Leo Genn(1905-1978)
- Actor
Leo Genn was the son of a successful jewelry merchant Woolfe (William)
Genn and his wife Rachel Asserson. He attended the City of London
School as a youth and went on to study law at Cambridge. He received
his law degree as a qualified barrister (which in English law tradition
is a lawyer who is a specialist in law and who appears in court as
representative of a client, whereas a solicitor is also a lawyer but
further defined as an attorney who deals directly with the client,
writing all case-related briefs and hiring a barrister for court
appearance - there is no such division in the USA). He began practice
in 1928, however law was not his only interest. Acting caught his eye,
and about 1930 he made the acquaintance of actor/manager Leon M. Lion,
who needed an actor and a legal advisor. Genn fitted both and was hired
and later that year made his stage debut. It was certainly of practical
value that he continued offering legal counsel into the 1930s to
augment the small income of a budding stage performer learning his
craft. In 1933 he met and married Marguerite van Praag, a casting
director at Ealing Studios.
His first screen role was as Shakespeare's Shylock in the UK production
The Immortal Gentleman (1935). It
mortised nicely between his two year (1934-36) period of Shakespearean
apprenticeship as a member of the Old Vic Company where he appeared in
many productions of Shakespeare. Genn had a very pleasant neutral
British accent that could fit anywhere. And his voice was wonderfully
smooth and yet authoritative, likened to "black velvet", that fit like
a glove to his refined manner.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.., in London
for one of his many UK starring vehicles, hired Genn as a technical
advisor on the law for Accused (1936) and
received a bit role - not for his legal advice - but for a "splendid
voice and presence". But the legal side of his character stuck to him
as he was in the process of dropping the law for acting full time. He
spent 1937 playing film prosecutors and defending attorneys - not
something he expected. Things picked up the next year - though still
wading through some crime dramas - when he nabbed a small Indian
character role in The Drum (1938), the
ambitious adventure yarn by producer
Alexander Korda. And he was the
prince dance partner to
Wendy Hiller in
Pygmalion (1938) - uncredited - as was
a young Anthony Quayle. Obviously, small
featured extra roles allowed time for more ambitious outings. He
starred in the stage hit "The Flashing Stream" also in 1938. It
received the nod from Broadway, and Genn made his American debut in
early 1939 in the play's successful run in New York.
Though still tagged for law officialdom in several films, Genn moved on
to more hearty supporting roles in 1940 with war looming. He joined the
Royal Artillery and received a rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1943. In
that year he was already wanted for film's war effort agenda as movie
narrator. In 1944 he was given leave for two flag-waver movies - the
second a most unusual and significant cinematic event. For Genn, it was
a small part, but it was part of a glorious celebration of England and
English history during the crisis of World War II - the Henry V of
Laurence Olivier. Genn was the
Constable of France, and though the lines were few, Shakespeare infused
them with a sardonic wink that Genn delivered perfectly in an
understated style that became one of his hallmarks. This part brought
him to notice as a film actor, but he did not entertain its fruits
until later 1946, for with the end of the war Genn, who had been
awarded the French Croix de Guerre in 1945, went back to law
counseling. He volunteered his legal knowledge to the British army unit
involved in the investigation and prosecution of Nazi war crimes
perpetrated at the Belsen concentration camp near Luneburg, Germany.
And in the subsequent tribunals, Genn served as assistant prosecutor.
He was back in film in 1946, but more so he was being courted by
Broadway to return - which he did in that crowded year with one of his
best stage roles in the Lillian Hellman
classic "Another Part of the Forest". Hollywood waited in the wings to
grab him for the Eugene O'Neill
update
Mourning Becomes Electra (1947)
of the ancient Greek tragedy triangle "Orestaia". It was not Genn's
American film debut, for he had appeared in the UK/US crime drama
The Girl in the News (1940) - as -
what else - a prosecuting counsel - a barrister. He was competing with
the American debut of Michael Redgrave
in the O'Neill adaptation (3 hours, pared to about 2 hours for general
release). The film was a great piece of dialog display but a disaster
at the box office. But the chemistry of Genn with
Rosalind Russell was such that
they were marketed together again the next year in another American
film, The Velvet Touch (1948),
more whodunit but with snappy lines. Subsequently Genn was about
equally in demand for film and stage on both sides of the Atlantic.
