Leslie Howard | |
|---|---|
 Howard as Ashley Wilkes inGone with the Wind, 1939 | |
| Born | Leslie Howard Steiner (1893-04-03)3 April 1893 Forest Hill,London, England |
| Died | 1 June 1943(1943-06-01) (aged 50) At sea off the coast ofGalicia, Spain, nearCedeira |
| Cause of death | Aircraft shot down |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1913–1943 |
| Known for |
|
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2, includingRonald |
Leslie Howard Steiner (3 April 1893 – 1 June 1943) was an English actor, director, producer and writer.[1] He wrote many stories and articles forThe New York Times,The New Yorker, andVanity Fair and was one of the biggest box-office draws and movie idols of the 1930s.
Active in both Britain and Hollywood, Howard playedAshley Wilkes inGone with the Wind (1939). He had roles in many other films, includingBerkeley Square (1933),Of Human Bondage,The Scarlet Pimpernel (both 1934),The Petrified Forest (1936),Pygmalion (1938),Intermezzo (1939),"Pimpernel" Smith (1941), andThe First of the Few (1942). He was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Actor forBerkeley Square andPygmalion.
Howard'sSecond World War activities included acting and filmmaking. He helped to make anti-German propaganda and shore up support for the Allies; two years after his death, theBritish Film Yearbook described Howard's work as "one of the most valuable facets of British propaganda". He was rumoured to have been involved with British or Allied Intelligence, sparking conspiracy theories regarding his death in 1943 when theLuftwaffe shot downBOAC Flight 777 over the Atlantic (off the coast ofCedeira, A Coruña), on which he was a passenger.[2]
Howard was born Leslie Howard Steiner to aBritish mother, Lilian (née Blumberg), and aHungarian Jewish father, Ferdinand Steiner, in Forest Hill, London.[3] His younger brother was actorArthur Howard. Lilian had been raised as aChristian, but she was of partial Jewish ancestry—her paternal grandfather Ludwig Blumberg, a Jewish merchant who had married into the English upper-middle classes.[4][5][6]
He received his formal education atAlleyn's School, London. Like many others around the time of theFirst World War, the family anglicised its name, in this case to "Stainer", although Howard's name remained Steiner in official documents, such as his military records.
Howard was a 21-year-old bank clerk inDulwich when the First World War began; in September 1914 he voluntarily enlisted (under the name Leslie Howard Steiner) as a Private with theBritish Army'sInns of Court Officer Training Corps in London.[7] In February 1915 he received a commission as asubaltern with the 3/1stNorthamptonshire Yeomanry, with which he trained in England until 19 May 1916, when he resigned his commission and was medically discharged from the British Army withneurasthenia.[8][9]
In March 1920, Howard gave public notice inThe London Gazette that he hadchanged his surname, and would thereafter be known by the name of Howard instead of Steiner.[10]
Howard began his professional acting career in regional tours ofPeg O' My Heart andCharley's Aunt in 1916–17 and on theLondon stage in 1917, but had his greatest theatrical success in the United States inBroadway theatre, in plays such asAren't We All? (1923),Outward Bound (1924) andThe Green Hat (1925). He became an undisputed Broadway star inHer Cardboard Lover (1927). After his success astime traveller Peter Standish inBerkeley Square (1929), Howard launched hisHollywood career in the film version ofOutward Bound, but didn't like the experience and vowed never to return toHollywood. However, he did return, many times—later repeating the Standish role in the 1933 film version ofBerkeley Square.
The stage, however, continued to be an important part of his career. Howard frequently juggled acting, producing and directing duties in the Broadway productions in which he starred. Howard was also a dramatist, and starred in the Broadway production of his own playMurray Hill (1927). He played Matt Denant inJohn Galsworthy's 1927 Broadway productionEscape in which he first made his mark as a dramatic actor. His stage triumphs continued withThe Animal Kingdom (1932)[11] andThe Petrified Forest (1934).[12] He later repeated both roles in the film versions.
Howard loved to play Shakespeare, but according to producerJohn Houseman he could be lazy about learning lines. He first sprang to fame playing inRomeo and Juliet (1936) in the role of the leading man. During the same period he had the misfortune to open on Broadway inHamlet (1936) just a few weeks afterJohn Gielgud launched a rival production of the same play that was far more successful[13] with both critics and audiences. Howard's production, his final stage role, lasted for only 39 performances before closing.
