Leslie Howard
@lesliehoward
An appreciation of the writer, producer, actor, director and war veteran.
Leslie Howard, stage and screen actor—see his blue plaque at 45 Farquhar Road, Upper Norwood, London #BluePlaqueTuesday #LeslieHoward
#BOTD in 1917 in Glasgow, actor and writer John Chandos attended RADA and later served in WWII. His first film was 49th Parallel (1941), with Leslie Howard, Eric Portman, and Anton Walbrook. He worked with Leslie Howard again on 1942’s Spitfire.
Playwright, critic, and political activist George Bernard Shaw was #BOTD in 1856 in Dublin. One of his many works was the 1913 play Pygmalion, which he adapted for the screen in 1938. Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller star.
“One Happy Family” is Leslie Howard’s humorous exploration of how a theater production comes together. @VanityFair, July 1930 #TheatreThursday 🎭 #OTD #Broadway
#BOTD in 1902, Monte Westmore led Selznick International Pictures’ make-up department. He did the make-up for Gone With the Wind (1939) and Rebecca (1940). The Westmore legacy lives on in its current members, still active and influential in film make-up artistry. www.westmoresofhollywood.com
#BOTD in 1915, David Tree plays Freddy, the suitor who tries to lure Wendy Hiller’s Eliza away from Henry Higgins (Leslie Howard) in 1938’s Pygmalion. Tree left acting after serious injuries during his WWII service, then returned for 1973’s Don’t Look Now. He passed away in 2009 at the age of 94.
#BOTD in 1890 in Kansas City, Missouri, Jeanne Eagels starred opposite Leslie Howard in Her Cardboard Lover in 1927, staged at the Empire Theatre. Not long after, Eagels became the first person to receive a posthumous Oscar nomination, for her role in 1929’s The Letter.
★ ☆ Stars of the Month ☆ ★ “The impeccable English gentleman becomes a head waiter in Reserved For Ladies, and follows a society girl to Switzerland, where he woos her incognito. Then she finds out his identity and the trouble begins.” Film Weekly, June 1932 #LeslieHoward
#BOTD in 1903, Irene Howard was a casting director and worked on such films as The Haunting (1963) and Dr. Zhivago (1965). Leslie Howard was her older brother.
Born on this date in 1902 - the legendary Walter Plunkett, whose illustrious career included designing costumes for such classics as Gone With the Wind (1939), Singin’ in the Rain (1951), Show Boat (1952), and many others. #BOTD
#LeslieHoward featured on the cover of a Capitol Theater program from Arlington, MA #OTD #ScarletPimpernel
Born on this date in 1895, Paul Lukas starred opposite Leslie Howard in 1933‘s Captured! #BOTD
Born #OTD in 1907, legendary actor Laurence Olivier is known for his many roles on the stage, as well as roles in Wuthering Heights (1939), Rebecca (1940), and many others. In 1941 he starred alongside Raymond Massey, Anton Walbrook, and #LeslieHoward in the #WWII drama 49th Parallel.
#BOTD in 1878, Conway Tearle’s final film role was Prince Escalus of Verona in Romeo and Juliet (1936), opposite John Barrymore, Norma Shearer, Reginald Denny, Basil Rathbone, Edna May Oliver, and Leslie Howard. #ShakespeareSunday
May 1932 “Stage Life in the Raw” Alexander Clark, Jr.’s report on Broadway productions of the day, including a script read-through with the cast of We Are No Longer Children. -Vanity Fair May 1932 #TheatreThursday 🎭
“Leslie Howard refuses to drink tea if there is a single leaf in the cup . . . it reminds him of spinach.” From All Joking Aside, by Jack Welch in Modern Screen, April 1933. #TuesdayTea 🫖
#BOTD in 1871, Henry Stephenson began his career on the stage and later appeared in such film classics as Mutiny on the Bounty and Captain Blood, both 1935. In 1932’s The Animal Kingdom, he plays Rufus Collier, father to Tom (Leslie Howard).
🎭 “Leslie Howard represents one of the largest items of America’s ever-mounting post-war dramatic debt to England. This young Britisher appeared on the American stage twelve years ago . . .” -Vanity Fair, April 1932 #TheatreThursday @vanityfair.com
Leslie Howard Steiner was born on this date in 1893 in London, to Ferdinand “Frank” and Lilian Steiner. Howard was an actor, writer, director, and producer. Like many of his contemporaries and fellow actors, he was also a WWI veteran. #BOTD
Born on this date in 1879, Edward Steichen’s mark on photography cannot be overstated. His striking images of some of the most famous faces of the twentieth century are among his best-known works. Ilka Chase and Leslie Howard, 1932 #BOTD #FashionFriday
“He was so good at reactions . . . You could have played practically the whole shot on his close-up, running the dialogue of the other people on him, he was so good at it. He knew all about stillness.” -David Lean (born #OTD in 1908) on #LeslieHoward
Born on this date in 1908, David Lean was the editor on Pygmalion (1938), starring (& co-directed by) Leslie Howard, and 1941’s 49th Parallel (also starring Leslie Howard). Lean went on to direct Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Dr. Zhivago (1965), among other classics. #BOTD