C. Aubrey Smith

Sir
C. Aubrey Smith

CBE
Smith in about 1940
Personal information
Full name
Charles Aubrey Smith
Born(1863-07-21)21 July 1863
London, England
Died20 December 1948(1948-12-20) (aged 85)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight arm fast
International information
National side
Only Test (cap 66)12 March 1889 v South Africa
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1882–1896Sussex
1882–1885Cambridge University
1889/90Transvaal
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 1 143
Runs scored 3 2,986
Batting average 3.00 13.63
100s/50s 0/0 0/10
Top score 3 85
Balls bowled 154 17,953
Wickets 7 346
Bowling average 8.71 22.34
5 wickets in innings 1 19
10 wickets in match 0 1
Best bowling 5/19 7/16
Catches/stumpings 0/– 97/–
Source: CricketArchive, 23 September 2008

Sir Charles Aubrey Smith (21 July 1863 – 20 December 1948) was an English Test cricketer who became a stage and film actor, acquiring a niche as the officer-and-gentleman type, as in the first sound version of The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). In Hollywood, he organised British actors into a cricket team, much intriguing local spectators.

Early life

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Smith was born in London, England, to Charles John Smith (1838–1928), a medical doctor, and Sarah Ann (née Clode, 1836–1922).[1][2] His sister, Beryl Faber (died 1912), was married to Cosmo Hamilton.

Smith was educated at Charterhouse School and St John's College, Cambridge.[3][4] He settled in South Africa to prospect for gold in 1888–89. While there he developed pneumonia and was wrongly pronounced dead by doctors. He married Isabella Wood in 1896.

Cricket career

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Smith in about 1895

As a cricketer, Smith was primarily a right arm fast bowler, though he was also a useful right-hand lower-order batsman and a good slip fielder. His oddly curved bowling run-up, which started from deep mid-off, earned him the nickname "Round the Corner Smith".[5][6] When he bowled round the wicket his approach was concealed from the batsman by the umpire until he emerged, leading W. G. Grace to comment "it is rather startling when he suddenly appears at the bowling crease."[7] He is widely regarded as one of the very best amateur bowlers of his day.[8] He played for Cambridge University (1882–1885) and for Sussex at various times from 1882 to 1892.[3]

While in South Africa he captained the Johannesburg English XI.[3] He captained England to victory in his only Test match,[5] against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in March 1889, taking five wickets for nineteen runs in the first innings.[9] The English team who played were by no means representative of the best players of the time and nobody at the time realised that the match would enter the cricket records as an official Test match. His home club for much of his career was West Drayton Cricket club. Actors would arrive from London to the purpose-built train station in West Drayton and taken by horse-drawn carriage to the ground.

In 1932, he founded the Hollywood Cricket Club and created a pitch with imported English grass. He attracted fellow expatriates such as David Niven, Laurence Olivier, Nigel Bruce (who served as captain), Leslie Howard[10] and Boris Karloff to the club as well as local American players. Smith's stereotypical Englishness spawned several amusing anecdotes: while fielding at slip for the Hollywood Club, he dropped a difficult catch and ordered his English butler to fetch his spectacles; they were brought on to the field on a silver platter. The next ball looped gently to slip, to present the kind of catch that "a child would take at midnight with no moon." Smith dropped it and, snatching off his lenses, commented, "Damned fool brought my reading glasses."[11] Decades after his cricket career had ended, when he had long been a famous face in films, Smith was spotted in the pavilion on a visit to Lord's. "That man over there seems familiar", remarked one member to another. "Yes", said the second, seemingly oblivious to his Hollywood fame, "Chap called Smith. Used to play for Sussex."[12]

Acting career

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Smith in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936)
Trailer for Waterloo Bridge (1940)
Smith's gravestone in St Leonard's churchyard, Aldrington, Brighton and Hove. "With malice towards none: with charity for all."

Smith began acting on the London stage in 1895. His first major role was in Prisoner of Zenda the following year, playing the dual lead roles of king and look-alike. Forty-one years later, he appeared in the most acclaimed film version of the novel, this time as the wise old adviser. When Raymond Massey asked him to help him understand the role of Black Michael, he answered "My dear Ray, in my time I have played every part in The Prisoner of Zenda except Princess Flavia. And I always had trouble with Black Michael!"[13] He made his Broadway debut as early as 1895 in The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith. In 1907 he appeared with Marie Doro in The Morals of Marcus, a play Doro later made into a silent film. Smith later appeared in a revival of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion in the starring role of Henry Higgins.

