named Heavyweight Champion of the British Army in 1918 . After the war , he began taking roles in British silent films . Film career . McLaglen ' s career took a surprise turn in the 1920s , when he moved to Hollywood . He became a popular character actor , with a particular knack for playing drunks . He also usually played Irishmen , leading many film fans to mistakenly assume he was Irish rather than English . McLaglen played one of the titular " Unholy Three " in Lon Chaney , Sr . ' s original silent version of the macabre crime drama . The highlight of his career was an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in " The Informer " ( 1935 ) , based on a novel by Liam O ' Flaherty ; Frank Tashlin ' s 1938 cartoon " Have You Got Any Castles ? " features a caricature of McLaglen emerging from the novel and literally informing someone about some shady characters . Arguably his most famous film remains " Gunga Din " ( 1939 ) with Cary Grant and Douglas Fairbanks , Jr . , an adventure epic loosely based on Rudyard Kipling ' s poem and partially remade decades later as " Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom " ( 1984 ) . McLaglen was nominated again , this time for Best Supporting Actor for his role opposite John Wayne in " The Quiet Man " ( 1952 ) . He was especially popular with director John Ford , who frequently included McLaglen in his films , often as comedy relief . Toward the end of his career , McLaglen made several guest appearances on television , particularly in Western series such as " Have Gun , Will Travel " and " Rawhide " . The episodes of those series in which McLaglen guest - starred were both directed by his son , Andrew V . McLaglen , who later was a film director frequently directing John Wayne . Personal life . Victor McLaglen was the elder brother of the actor Cyril McLaglen . Victor McLaglen was married three times . His first marriage was to Enid Lamont in 1919 . The couple had one daughter , Sheila , and one son , Andrew . Andrew McLaglen was a television and film director . Andrew ' s children , Mary and Josh McLaglen , are both film producers and directors . Sheila ' s daughter , Gwyneth Horder - Payton , is a television director . Enid Lamont McLaglen died in 1942 as a result of a horse riding accident . Victor McLaglen married twice more . His second marriage was to Suzanne M . Brueggeman . That marriage lasted from 1943 until 1948 . His third and final marriage was to Margaret Pumphrey , whom he married in 1948 . He remained married to Margaret , a Seattle socialite , until his death of a heart attack in 1959 . He had by that time become a naturalized U . S . citizen . He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale , California .