Trivia: Droll, moon-faced Scottish actor Alastair Sim was for the first decade of his adult life a professor of elocution. A late bloomer, Sim made his stage debut at age 30; in 1935, he broke into British films, appearing in no fewer than five pictures during his first year. In many of his early films, Sim portrayed slow-witted, regional types, notably the buffoonish sergeant in the Inspector Hornleigh mysteries of the late '30s. He achieved movie stardom during the 1940s, frequently portraying dithering eccentrics who weren't quite as distracted or disorganized as they seemed: the undercover detective in Cottage to Let (1943), the inquisitive Inspector Cockrill in Green for Danger (1946), and the befuddled birdwatcher in Hue and Cry (1947), for instance. Among his most fondly remembered roles of the 1950s were the taciturn moralist forced to break the law in order to qualify for an inheritance in Laughter in Paradise (1952); the enigmatic "voice of conscience" in An Inspector Calls (1954); the mild-mannered professional assassin in The Green Man (1956); his "drag" appearances as the snooty headmistress in the St. Trinians farces; and, of course, the title role in Scrooge (1951), his finest hour and a half. Seemingly growing funnier with each passing year, the 72-year-old Sim all but stole the show as a doddering cleric in the outrageous The Ruling Class (1972). Throughout his four-decade film career, Sim retained his ties to the theater, directing and starring in several of the works of playwright James Bridie and, by popular request, made frequent appearances as Captain Hook in Barrie's Peter Pan; Sim made his last stage appearance in 1975, the year before his death.

Trivia: Upon graduation from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (he'd been a medical student before deciding upon an acting career), Welsh-born Mervyn Johns spent several years as a touring actor in England, Australia and South Africa. He made his first film appearance in 1934. Significant credits in Johns' film manifest include the roles of the confused "throughline" character Walter Craig in the nightmarish multistoried Dead of Night; Bob Cratchit in the 1951 Alastair Sim version of A Christmas Carol; Friar Lawrence in the 1954 filmization of Romeo and Juliet; and Captain Peleg in John Huston's Moby Dick (1956). The husband of concert pianist Alys Maude Steele-Payne and the father of actress Glynis Johns, Mervyn Johns had been widowed for several years when he wed his second wife, actress Diana Churchill.

Trivia: Glyn Dearman had a brief career as a child actor during the early '50s. He made his feature debut in Hideout (1948). His best-known role was that of Tiny Tim in Brian-Desmond Hurst's classic adaptation of A Christmas Carol (1951) starring Alistair Sim. By 1954, Dearman's acting career ended. He did, however, grow up to become an important producer for BBC radio.

Trivia: A graduate of Britain's Brighton College, Michael Hordern entered the workaday world as a schoolteacher. Engaging in amateur theatricals in his off-hours, Hordern turned pro in 1937, making his film debut two years later. After serving in the Royal Navy from 1940 to 1945, Hordern returned to show business, matriculating into one of England's most delightful and prolific character actors. His extensive stage work included two Shakespearean roles that may as well have been for him: King Lear and The Tempest's Prospero. In films, Hordern appeared as Marley's Ghost in the 1951 Alastair Sim version of A Christmas Carol (1951), Demosthenes in Alexander the Great (1956), Cicero in Cleopatra (1963), Baptista in Zeffirelli's Taming of the Shrew (1967), Thomas Boleyn in Anne of a Thousand Days (1968), and Brownlow in the 1982 TV adaptation of Oliver Twist. Other significant movie credits include the lascivious Senex (he's the one who introduces the song "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid") in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), a pathetic Kim Philby type in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1967), theatre critic George Maxwell (who has his heart cut out by looney actor Vincent Price) in Theatre of Blood (1973), and what many consider his finest film assignment, the dissipated, disillusioned journalist in England Made Me (1983). He also served as offscreen narrator for Barry Lyndon (1976) and Young Sherlock Holmes (1985). Michael Hordern was knighted in 1983, and a decade later published his autobiography, A World Elsewhere.

Trivia: Sharp-featured, sharp-tongued British actress Kathleen Harrison was everyone's favorite Cockney, even though she was born in Lancashire. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Kathleen made her stage bow in 1926 (nine years earlier, she had appeared fleetingly in a silent picture). Her first talkie was 1931's Hobson's Choice; within only a few years, she was one of the best-loved actresses on the British screen. Her wide range encompassed suspense films (The Ghoul [1933], The Ghost Train [1941]), G. B. Shaw (Major Barbara [1941], Caesar and Cleopatra [1946]) and Dickens (A Christmas Carol [1951], The Pickwick Papers [1952]). In 1947, Harrison was costarred with Jack Warner in Holiday Camp; the actors played the heads of the Huggett family, a British equivalent to MGM's Hardy brood. This led to a popular series of Huggett films, and other well-received teamings of Warner and Harrison. Active in films until 1979, Kathleen Harrison worked almost exclusively in England; her one American production, Night Must Fall (1937), was based on a British stage success.

Trivia: British character actor Jack Warner began his film career in the early '40s. He is usually cast as a sympathetic fellow and occasionally played leads. Before coming to film, he worked as a comedian.

Trivia: British character actor Francis de Wolff first appeared onscreen in the '30s.

