Matinee Classics - Leo Genn Biography & Filmography

Leo Genn ACTOR

PHOTOS

LEO GENN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Leo Genn was born on August 9th, 1905 in London, England with the middle name John, born to Woolfe William Genn and Rachel Asserson. He received his early years education at the City of London School and later enrolled at Cambridge University and studied law.

After graduating from college he began practicing law in 1928 and simultaneously, began to develop an interest in acting. In 1930, he began performing as a stage actor and after gaining a couple years experience, Genn then broke into the film industry appearing in his first film, "Immortal Gentleman" (1935).

Genn maintained his involvement as a stage actor becoming a part of the Old Vic Company where he performed in a variety of Shakespearean productions. He continued to add more film credits to his resume, "Drums" (1938) and "Pygmalion" (1938) starring Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller. The majority of roles he portrayed were of characters dealing in the field of law.

In 1940 he took a brief break from acting and joined the Royal Artillery where he earned the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1943 and in 1945 he was awarded the Croix de Guerre. Returning back to films, his roles were becoming more prominent appearing in the films, "The Way Ahead" (1944) and "Green for Danger" (1946).

Maintaining his presence on stage he appeared in the production, "Another Part of the Forest" and still took on more film roles such as, "Mourning Becomes Electra" (1947), "The Velvet Touch" (1948) starring with Rosalind Russell, Claire Trevor and Leon Ames, "The Snake Pit" (1948) co-starring Olivia de Havilland, Mark Stevens and Celeste Holm, "Quo Vadis" (1951) starring alongside Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr and Peter Ustinov, "Plymouth Adventure" (1952) starring with Spencer Tracy, Gene Tierney, Van Johnson, Lloyd Bridges and John Dehner, "Moby Dick" (1956) starring Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart and Orson Welles, "The Longest Day" (1962) starring John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Eddie Albert, Peter Lawford, Rod Steiger, Curt Jurgens, Richard Burton and Edmond O'Brien and "55 Days at Peking" (1963) starring Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven and John Ireland.

In addition to his stage and film work he also added a variety of television series to his credits such as, "Screen Director's Playhouse", "Armchair Theatre", "On Trial", "About Religion", "The Defenders", "The Virginian", "Vendetta", "The Expert", "Strange Report" and his final television role, "The Zoo Gang" in 1974.

Leo Genn retired from acting and passed away just four years later on January 26th, 1978 in London, England after suffering from a heart attack. Genn married only once to Marguerite van Praag in 1933.