Emerging from a naval schooling background-Bramcote School followed by the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth-he abandoned a prospective navy career for the stage. After debuting with the Lena Ashwell Players in 1924, he earned a reputation as a character actor, originating roles in works by A. A. Milne, Noël Coward and T. S. Eliot, and appearing in Coward’s Tonight at 8.30 cycle, the B…
