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Basil Radford

 
Actor: Basil Radford
  • Born: Jun 25, 1897 in Chester, England
  • Died: Oct 20, 1952 in London, England, UK
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '30s-'40s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, Drama
  • Career Highlights: Millions Like Us, Whisky Galore!, The Winslow Boy
  • First Major Screen Credit: Broken Blossoms (1936)

Biography

Actor Basil Radford was on the British stage from 1922 in twittish, tweedy comedy roles. His first film appearance was in 1929's Barnum Was Right. International fame came Radford's way when he and Naunton Wayne originated the roles of cricket-obsessed Charters and Caldicott in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (1938). Radford and Wayne continued to play these roles (or facsimiles thereof) in such films as Night Train (1940), Crooks Tour (1941), Next of Kin (1942), Millions Like Us (1945), and Dead of Night (1945). They were supposed to revive Charters and Caldicott once more for Sir Carol Reed's The Third Man (1949), but their roles were streamlined into a solo part for Wilfred Hyde-White. The best of Radford's later roles included the blindsided British bureaucrat in Tight Little Island (1948). Basil Radford died of a heart attack at age 55, shortly after co-starring in White Corridors (1951). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Basil Radford
Born June 25, 1897(1897-06-25)
Chester, England
Died October 20, 1952 (aged 55)
London, England


Basil Radford (25 June 1897 Chester20 October 1952 London) was an English character actor who featured in many British films of the 1930s and 1940s. He is probably best-remembered for his appearances alongside Naunton Wayne as two cricket-obsessed Englishmen in several films from 1938-1949.

The two first appeared as their characters Charters and Caldicott in Alfred Hitchcock's 1938 thriller The Lady Vanishes. They were popular enough to reprise their roles in the 1940 sequel Night Train to Munich, which was again scripted by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. They were the only cast characters to return from the original film (though Margaret Lockwood returned, as a different character).

They went on to appear together in several other 1940s films, including Crook's Tour (1941), Millions Like Us (1943), Dead of Night (1945), It's Not Cricket (1948), Quartet (1948) and Passport to Pimlico (1949).

Apart from his long-running partnership with Naunton Wayne, Radford made many other memorable film appearances in character roles. His other films included Young and Innocent (also for Hitchcock) (1937), The Way to the Stars (1945), The Captive Heart (1946), The Winslow Boy (1948), and Whisky Galore! (1949).

Throughout his film career, Radford had a crescent-shaped scar on his right cheek which -- depending on the camera angle and the lighting of a given shot -- was sometimes barely perceptible but sometimes extremely prominent. He died of a heart attack on October 20, 1952, while rehearsing for a radio show with Naunton Wayne in London.

Selected filmography

* Charters and Caldicott films

External links


 
 
Learn More
Room for Two (1940 Comedy Film)
Naunton Wayne (Actor, Comedy/Drama)
Barnum Was Right (1929 Drama Film)

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