Howard was inducted into theAmerican Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981.[14]
In 1920 Howard suggested to his friendAdrian Brunel that they form a film production company. After Howard's initial suggestion of calling it British Comedy Films Ltd., the two eventually settled on the name Minerva Films Ltd. The company's board of directors consisted of Howard, Brunel,C. Aubrey Smith,Nigel Playfair andA. A. Milne. One of the company's investors wasH. G. Wells. Although the films produced by Minerva—which were written by A. A. Milne—were well received by critics, the company was only offered £200 apiece for films that cost it £1,000 to produce, and Minerva Films was short-lived.[15][16][17] Early films include four written by A. A. Milne, includingThe Bump, starringC. Aubrey Smith;Twice Two;Five Pounds Reward; andBookworms, the latter two starring Howard. Some of these films survive in the archives of theBritish Film Institute.
In British and Hollywood productions, Howard often playedstiff upper lipped Englishmen. He appeared in the film version ofOutward Bound (1930), though in a different role from the one he portrayed on Broadway. He hadsecond billing underNorma Shearer inA Free Soul (1931), which also featuredLionel Barrymore and futureGone With the Wind rivalClark Gable eight years prior to theirCivil War masterpiece. He starred in the film version ofBerkeley Square (1933), for which he was nominated for anAcademy Award forBest Actor. He played the title role inThe Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), which is often considered the definitive portrayal.[18]
When Howard co-starred withBette Davis inThe Petrified Forest (1936) – having earlier co-starred with her in the film adaptation ofW. Somerset Maugham's bookOf Human Bondage (1934) – he reportedly insisted thatHumphrey Bogart playgangster Duke Mantee, repeating his role from the stage production. This re-launched Bogart's screen career, and the two men became lifelong friends; Bogart andLauren Bacall later named their daughter "Leslie Howard Bogart" after him.[19] In the same year Howard starred withNorma Shearer in a film version of Shakespeare'sRomeo and Juliet (1936).
Bette Davis was again Howard's co-star in the romantic comedyIt's Love I'm After (1937) (also co-starringOlivia de Havilland). He played Professor Henry Higgins in the film version ofGeorge Bernard Shaw's playPygmalion (1938), withWendy Hiller as Eliza, which earned Howard anotherAcademy Award nomination for Best Actor. In 1939, as war approached, he played oppositeIngrid Bergman inIntermezzo; that August, Howard was determined to return to the country of his birth. He was eager to help the war effort, but lost any support for a new film, instead being obliged to relinquish £20,000 of holdings in the US before he could leave the country.
Howard is perhaps best remembered for his role as Ashley Wilkes inGone with the Wind (1939), his last American film, but he was uncomfortable with Hollywood, and returned toBritain to help with theSecond World War effort. He starred in a number of Second World War films, including49th Parallel (1941),"Pimpernel" Smith (1941) andThe First of the Few (1942, known in the U.S. asSpitfire), the latter two of which he also directed and co-produced.[20] His friend andThe First of the Few co-starDavid Niven said Howard was "...not what he seemed. He had the kind of distraught air that would make people want to mother him. Actually, he was about as naïve as General Motors. Busy little brain, always going."[21]
In 1944, after his death, British exhibitors voted him the second-most popular local star at the box office.[22] His daughter said he was a "remarkable man".[23]
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Howard married Ruth Evelyn Martin (1895–1980) on 3 March 1916.[3] Their children wereRonald "Winkie" (1918–1996) and Leslie Ruth "Doodie" (1924–2013) who appeared with her father and David Niven in the filmThe First of the Few (1942), playing the role of nurse to David Niven's character, and was a major contributor in the filmed biography of her father,Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn. His son,Ronald Howard, became an actor and played the title role in the television seriesSherlock Holmes (1954).[24] His younger brotherArthur was also an actor, primarily in British comedies. His sisterIrene was a costume designer and a casting director forMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[25] His sister Doris Stainer founded theHurst Lodge School inSunningdale,Berkshire, in 1945 and remained its headmistress until the 1970s.[26]
