Ronald Colman Ronald Charles Colman ( 9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958 ) was an English actor , popular during the 1930s and 1940s . He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for " A Double Life " ( 1947 ) , and received further nominations for " Random Harvest " ( 1942 ) and " Bulldog Drummond / Condemned " ( 1929 , nominated for his work in both ) . Colman starred in the classic films " A Tale of Two Cities " ( 1935 ) , " Lost Horizon " ( 1937 ) , " A Prisoner of Zenda " ( 1937 ) and " The Talk of the Town " ( 1942 ) . Early years . He was born in Richmond , Surrey , England , as Ronald Charles Colman , the second son and fourth child of Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser . His siblings included Eric , Edith , and Marjorie . He was educated at boarding school in Littlehampton , where he discovered he enjoyed acting , despite being shy . He intended to study engineering at Cambridge University , but his father ' s sudden death from pneumonia in 1907 made this financially impossible . He became a well - known amateur actor and was a member of the West Middlesex Dramatic Society in 1908 – 09 . He made his first appearance on the professional stage in 1914 . World War I . While working as a clerk at the British Steamship Company in the City of London , he joined the London Scottish Regiment in 1909 as a Territorial Army soldier , and on being mobilised on the outbreak of World War I , crossed the English Channel in September 1914 to France to take part in the fighting on the Western Front . On 31 October 1914 , at the Battle of Messines , Colman was seriously wounded by shrapnel in his ankle , which gave him a limp that he would attempt to hide throughout the rest of his acting career . He was invalided out of the British Army in 1915 in consequence . ( His fellow Hollywood actors Claude Rains , Herbert Marshall , Cedric Hardwicke and Basil Rathbone all saw service with the London Scottish in the war ) . Career . Theatre . He had sufficiently recovered from wartime injuries to appear at the London Coliseum on 19 June 1916 , as Rahmat Sheikh in " The Maharani of Arakan " , with Lena Ashwell ; at the Playhouse in December that year as Stephen Weatherbee in Charles Goddard & Paul Dickey ' s play " The Misleading Lady " ; at the Court Theatre in March 1917 he played Webber in " Partnership " and at that theatre the following year appeared in Eugène Brieux ' s play , adapted from the French , " Damaged Goods " ; at the Ambassadors Theatre in February 1918 he played George Lubin in " The Little Brother " , and during 1918 toured as David Goldsmith in " The Bubble " . In 1920 , Colman went to America and toured with Robert Warwick in " The Dauntless Three " , and subsequently toured with Fay Bainter in " East is West " ; at the Booth Theatre , New York , in January 1921 he played the Temple Priest in William Archer ' s play " The Green Goddess " , with George Arliss ; at the 39th Street Theatre in August 1921 he appeared as Charles in " The Nightcap " ; and in September 1922 he made a great success as Alain Sergyll at the Empire Theatre ( New York City ) in the hit play " La Tendressse " . Film . Ronald Colman had first appeared in films in England in 1917 and 1919 for Cecil Hepworth , and subsequently with the old Broadwest Film Company in " The Snow of the Desert " . While appearing on stage in New York in " La Tendress " , Director Henry King saw him , and engaged him as the leading man in the 1923 film , " The White Sister " , opposite Lillian Gish , and was an immediate success . Thereafter Colman virtually abandoned the stage for film . He became a very popular silent film star in both romantic and adventure films , among them " The Dark Angel " ( 1925 ) , " Stella Dallas " ( 1926 ) , " Beau Geste " ( 1927 ) , and " The Winning of Barbara Worth " ( 1926 ) . His dark hair and eyes and his athletic and riding ability ( he did most of his own stunts until late in his career ) led reviewers to describe him as a " Valentino type " . He was often cast in similar , exotic roles . Towards the end of the silents era , Colman was teamed with Hungarian actress Vilma Bánky under Samuel Goldwyn and the two were a popular movie team rivalling Greta Garbo and John Gilbert . Although he was a huge success in silent films , he was unable to capitalize on one of his chief assets until the advent of the talking picture , " his beautifully modulated and cultured voice " , also described as " a bewitching , finely - modulated , resonant voice " . Colman was often viewed as a suave English Gentleman , whose voice embodied chivalry and mirrored the image of a " Stereotypical English gentleman . " His first major talkie success was in 1930 , when he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for two roles – " Condemned " and " Bulldog Drummond " . He thereafter appeared in a number of notable films , including " Raffles " , " The Masquerader " , " Clive of India " , " A Tale of Two Cities " in 1935 , " Under Two Flags " , " The Prisoner of Zenda " and " Lost Horizon " in 1937 , " If I Were King " in 1938 , and " The Talk of the Town " in 1942 . He won the Best Actor Oscar in 1948 for " A Double Life . " At the time of his death , Colman was contracted by MGM for the lead role in " Village of the Damned " . However , Colman died and the film became a British production starring George Sanders , who had married Colman ' s widow , Benita Hume . Fame . Ronald Colman has been mentioned in many novels , but he is specifically mentioned in The Invisible Man because of his charming , well - known voice . The main character of this novel says that he wishes he could have a voice like Ronald Colman ’ s because it is charming and he relates the voice to a voice of a “ gentleman ” or a man from Esquire magazine . Ronald Colman was indeed very well known for his voice . Encyclopædia Britannica says that Colman had a “ resonant , mellifluous speaking voice with a unique , pleasing timbre ” . Along with his charming voice , Colman had a very confident performing manner that helped make him a major star of sound films . Radio and television . Beginning in 1945 , Colman made many guest appearances on " The Jack Benny Program " on radio , alongside his second wife , stage and screen actress Benita Hume . Their comedy work as Benny ' s perpetually exasperated next - door neighbours led to their own radio comedy " The Halls of Ivy " from 1950 to 1952 , created by " Fibber McGee & Molly " mastermind Don Quinn , on which the Colmans played the literate , charming president of a middle American college and his former - actress wife . Listeners were surprised to discover that the episode of 24 January 1951 , " The Goya Bequest " — a story examining the bequest of a Goya painting that was suspected of being a fraud hyped by its late owner to avoid paying customs duties when bringing it to the United States — was written by Colman himself , who poked fun at his accomplishment while taking a rare turn giving the evening ' s credits at the show ' s conclusion . " The Halls of Ivy " ran on NBC radio from 1950 to 1952 , then moved to CBS television for the 1954 / 55 season . Colman was also the host and occasional star of " Favorite Story " , which ran on NBC from 13 September 1947 to 1949 . Death . Ronald Colman died on 19 May 1958 , aged 67 , from acute emphysema in Santa Barbara , California , and was interred in the Santa Barbara Cemetery . He had a daughter , Juliet Benita Colman ( born 1944 ) , by his second wife Benita Hume . Awards and honours . He was nominated for four Academy awards : " Bulldog Drummond " ( 1929 ) , " Condemned " ( 1930 ) , " Random Harvest " ( 1942 ) , and " A Double Life " ( 1947 ) , for which he won the Academy Award for his role of " Anthony John , " an actor playing " Othello " who comes to identify with the character . He also won the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in 1947 for his role in " A Double Life " . In 2002 , Colman ' s Oscar statuette was sold at auction by Christie ' s for US $ 174 , 500 . Colman is a recipient of the George Eastman Award , given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film . Colman has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles , one for motion pictures at 6801 Hollywood Blvd . and one for television at 1623 Vine Street . He is the subject of a biography written by his daughter Juliet Benita Colman in the 1980s .