Trivia: A descendant of British revolutionary war officer Henry Clinton, Hermione Baddeley was an actress from the age of six; she made her London stage debut in 1918, and her first film, A Daughter in Revolt, in 1926. An ingenue for many years, Hermione began receiving more substantial roles as she approached middle age; among her best assignments were the stage and film versions of Brighton Rock. Her first Broadway play was 1960's The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Any More, accepting her leading role on the personal invitation of the production's playwright, Tennessee Williams. Unlike her sister Angela Baddeley, who became internationally known for her portrayal of Mrs. Bridges in the BBC TV production Upstairs Downstairs, Hermione Baddeley resisted series television--at least until she was persuaded by producer Norman Lear to tackle the role of acidulous housekeeper Mrs. Naugatuck on the 1970s American sitcom Maude.

Trivia: Jowly, sharp-nosed British theatrical personality Miles Malleson dabbled in virtually every aspect of the dramatic arts from his 1911 stage debut onward. As a writer (he penned his first play in 1913) he was responsible for the screenplays of such treasured films as Nell Gwyn (1934), Victoria the Great (1937) and Mister Emmanuel (1944). As a producer/director, Malleson staged several notable West End plays, among them the original production of Emlyn Williams' Night Must Fall. And as an actor, Malleson contributed a bottomless reserve of screen characterizations: the childish caliph in Thief of Baghdad (1940) (which he also scripted); the spectral coachman ("Room for one more, sir') in Dead of Night (1946); the cheery hangman in Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949); Reverend Chasuble in The Importance of Being Earnest (1952); and a vast array of family retainers, doddering civil servants, faffling aristocrats, stern judges and rural rustics. Miles Malleson worked into his late 70s, until failing eyesight overtook him.

Trivia: In films from 1934, chubby Welsh character actor Roddy Hughes seemed like a Dickens character come to life. Accordingly, Hughes appeared as Short in The Old Curiosity Shop (1934), Tim Linkinwatter in Nicholas Nickelby (1947) and Old Fezziweg in the 1951 Alastair Sim version of A Christmas Carol. He also proved an eminently deflatable authority figure in low comedies of the "Old Mother Riley" variety. In his sixties, Roddy Hughes tended to play phlegmatic old-school-tie clubmen in such films as Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and The Sea Wife (1957).

Trivia: A character comedienne even in her very early twenties, diminutive British actress Hattie Jacques started out in 1944, appearing in stage revues and pantomimes. Long associated with the Players' Theatre, Jacques extended her activities to radio, starring in the popular comedy weeklies ITMA (1948-49) and Educating Archie (1950-54). In films from 1946, she was ideal for eccentric Dickensian roles in films like Nicholas Nickeby (1947), Oliver Twist (1948), A Christmas Carol (1951, as Mrs. Fezziwig) and The Pickwick Papers (1954). Her fans most fondly recall Jacques' sparkling contributions to the ribald "Carry On" film series, and her co-starring stints with such TV favorites as Tony Hancock and Eric Sykes. From 1949 to 1965, Hattie Jacques was married to actor John Le Messurier.

Trivia: Slight, unobtrusive-looking British actor Eliot Makeham made his first film appearance in 1932. Makeham was most effectively cast as put-upon clerks or henpecked husbands. He played a handful of leads in the 1930s, then settled into supporting and featured roles. No matter the size of his part, he always made the most of what he was given; an excellent example was his performance as Schwab in Carol Reed's Night Train to Munich. Married three times, Eliot Makeham's third wife was another familiar British character player, Betty Shale.

Trivia: Before becoming a British character actor of stage, screen (in bit parts) and television, Noel Howlett was a schoolmaster.

Trivia: British actor Hugh Dempster is best remembered as Col. Pickering in the theatrical production of My Fair Lady, a role he reenacted thousands of times over many years of touring. The London-born WW II RAF veteran also appeared in many films of the '30s, '40s, and '50s.

Trivia: British actor Patrick Macnee barely had time to earn his Eton school tie when he began training for his career on a scholarship to the Webber Douglas School of Dramatic Art. While serving with the Royal Navy during World War II, Macnee made his first film appearance with a small role in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943). He continued essaying such featured roles as Young Marley in the 1951 Christmas Carol before coming to Broadway with the Old Vic troupe in 1954. He decided to stay in Hollywood a while, appearing in several TV shows and such films as Les Girls (1957). He would later describe most of his roles during this period as "villainy in a tri-corner hat." In 1960, Macnee traded his period duds for a bowler and three-piece suit when he began his long run as sophisticated secret agent John Steed on the British TV series The Avengers (incidentally, the murder that Macnee was "avenging" in the early episodes was that of a woman played by his then-wife Kate Woodville). He remained the one permanent fixture on The Avengers until its demise in 1968, appearing opposite three different jumpsuit-clad leading ladies: Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg and Linda Thorson. Macnee also showed up as a supervisor of sort in the 1977 "retro" series The New Avengers, leaving the karate and gunplay to Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt. In America, Patrick Macnee appeared regularly on the TV series Gavilan (1982), Empire (1984), and Lightning Force (1991). Macnee continued working through the 2000s, including a voice appearance in the 1998 Avengers movie. Patrick Macnee passed away in 2015, at age 93.

Trivia: British actor Clifford Mollison played character roles on-stage and in films from 1930 through the late '60s. He began on-stage in the early teens.