Howard was widely known as a "ladies' man", and he once said that he "didn't chase women but ... couldn't always be bothered to run away".[27][28] He reportedly had affairs withTallulah Bankhead when they appeared on stage in the UK inHer Cardboard Lover (1927), withMerle Oberon while filmingThe Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) and withConchita Montenegro, with whom he had appeared in the filmNever the Twain Shall Meet (1931).[29] There were also rumours of affairs with Norma Shearer andMyrna Loy during filming ofThe Animal Kingdom.[30] Howard reportedly fathered a daughter -Carol Grace, born 1924 - by Rosheen Marcus; Carol married writerWilliam Saroyan and then actorWalter Matthau.[31]
Howard fell in love with Violette Cunnington in 1938 while working onPygmalion. She was secretary toGabriel Pascal who was producing the film; she became Howard's secretary and lover and they travelled to the United States and lived together while he was filmingGone with the Wind andIntermezzo (both 1939). His wife and daughter joined him in Hollywood before production ended on the two films, making his arrangement with Cunnington somewhat uncomfortable for everyone.[32][page needed][33][page needed][34][page needed] He left the United States for the last time with his wife and daughter in August, 1939 and Cunnington soon followed. She appeared in"Pimpernel" Smith (1941) andThe First of the Few (1942) in minor roles under the stage name of Suzanne Clair. She died of pneumonia in her early thirties in 1942, just six months before Howard's death. Howard left her hisBeverly Hills house in his will.[35][36]
The Howard family's home in Britain was Stowe Maries, a 16th-century, six-bedroom farmhouse on the edge ofWestcott, Surrey.[28] His will revealed an estate of £62,761, the equivalent of £4 million as of 2023.[37][38] AnEnglish Heritageblue plaque was placed at 45 Farquhar Road, Upper Norwood, London in 2013.[39]
In May 1943, Howard travelled toPortugal to promote the British cause. He stayed in MonteEstoril, at the Hotel Atlântico, between 1 May and 4 May, then again between 8 May and 10 May and again between 25 May and 31 May 1943.[40] The following day, 1 June 1943, he was aboardKLM Royal Dutch Airlines/BOAC Flight 777, "G-AGBB" aDouglas DC-3 flying fromLisbon toBristol, when it was shot down byLuftwaffeJunkers Ju 88 C-6 maritime fighter aircraft over the Atlantic (offCedeira,A Coruña).[2][41] He was among the 17 fatalities, including four KLM flight crew.[42][43]
The BOAC DC-3Ibis had been operating on a scheduled Lisbon–Whitchurch route throughout 1942–43 that did not pass over what would commonly be referred to as awar zone. By 1942, however, the Germans considered the region an "extremely sensitive war zone".[44] On two occasions, 15 November 1942 and 19 April 1943, the camouflaged airliner had been attacked byMesserschmitt Bf 110 fighters (a single aircraft and six Bf 110s, respectively) whileen route; each time, the pilots escaped by evasive tactics.[45]
On 1 June 1943, "G-AGBB" again came under attack by a swarm of eight V/KG40 Ju 88 C-6 maritime fighters. The DC-3's last radio message indicated it was being fired upon at longitude 09.37 West, latitude 46.54 North.[42]
According to German documents, the DC-3 was shot down at46°07′N10°15′W / 46.117°N 10.250°W /46.117; -10.250, some 500 miles (800 km) fromBordeaux, France, and 200 miles (320 km) northwest ofLa Coruña, Spain.Luftwaffe records indicate that the Ju 88 maritime fighters were operating beyond their normal patrol area to intercept and shoot down the aircraft.[27]Oberleutnant Herbert Hintze,Staffelkapitän of 14Staffel, V./Kampfgeschwader 40, and based in Bordeaux, stated that hisStaffel shot down the DC-3 because it was recognized as an enemy aircraft.
