Trivia: A cultured actress renowned for her elegance and dignity, Deborah Kerr was one of the leading ladies of Hollywood's Golden Age. Born Deborah Kerr-Trimmer in Helensburgh, Scotland, on September 30, 1921, she was first trained as a dancer at her aunt's drama school in Bristol, England. After winning a scholarship to the Sadlers Wells Ballet School, Kerr made her London stage debut at age 17 in Prometheus. Meanwhile, she developed an interest in acting and began getting bit parts and walk-ons in Shakespeare productions. While continuing to appear in various London stage plays, Kerr debuted onscreen in 1940 and went on to roles in a number of British films over the next seven years, often playing cool, reserved, well-bred young ladies. Her portrayal of a nun in Black Narcissus (1947) earned a New York Film Critics Best Actress award and led to an invitation from Hollywood to co-star opposite Clark Gable in The Hucksters. She remained in Hollywood, playing long-suffering, prim, proper, ladylike types until 1953, when she broke her typecast mold by portraying a passionate adulteress in From Here to Eternity, a part for which she had fought. Kerr's range of roles broadened further after that, and she began to appear in British films again. In 1953, Kerr debuted on Broadway to great acclaim in Tea and Sympathy, later reprising her role in the play's 1956 screen version. That same year, she starred as an English governess sent to tutor the children of the King of Siam in one of the most popular films of her career, The King and I. Kerr retired from the screen in 1969, having received six Best Actress Oscar nominations without an award, although she did receive an honorary Oscar in 1994. She had been honored with a special BAFTA award three years earlier in Britain, and, in 1998, she was further honored in her native land with a Companion of the Order of the British Empire. Kerr, who graced the screen one last time in the The Assam Garden (1985), died of complications related to Parkinson's Disease in October 2007. She was 86.

Trivia: Following his 1930 British stage debut, Welsh actor Clifford Evans shuttled between the theatrical centers of England and the U.S. His first film appearance was in the 1936 British musical Calling the Tune. An agreeable leading man of the pre-war era, Evans is best-remembered for his portrayal of the title role in The Courageous Mr. Penn (1943). His lengthy wartime service halted his career momentum, and for the rest of his life Clifford Evans was seen mostly in small supporting roles both in films and on television.

Trivia: On-stage from 1907, British actress Mary Merrall was at her best in dithery, scatterbrained roles. She made her film debut in 1939, later interpreting such characters as Mrs. Foley in Dead of Night (1944) and Mrs. Nickleby in Nicholas Nickleby (1947). She was also seen in such omnibus features as Somerset Maugham's Trio (1950) and Noel Coward's Tonight at 8:30 (1953). Married three times, Mary Merrall was the widow of actor Franklin Dyall.

Trivia: British character actress and comedienne Marie Ault is best remembered for her fingernail-on-the-chalkboard portrayal of Rummy Mitchens in 1941's Major Barbara. In addition to appearing in feature films, Ault also played on the British stage. She was born Mary Cragg.

Trivia: Welsh character actor Kenneth Griffith was the archetypal "little man with big ideas" in most of his films. He spent his younger days playing weaklings and cowards then graduated to petty thieves, blackmailers and abusive parents as the character lines increased on his face. Historian William K. Everson has described Griffith as "the English equivalent to Elisha Cook Jr." -- true enough, especially since Griffith's characters, like Cook's, seldom lived long enough to be around at fadeout time. On both stage and screen since his teens, Kenneth Griffith was seen in such films as Love on the Dole (1941), The Shop at Sly Corner (1947) (perhaps his definitive screen appearance, as a lecherous extortionist), I'm All Right Jack (1959), Payroll (1962), The Whisperers (1967), and S.P.Y.S. (1974).

Trivia: Cockney character actor John Slater entered films in 1941, remaining active until his death 34 years later, despite such setbacks as a life-threatening auto accident in 1946 and sporadic bouts of ill health. He could usually be seen as military officers, constables, and doctors. His voice was familiar to millions of moviegoers via his narration duties in the Mining Review documentary series. John Slater's later credits included a lengthy run as Sgt. Stone on the enormously popular TV weekly Z Cars.

Trivia: Charles Williams looked like a mature Beaver Cleaver. Short of stature, high-pitched of voice, and usually sporting a toothbrush mustache and coke-bottle glasses, Williams was the perfect nerd/buttinsky in many a Hollywood film. Williams began his career at Paramount's New York studios in 1922, dabbling in everything from writing to assistant directing. When talkies arrived, Williams found his true calling as a supporting actor; he was seemingly cast as a nosey reporter or press photographer in every other picture released by Hollywood. In one film, Hold That Co-Ed (1938), gentleman-of-the-press Williams is so obstreperous that, as a comic punchline, he is run over by a car and killed! Charles B. Williams will be instantly recognizable to Yuletide TV viewers as Cousin Eustace in the Frank Capra classic It's a Wonderful Life (1946).