Smith appeared in early films for the nascent British film industry, starring in The Bump in 1920 (written by A. A. Milne for the company Minerva Films, which was founded in 1920 by the actor Leslie Howard and his friend and story editor Adrian Brunel).[14] Smith later went to Hollywood where he had a successful career as a character actor playing either officer or gentleman roles. One role in 1937 was as Colonel Williams in Wee Willie Winkie, starring Shirley Temple, Victor McLaglen, Cesar Romero and June Lang. He was regarded as being the unofficial leader of the British film industry colony in Hollywood, which Sheridan Morley characterised as the Hollywood Raj,[15] a select group of British actors who were seen to be colonising the capital of the film business in the 1930s. Other film stars considered to be "members" of this select group were David Niven (whom Smith treated like a son), Ronald Colman, Rex Harrison, Robert Coote, Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce (whose daughter's wedding he had attended as best man), Leslie Howard (whom Smith had known since working with him on early films in London),[16] and Patric Knowles.

Smith expected his fellow countrymen to report for regular duty at his Hollywood Cricket Club. Anyone who refused was known to "incur his displeasure".[citation needed] Fiercely patriotic, Smith became openly critical of the British actors of enlistment age who did not return to fight after the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Smith loved playing on his status as Hollywood's "Englishman in Residence". His bushy eyebrows, beady eyes, handlebar moustache, and height of 6'2" made him one of the most recognisable faces in Hollywood.

Smith starred alongside leading ladies such as Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor, and Vivien Leigh as well as the actors Clark Gable, Laurence Olivier, Ronald Colman, Maurice Chevalier, and Gary Cooper. His films include The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), The Four Feathers (1939), Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941), And Then There Were None (1945) in which he played General Mandrake, and the 1949 remake of Little Women starring Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh, in which he portrayed the aged grandfather of Laurie Lawrence (played by a young Peter Lawford), who generously gives a piano to the frail Beth March (played by Margaret O'Brien). He also appeared as the father of Maureen O'Sullivan in Tarzan the Ape Man, the first Tarzan film with Johnny Weissmüller. Smith also played a leading role as the Earl of Dorincourt in David O. Selznick's adaption Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936).

He appeared in Dennis Wheatley's 1934 thriller Such Power Is Dangerous, about an attempt to take over Hollywood, under the fictitious name of Warren Hastings Rook (rather than Charles Aubrey Smith). Author Evelyn Waugh leaned heavily on Smith in drawing the character of Sir Ambrose Abercrombie for Waugh's 1948 satire of Hollywood The Loved One. Commander McBragg in the TV cartoon Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales is a parody of him.[citation needed]

Death

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Smith died of pneumonia at home in Beverly Hills on 20 December 1948, aged 85. He was survived by his wife and their daughter, Honor.[17] His body was cremated and nine months later, in accordance with his instructions, the ashes were returned to England and interred in his mother's grave at St Leonard's churchyard in Hove, Sussex.

Honours and awards

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Smith has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[18]

Smith was an officer in the Legion of Frontiersmen.

In 1933, he served on the first board of the Screen Actors Guild.

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1938[19] and was knighted by George VI in 1944[20] for services to Anglo-American amity.[21][22][23]