His film roles on into the 1950s were somewhat uneven, but Genn was
always to form - the calm, understated but in control male lead or
supporting character, whether war adventure or the inevitable crime
drama - many a steady military officer and understanding professional -
with a bit of comedy and a few shady characters thrown in.
Perhaps his best known American film role was as the sardonic Gaius
Petronius Arbiter in Quo Vadis (1951).
Genn's generous part as the ancient Roman satirist was filled with
double meaning quips and understated sarcasm that Genn delivered with
his poker face charm and subtle sidelong glances. He is so good that
the audience hangs on his next sub-level dig with anticipation that
partially eclipses the first rate histrionics of
Peter Ustinov as a tongue-in-cheek
deranged Nero. The level of Genn's performance was recognized with a
Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. The next year he was more than
just a straight-laced William Bradford of American colonial history
fame in
Plymouth Adventure (1952), a
much maligned American film that was, in fact, a realistic portrayal of
the trials and tribulations of the Pilgrims (they were not all
religious dissenters, not the dour, black and white Puritans who were
later arrivals). Having to compete with a cantankerous, perhaps too
hammy Spencer Tracy as the ship's
captain, Genn's understated intensity brings off a compassionate
portrayal.
Genn helped grace some of the most ambitious films of the later 1950s
and into the 1960s: Moby Dick (1956),
The Longest Day (1962), and
55 Days at Peking (1963). He
embraced TV playhouse, both American and British programs, and US/UK
episodic series through the period, as well as more outings on
Broadway. He made six appearances on the Great White Way - the last in
a short run of "The Only Game in Town" in mid 1968. All along Genn's
voice had found welcoming slots in narration. Beside films, he was the
voice of the royal coronation programs of 1937 and 1953. And he always
kept a foot in his first love, British theater; he was a governor of
London's The Mermaid Theatre.
Genn and his wife Rachel Asserson. He attended the City of London
School as a youth and went on to study law at Cambridge. He received
his law degree as a qualified barrister (which in English law tradition
is a lawyer who is a specialist in law and who appears in court as
representative of a client, whereas a solicitor is also a lawyer but
further defined as an attorney who deals directly with the client,
writing all case-related briefs and hiring a barrister for court
appearance - there is no such division in the USA). He began practice
in 1928, however law was not his only interest. Acting caught his eye,
and about 1930 he made the acquaintance of actor/manager Leon M. Lion,
who needed an actor and a legal advisor. Genn fitted both and was hired
and later that year made his stage debut. It was certainly of practical
value that he continued offering legal counsel into the 1930s to
augment the small income of a budding stage performer learning his
craft. In 1933 he met and married Marguerite van Praag, a casting
director at Ealing Studios.
His first screen role was as Shakespeare's Shylock in the UK production
The Immortal Gentleman (1935). It
mortised nicely between his two year (1934-36) period of Shakespearean
apprenticeship as a member of the Old Vic Company where he appeared in
many productions of Shakespeare. Genn had a very pleasant neutral
British accent that could fit anywhere. And his voice was wonderfully
smooth and yet authoritative, likened to "black velvet", that fit like
a glove to his refined manner.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.., in London
for one of his many UK starring vehicles, hired Genn as a technical
advisor on the law for Accused (1936) and
received a bit role - not for his legal advice - but for a "splendid
voice and presence". But the legal side of his character stuck to him
as he was in the process of dropping the law for acting full time. He
spent 1937 playing film prosecutors and defending attorneys - not
something he expected. Things picked up the next year - though still
wading through some crime dramas - when he nabbed a small Indian
character role in The Drum (1938), the
ambitious adventure yarn by producer
Alexander Korda. And he was the
prince dance partner to
Wendy Hiller in
Pygmalion (1938) - uncredited - as was
a young Anthony Quayle. Obviously, small
featured extra roles allowed time for more ambitious outings. He
starred in the stage hit "The Flashing Stream" also in 1938. It
received the nod from Broadway, and Genn made his American debut in
early 1939 in the play's successful run in New York.