Hintze further stated that his pilots were angry that theLuftwaffe leaders had not informed them of a scheduled flight between Lisbon and the UK, and that had they known, they could easily have escorted the DC-3 to Bordeaux and captured it and all aboard. The German pilots photographed the wreckage floating in the Bay of Biscay, and after the war, copies of these captured photographs were sent to Howard's family.[41]
The following day, a search of the waters on the route was undertaken by "N/461", aShort Sunderland flying boat fromNo. 461 Squadron RAAF. Near the same coordinates where the DC-3 was shot down, the Sunderland was attacked by eight Ju 88s and, after a furious battle, it managed to shoot down three of the attackers, with an additional three "possibles", before crash-landing atPraa Sands nearPenzance. In the aftermath of these two actions, all BOAC flights from Lisbon were re-routed and operated only under the cover of darkness.[46]
The news of Howard's death was published in the same issue ofThe Times that reported the "death" ofMajor William Martin, the "Man who never was" created for the ruse involved inOperation Mincemeat.[47]
A long-standing but ultimately unsupported hypothesis suggested that the Germans believed that theBritish Prime Minister,Winston Churchill, was on board the flight.[48] Churchill's history of World War II suggested that the Germans targeted the commercial flight because the British Prime Minister's "presence in North Africa [for the 1943Casablanca conference] had been fully reported", and German agents at the Lisbon airfield mistook a "thickset man smoking a cigar" boarding the plane for Churchill returning to England. This thickset man was Howard's agent, Alfred Chenhalls.[49] The death of the fourteen civilians including Leslie Howard "was a painful shock to me", Churchill wrote; "the brutality of the Germans was only matched by the stupidity of their agents".[50]
Two books focusing on the final flight,Flight 777 (Ian Colvin, 1957) andIn Search of My Father: A Portrait of Leslie Howard (Ronald Howard, 1984), asserted that the target was Howard instead: that Germans deliberately shot down Howard's DC-3 to demoralise Britain.[27][51] Howard had been travelling through Spain and Portugal lecturing on film, but also meeting with local propagandists and shoring up support for theAllies. TheBritish Film Yearbook for 1945 described Leslie Howard's work as "one of the most valuable facets of British propaganda".[52]
The Germans could have suspected even more surreptitious activities, since Portugal, likeSwitzerland, was a crossroads for internationals and spies from both sides. British historian James Oglethorpe investigated Howard's connection to the secret services.[53] Ronald Howard's book explores the written German orders to the Ju 88 squadron in great detail, as well as British communiqués that purportedly verify intelligence reports indicating a deliberate attack on Howard. These accounts indicate that the Germans were aware of Churchill's real whereabouts at the time and were not so naïve as to believe he would be travelling alone on board an unescorted, unarmed civilian aircraft, which Churchill also acknowledged as improbable. (Coincidentally, Ron Howard's financial advisor, who happened to take the same flight, looked like Churchill; Howard bore a resemblance to Churchill's bodyguard).[54]
Ronald Howard was convinced the order to shoot down Howard's airliner came directly fromJoseph Goebbels,Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda inNazi Germany, who had been ridiculed in one of Leslie Howard's films, and believed Howard to be the most dangerous British propagandist.[27]
Most of the 13 passengers were either British businessmen with commercial connections to Portugal, or lower-ranking British government civil servants. There were also two or three children of British military personnel.[27] Two passengers were bumped off the flight,George andWilliam Cecil, the teenage sons ofCornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt, who had been recalled to London from their Swiss boarding school, thus saving their lives.[55]