Complete filmography

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Year Film Role Director Notes
1915 The Builder of Bridges Edward Thursfield
John Glayde's Honor John Glayde
1916 Jaffery Jaffery
The Witching Hour Jack Brookfield
1918 Red Pottage Lord Newhaven Meyrick Milton
1920 The Face at the Window Bentinck Wilfred Noy
Castles in Spain The builder Horace Lisle Lucoque
The Bump Short subject
The Shuttle of Life Reverend John Stone D. J. Williams Lost film
1922 The Bohemian Girl Devilshoof Josef von Sternberg Incomplete film
Flames of Passion Richard Hawke, K.C. Graham Cutts
1923 The Temptation of Carlton Earle Carlton Earle Wilfred Noy
1924 The Unwanted Col. Carrington Walter Summers (rediscovered and restored 2011)[24]
The Rejected Woman Peter Leslie Albert Parker
1928 Show People Extra at Movie Preview King Vidor uncredited
1930 Such Is the Law Sir James Whittaker Sinclair Hill
Birds of Prey Arthur Hilton Basil Dean
John E. Burch (assistant)
Passion Flower Man at Ferry Boat Pier William C. deMille (uncredited) uncredited
1931 The Bachelor Father Sir Basil Algernon 'Chief' Winterton Robert Z. Leonard
Trader Horn St. Clair W.S. Van Dyke uncredited
Contraband Love Paul Machin, JP Sidney Morgan
Daybreak General von Hertz Jacques Feyder
Never the Twain Shall Meet Mr. Pritchard W. S. Van Dyke
Just a Gigolo Lord George Hampton Jack Conway
The Man in Possession Mr. Dabney Sam Wood (uncredited)
Son of India Dr. Wallace Jacques Feyder
Guilty Hands Reverend Hastings Lionel Barrymore
The Phantom of Paris Bourrelier John S. Robertson
Surrender Count Reichendorf William K. Howard
1932 Polly of the Circus Reverend James Northcott Alfred Santell
Tarzan the Ape Man James Parker W. S. Van Dyke Jane's father
But the Flesh Is Weak Florian Clement Jack Conway
Love Me Tonight the Duc d'Artelines Rouben Mamoulian
Trouble in Paradise Adolph J. Giron Ernst Lubitsch
No More Orchids Jerome Cedric Walter Lang
They Just Had to Get Married Aubrey Hampton Edward Ludwig
1933 The Monkey's Paw Sgt. Maj. Morris Wesley Ruggles
Ernest B. Schoedsack (uncredited)
Luxury Liner Edward Thorndyke Lothar Mendes
Secrets Mr. William Marlowe Frank Borzage
The Barbarian Cecil Harwood Sam Wood
Adorable Prime Minister Von Heynitz William Dieterle
Morning Glory Robert Harley "Bob" Hedges Lowell Sherman
Curtain at Eight Detective Jim Hanvey E. Mason Hopper
Bombshell Mr. Wendell Middleton Victor Fleming
Queen Christina Aage Rouben Mamoulian
1934 Caravan Baron von Tokay Erik Charell
Gambling Lady Peter Madison Archie Mayo
The House of Rothschild Duke of Wellington Alfred L. Werker
Maude T. Howell (asst.)
The Scarlet Empress Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst Josef von Sternberg Catherine's father
One More River Gen. Charwell James Whale
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back Captain Reginald Neilsen aka Colonel Roy Del Ruth
Cleopatra Enobarbus Cecil B. DeMille
We Live Again Prince Kortchagin Rouben Mamoulian
The Firebird Police Inspector Miller William Dieterle
1935 The Lives of a Bengal Lancer Major Hamilton Henry Hathaway
Clive of India British Prime Minister Richard Boleslawski
The Gilded Lily Lloyd Granton, Duke of Loamshire Wesley Ruggles
The Right to Live Major Licondra William Keighley
The Florentine Dagger Dr. Lytton Robert Florey
Jalna Uncle Nicholas Whiteoak John Cromwell
China Seas Sir Guy Wilmerding Tay Garnett
The Crusades The Hermit Cecil B. DeMille
Hollywood Extra Girl Documentary short
The Tunnel Lloyd Maurice Elvey
1936 Little Lord Fauntleroy The Earl of Dorincourt John Cromwell
Romeo and Juliet Lord Capulet George Cukor his only Shakespearean role on screen
The Garden of Allah Father J. Roubier Richard Boleslawski
Lloyd's of London Old 'Q' Henry King
The Story of Papworth, the Village of Hope short
1937 Wee Willie Winkie Colonel Williams John Ford
The Prisoner of Zenda Colonel Zapt John Cromwell
W. S. Van Dyke (uncredited)
Victoria the Great Herbert Wilcox
The Hurricane Father Paul John Ford
Thoroughbreds Don't Cry Sir Peter Calverton Alfred E. Green
1938 Four Men and a Prayer Col. Loring Leigh John Ford
Kidnapped Duke of Argyle Alfred L. Werker
Sixty Glorious Years Duke of Wellington Herbert Wilcox
1939 East Side of Heaven Cyrus Barrett Snr. David Butler
The Four Feathers General Burroughs Zoltan Korda
The Sun Never Sets Sir John Randolph Rowland V. Lee
Five Came Back Professor Henry Spengler John Farrow
The Under-Pup Grandpa Richard Wallace
Eternally Yours Gramps, aka Bishop Peabody Tay Garnett
Charles Kerr (assistant)
Another Thin Man Colonel Burr MacFay W. S. Van Dyke
Balalaika Gen. Karagin Reinhold Schünzel
1940 City of Chance The Judge Ricardo Cortez
Rebecca Colonel Julyan Alfred Hitchcock
Beyond Tomorrow Allan Chadwick A. Edward Sutherland
Waterloo Bridge Sr. Military officer / The Duke Mervyn LeRoy
A Bill of Divorcement Dr. Alliot John Farrow
A Little Bit of Heaven Grandpa Andrew Marton
1941 Maisie Was a Lady Al Walpole Edwin L. Marin
Free and Easy The Duke George Sidney
Edward Buzzell (uncredited)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Bishop Manners Victor Fleming
1943 Forever and a Day Admiral Eustace Trimble multiple director[25]
Two Tickets to London Admiralty Detective Fairchild Edwin L. Marin
Flesh and Fantasy Dean of Norwalk Julien Duvivier Episode 2
Madame Curie Lord Kelvin Mervyn LeRoy
1944 The Adventures of Mark Twain Oxford Chancellor Irving Rapper
The White Cliffs of Dover Colonel Walter Forsythe Clarence Brown
Sensations of 1945 Dan Lindsey Andrew Stone
Secrets of Scotland Yard Sir Christopher Pelt George Blair
1945 Forever Yours Grandfather William Nigh
Scotland Yard Investigator Sir James Collison George Blair
And Then There Were None General Sir John Mandrake René Clair
1946 Terror by Night Elderly gentleman on train station Roy William Neill Uncredited
Cluny Brown Colonel Charles Duff Graham Ernst Lubitsch
Rendezvous with Annie Sir Archibald Clyde Allan Dwan
1947 High Conquest Col. Hugh Bunning Irving Allen
Unconquered Lord Chief Justice Cecil B. DeMille
An Ideal Husband Earl of Caversham, Goring's Father Alexander Korda
1948 Luxury Liner Edward Thorndike Richard Whorf
1949 Little Women Mr. James Laurence Mervyn LeRoy