Though still tagged for law officialdom in several films, Genn moved on
to more hearty supporting roles in 1940 with war looming. He joined the
Royal Artillery and received a rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1943. In
that year he was already wanted for film's war effort agenda as movie
narrator. In 1944 he was given leave for two flag-waver movies - the
second a most unusual and significant cinematic event. For Genn, it was
a small part, but it was part of a glorious celebration of England and
English history during the crisis of World War II - the Henry V of
Laurence Olivier. Genn was the
Constable of France, and though the lines were few, Shakespeare infused
them with a sardonic wink that Genn delivered perfectly in an
understated style that became one of his hallmarks. This part brought
him to notice as a film actor, but he did not entertain its fruits
until later 1946, for with the end of the war Genn, who had been
awarded the French Croix de Guerre in 1945, went back to law
counseling. He volunteered his legal knowledge to the British army unit
involved in the investigation and prosecution of Nazi war crimes
perpetrated at the Belsen concentration camp near Luneburg, Germany.
And in the subsequent tribunals, Genn served as assistant prosecutor.
He was back in film in 1946, but more so he was being courted by
Broadway to return - which he did in that crowded year with one of his
best stage roles in the Lillian Hellman
classic "Another Part of the Forest". Hollywood waited in the wings to
grab him for the Eugene O'Neill
update
Mourning Becomes Electra (1947)
of the ancient Greek tragedy triangle "Orestaia". It was not Genn's
American film debut, for he had appeared in the UK/US crime drama
The Girl in the News (1940) - as -
what else - a prosecuting counsel - a barrister. He was competing with
the American debut of Michael Redgrave
in the O'Neill adaptation (3 hours, pared to about 2 hours for general
release). The film was a great piece of dialog display but a disaster
at the box office. But the chemistry of Genn with
Rosalind Russell was such that
they were marketed together again the next year in another American
film, The Velvet Touch (1948),
more whodunit but with snappy lines. Subsequently Genn was about
equally in demand for film and stage on both sides of the Atlantic.
His film roles on into the 1950s were somewhat uneven, but Genn was
always to form - the calm, understated but in control male lead or
supporting character, whether war adventure or the inevitable crime
drama - many a steady military officer and understanding professional -
with a bit of comedy and a few shady characters thrown in.
Perhaps his best known American film role was as the sardonic Gaius
Petronius Arbiter in Quo Vadis (1951).
Genn's generous part as the ancient Roman satirist was filled with
double meaning quips and understated sarcasm that Genn delivered with
his poker face charm and subtle sidelong glances. He is so good that
the audience hangs on his next sub-level dig with anticipation that
partially eclipses the first rate histrionics of
Peter Ustinov as a tongue-in-cheek
deranged Nero. The level of Genn's performance was recognized with a
Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. The next year he was more than
just a straight-laced William Bradford of American colonial history
fame in
Plymouth Adventure (1952), a
much maligned American film that was, in fact, a realistic portrayal of
the trials and tribulations of the Pilgrims (they were not all
religious dissenters, not the dour, black and white Puritans who were
later arrivals). Having to compete with a cantankerous, perhaps too
hammy Spencer Tracy as the ship's
captain, Genn's understated intensity brings off a compassionate
portrayal.
Genn helped grace some of the most ambitious films of the later 1950s
and into the 1960s: Moby Dick (1956),
The Longest Day (1962), and
55 Days at Peking (1963). He
embraced TV playhouse, both American and British programs, and US/UK
episodic series through the period, as well as more outings on
Broadway. He made six appearances on the Great White Way - the last in
a short run of "The Only Game in Town" in mid 1968. All along Genn's
voice had found welcoming slots in narration. Beside films, he was the
voice of the royal coronation programs of 1937 and 1953. And he always
kept a foot in his first love, British theater; he was a governor of
London's The Mermaid Theatre.