Leslie Banks

This article is about the English actor and director. For the African American writer, see Leslie Esdaile Banks.

Leslie Banks CBE
Banks in The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
Born	Leslie James Banks (1890-06-09)9 June 1890 West Derby, Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Died	21 April 1952(1952-04-21) (aged 61) Kensington, London, England
Occupation(s)	Actor, director, producer
Years active	1911–1950
Spouse	Gwendoline Haldane Unwin ​ ​ (m. 1915)​
Children	3

Leslie James Banks CBE (9 June 1890 – 21 April 1952) was an English stage and screen actor, director and producer, now best remembered for playing gruff, menacing characters in black-and-white films of the 1930s and 1940s, but also the Chorus in Laurence Olivier's wartime version of Henry V.

Early life and career

Leslie Banks was born in West Derby, Liverpool, Lancashire, to George and Emily (née Dalby) Banks. He attended school at Glenalmond College in Scotland, and later studied at Keble College, Oxford with the intention of becoming a parson, but decided against this.

He joined Frank Benson's company, and made his acting debut in October 1911 at the town hall in Brechin, playing Old Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice. He then toured the United States and Canada with Henry V. Esmond and Eva Moore in 1912 and 1913. Returning to London, he appeared for the first time on the West End stage at the Vaudeville Theatre on 5 May 1914, as Lord Murdon in The Dangerous Age.

During the First World War he served with the Essex Regiment. He received injuries that left his face partially scarred and paralysed. In his acting career he would use this injury to good effect, by showing the unblemished side of his face when playing comedy or romance and the scarred, paralysed side of his face when playing drama or tragedy. After the war, Banks joined the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. He returned to London in 1921, and established himself as a leading dramatic actor and West End star known for his powerful yet restrained performances.

Working in both London and New York City, he gained prominence on both sides of the Atlantic, and it was when he was in New York that Kenneth Macgowan persuaded him to go to Hollywood and make his first credited movie debut there in The Most Dangerous Game in 1932.

Film career

Theatrical release poster for The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

His formidable bulk and intimidating aspect served him well in his first important film role, as a diabolical Russian hunter of human prey in The Most Dangerous Game (1932). The film features Joel McCrea and Fay Wray. For the rest of his career, he divided his time between Britain and the United States and between film and theatre. His other film roles included Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), Fire Over England (1937), Jamaica Inn (1939), Laurence Olivier's Henry V (1944), and David Lean's Madeleine (1950). Against 'type', Banks starred in The Arsenal Stadium Mystery (1939), as the eccentric Inspector Anthony Slade.

His theatre roles included Eliza Comes to Stay (his American debut in 1914), Captain Hook in Peter Pan (his New York debut in 1924), the title role in Clive of India (1934), Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew (1937), the schoolmaster in Goodbye, Mr Chips (1938), and James Jarvis in the Kurt Weill musical Lost in the Stars (1950).

Personal life

He married Gwendoline Haldane Unwin in 1915; they had three daughters, Daphne, Virginia, and Evangeline. Banks was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to theatre in 1950, the year of his last appearances on stage and screen. He died in 1952, aged 61, from a stroke he suffered while walking, and is buried in St Nicholas Churchyard in the village of Worth Matravers, Dorset.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1921	Experience		(Film debut)
1932	The Most Dangerous Game	Count Zaroff
1933	Strange Evidence	Francis Relf
	I Am Suzanne	Adolpe 'Baron' Herring
1934	The Fire Raisers	Jim Bronton
	Red Ensign	David Barr
	The Man Who Knew Too Much	Bob Lawrence
1935	Sanders of the River	Commissioner R.G. Sanders
	The Night of the Party	Sir John Holland
	The Tunnel	Frederick Robbins
1936	Debt of Honour	Maj. Jimmie Stanton
	Three Maxims	Mac
1937	Wings of the Morning	Lord Clontarf
	Fire Over England	the Earl of Leicester
	Farewell Again	Col. Harry Blair
1939	Jamaica Inn	Joss Merlyn
	The Arsenal Stadium Mystery	Inspector Anthony Slade
	Sons of the Sea	Captain Hyde
1940	21 Days	Keith
	Dead Man's Shoes	Roger de Vetheuil
	Busman's Honeymoon	Inspector Kirk
	The Door with Seven Locks	Dr. Manetta
	Neutral Port	George Carter
1941	Cottage to Let	John Barrington
	Ships with Wings	Vice-Admiral Weatherby
1942	The Big Blockade	Civil Service: Taylor
	Went the Day Well?	Oliver Wilsford
1944	Henry V	Chorus
1947	Mrs. Fitzherbert	Charles Fox
1949	The Small Back Room	Col. A.K. Holland
1950	Your Witness	Col. Roger Summerfield
	Madeleine	James Smith	(final film)

External links

• Works by or about Leslie Banks at the Internet Archive
• Leslie Banks at IMDb
• Leslie Banks at the Internet Broadway Database
• Leslie Banks at the BFI's Screenonline