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Smith, Sir (Charles) Aubrey (1863–1948)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/56993. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ Who Was Who in the Theatre: 1912–1976 vol. 4, Q-Z, p. 2208; compiled from editions originally published annually by John Parker, this 1976 version by Gale Research.
  3. ^ a b c Wills, Walter H., 1907. The Anglo-African Who's Who, Jeppestown Press, United Kingdom. p. 337. ISBN 0-9553936-3-9
  4. ^ "Smith, Charles Aubrey (SMT881CA)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  5. ^ a b Frindall, Bill (2009). Ask Bearders. BBC Books. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-84607-880-4.
  6. ^ "The Greatest: One Test Wonders". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  7. ^ Sir Aubrey Smith. Content-uk.cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 19 May 2018.
  8. ^ [https://pictureshowman.com/c-aubrey-smith-hollywoods-resident-englishman/. Retrieved on 10 November 2024.
  9. ^ South Africa v England at Port Elizabeth, 1889. Content-uk.cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 19 May 2018.
  10. ^ Eforgan, E. (2010) Leslie Howard: The Lost Actor. London: Vallentine Mitchell; p. 94, ISBN 978-0-85303-971-6.
  11. ^ Jones, Grahame L (7 October 1989). "Howzat? It's Cricket: Popular From Karachi to Kingston, the Sport Is Also Alive and Well in the Southland". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  12. ^ Lynch, Steven (28 February 2005). "The cricketer who died on the Titanic". Cricinfo Magazine. ESPN. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  13. ^ Fairbanks, Douglas (1988). Salad Days (First ed.). New York: Doubleday. p. 275. ISBN 0-385-17404-7.
  14. ^ Eforgan, E. (2010) Leslie Howard: The Lost Actor. London: Vallentine Mitchell; chapter 3. ISBN 978-0-85303-971-6.
  15. ^ Sheridan Morley: The Brits in Hollywood: Tales from the Hollywood Raj (UK: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1983) ISBN 0-297-78289-4, also published as Tales From The Hollywood Raj: The British, the Movies, and Tinseltown (New York: Viking, 1983), ISBN 0-670-69162-3.
  16. ^ Eforgan, E. (2010) Leslie Howard: The Lost Actor London: Vallentine Mitchell; chapter 5. ISBN 978-0-85303-971-6.
  17. ^ "The Final Curtain". Billboard. 1 January 1949. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  18. ^ C. Aubrey Smith – Awards. IMDb
  19. ^ Commanders of the Order of the British Empire – Supplement to The London Gazette, 9 June 1938, p. 3701.
  20. ^ Recipients of the Honour of Knighthood – Supplement to The London Gazette, 2 June 1944, p. 2566.
  21. ^ C. Aubrey Smith – Biography. IMDb
  22. ^ The Home of CricketArchive. Cricketarchive.com (20 December 1948). Retrieved on 2018-05-19.
  23. ^ Obituary Variety, 22 December 1948, p. 55.
  24. ^ "Silent Preservation Premieres: The Unwanted (1924) & A Hundred Years Ago – French shorts". Cinemamuseum.org.uk (8 September 2011). Retrieved on 2018-05-19.
  25. ^ Directors: René Clair, Edmund Goulding, Cedric Hardwicke, Frank Lloyd, Victor Saville, Robert Stevenson and Herbert Wilcox.

Further reading

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[edit]
Sporting positions
Preceded by English national cricket captain
1888–1889
Succeeded by
Preceded by Sussex county cricket captain
1886–1888
Succeeded by
Preceded by Sussex county cricket captain
1890
Succeeded by