A 2008 book by Spanish writer José Rey Ximena[56] argues that Howard was on a top-secret mission for Churchill to dissuade Spanish dictatorFrancisco Franco from joining theAxis powers.[57] Via an old girlfriend,Conchita Montenegro,[57] Howard had contacts with Ricardo Giménez Arnau, a young diplomat in the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Further merely circumstantial background evidence is revealed in Jimmy Burns's 2009biography of his father, spymaster Tom Burns.[58] According to authorWilliam Stevenson inA Man Called Intrepid, his biography ofSir William Samuel Stephenson (no relation), the senior representative of British Intelligence for the western hemisphere during the Second World War,[59] Stephenson postulated that the Germans knew about Howard's mission and ordered the aircraft shot down. Stephenson further argued that Churchill knew in advance of the German intention to shoot down the aircraft but allowed it to proceed to protect the fact that the British had broken the German Enigma code.[60] Former CIA agent Joseph B. Smith recalled that, in 1957, he was briefed by the National Security Agency on the need for secrecy and that Leslie Howard's death had been brought up. The NSA stated that Howard knew German fighters would attack the aircraft but went on the plane anyway to protect the British code-breakers' secret.[61]
A secretly taped account by one of the pilots involved appears in Sönke Neitzel and Harald Welzer'sSoldiers: German POWs on Fighting, Killing, and Dying. In a recently declassified transcript of a surreptitiously recorded conversation by two German Luftwaffe prisoners of war[who?] talking about the shooting down of Howard's flight, one seems to express pride in his accomplishment, but states clearly he knew nothing of the passengers' identities or importance until hearing an English broadcast later that evening. Asked why he shot down a civil aircraft, he states it was one of four such planes he shot down: "Whatever crossed our path was shot down."[62]
The 2010 biography by Estel Eforgan,Leslie Howard: The Lost Actor, examines then recently available evidence and concludes that Howard was not a specific target,[63] corroborating the statements by German sources that the shootdown was "an error in judgement".[46]
There is a monument inSan Andrés de Teixido, Spain, dedicated to the victims of the crash. Howard's aircraft was shot down over the sea north of this village.[64]
The Mystery of Flight 777, by film-maker Thomas Hamilton, explores the circumstances, theories and myths which have grown around the shooting down of Howard's plane. The film also aims to examine in detail some of the other passengers on board. Originally intended as a short companion piece to the Leslie Howard film, this project expanded in scope and as of January 2021 is still in production.[citation needed]
Howard's premature death preempted any autobiography. A compilation of his writings,Trivial Fond Records, edited and with occasional comments by his son Ronald, was published in 1982. This book includes insights on his family life, first impressions of America and Americans when he first moved to the United States to act on Broadway, and his views on democracy in the years prior to and during the Second World War.
Howard's son and daughter each published memoirs of their father:In Search of My Father: A Portrait of Leslie Howard (1984) by Ronald Howard, andA Quite Remarkable Father: A Biography of Leslie Howard (1959) by Leslie Ruth Howard.
Estel Eforgan'sLeslie Howard: The Lost Actor is a full-length book biography published in 2010.
Leslie Howard: A Quite Remarkable Life, as it was initially known, is a film documentary biography produced by Thomas Hamilton of Repo Films. It was shown privately at the NFB Mediatheque,Toronto, Canada in September 2009 for contributors and supporters of the film. Subsequently, re-edited and retitledLeslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn, the documentary was officially launched on 2 September 2011 in an event held at Howard's former home "Stowe Maries" inDorking, and reported onBBC South News the same day.[65] Lengthy rights negotiations withWarners then delayed further screenings until May 2012.
From 2012 to early 2014 the film remained in limbo due to these issues. However, in early 2014, independent producerMonty Montgomery and Hamilton entered a co-production agreement to complete and release the documentary. This involved a complete re-edit of the documentary, from June 2014 to February 2015, with added material including archival interviews (Michael Powell,John Houseman,Ronald Howard andIrene Howard - all originally filmed in 1980 for the BBC'sBritish Greats series), much historical footage and an additional interview. In addition a score was commissioned from composerMaria Antal and considerable post-production sweetening was undertaken on the original material.
This new version, of Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn was screened as a "work in progress" at theSan Francisco Mostly British Film Festival on 14 February 2015, with Hamilton, Tracy Jenkins andDerek Partridge in attendance. The film won the award for Best Documentary Film.
Subsequent screenings (with minor changes to the commentary) took place at theChichester International Film Festival on 18 August 2015 at theRegent Street Cinema, London in December 2015 and at theMargaret Mitchell Museum in Atlanta in May 2016 as part of theBritweek Atlanta launch.
Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn had its world premiere broadcast onTalking Pictures TV on 27 December 2017, followed by the US TV premiere onTurner Classic Movies on 4 June 2018, which opened a month-long tribute to Howard's films.[66] It airs regularly on Talking Pictures TV and occasionally on Turner Classic Movies.
| Year | Country | Title | Credited as | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | Actor | Screenwriter | Role | Notes | |||
| 1914 | UK | The Heroine of Mons | Yes | Short | ||||
| 1917 | UK | The Happy Warrior | Yes | Rollo | ||||
| 1919 | UK | The Lackey and the Lady | Yes | Tony Dunciman | ||||
| 1920 | UK | Twice Two | Yes | Short | ||||
| 1920 | UK | The Bump | Yes | Short | ||||
| 1920 | UK | Bookworms | Yes | Yes | Richard | Short | ||
| 1920 | UK | Five Pounds Reward | Yes | Yes | Tony Marchmont | Short | ||
| 1921 | UK | Two Many Cooks | Yes | Short | ||||
| 1921 | UK | The Temporary Lady | Yes | Short | ||||
| 1930 | US | Outward Bound | Yes | Tom Prior | ||||
| 1931 | US | Never the Twain Shall Meet | Yes | Dan Pritchard | ||||
| 1931 | US | A Free Soul | Yes | Dwight Winthrop | ||||
| 1931 | US | Five and Ten | Yes | Bertram "Berry" Rhodes | ||||
| 1931 | US | Devotion | Yes | David Trent | ||||
| 1932 | UK | Service for Ladies | Yes | Max Tracey | ||||
| 1932 | US | Smilin' Through | Yes | Sir John Carteret | ||||
| 1932 | US | The Animal Kingdom | Yes | Tom Collier | ||||
| 1933 | US | Secrets | Yes | John Carlton | ||||
| 1933 | US | Captured! | Yes | Captain Fred Allison | ||||
| 1933 | US | Berkeley Square | Yes | Peter Standish | ||||
| 1934 | US | Of Human Bondage | Yes | Philip Carey | ||||
| 1934 | UK | The Lady Is Willing | Yes | Albert Latour | ||||
| 1934 | US | British Agent | Yes | Stephen "Steve" Locke | ||||
| 1934 | UK | The Scarlet Pimpernel | Yes | Sir Percy Blakeney | ||||
| 1936 | US | The Petrified Forest | Yes | Alan Squier | ||||
| 1936 | US | Romeo and Juliet | Yes | Romeo | ||||
| 1937 | US | It's Love I'm After | Yes | Basil Underwood | ||||
| 1937 | US | Stand-In | Yes | Atterbury Dodd | ||||
| 1938 | UK | Pygmalion | Yes | Yes | Professor Henry Higgins | |||
| 1939 | US | Intermezzo | Yes | Yes | Holger Brandt | |||
| 1939 | US | Gone with the Wind | Yes | Ashley Wilkes | ||||
| 1940 | UK | Common Heritage | Narrator | Short | ||||
| 1941 | UK | "Pimpernel" Smith | Yes | Yes | Yes | Professor Horatio Smith | ||
| 1941 | UK | 49th Parallel | Yes | Philip Armstrong Scott | ||||
| 1942 | UK | The First of the Few | Yes | Yes | Yes | R. J. Mitchell | ||
| 1942 | UK | From the Four Corners | Yes | Yes | Short | |||
| 1942 | UK | In Which We Serve | Yes | Narrator | Uncredited | |||
| 1943 | UK | The Gentle Sex | Yes | Yes | Yes | Narrator | (final film role) | |
| 1943 | UK | The Lamp Still Burns | Yes | Final production | ||||
| Date | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 December 1913 | Deception[67] | Wilson Smith | Author Stanley Hall, Upper Norwood, London (Amateur Production) |
| 20 December 1913 | The Perplexed Husband[67] | Stanley Hall, Upper Norwood, London (Amateur Production) | |
| 1916 October/November Tour | Peg o' My Heart[67][68] | Jerry | England Tour |
| 1916–1917 Winter–Spring Tour | Charley's Aunt[67][68] | Jack Chesney | England Tour |
| 10 June 1917 | The Tidings Brought to Mary[67][69] | the Apprentice | Strand Theatre, London |
| 1917 Summer–Fall Tour | Under Cover[67][68] | Monty Vaughan | England Tour |
| 14 February – 30 March 1918[69] | The Freaks[67][68][69] | Ronald Herrick | New Theatre, London |
| 19 March 1918 | Romanticismo[67][69] | Marquis Giacomino d'Arfo | Comedy Theatre, London |
| 14 April 1918 | Romanticismo[67] | Marquis Giacomino d'Arfo | King's Hall, London |
| 1 April 1918 | The Morals of Vanda[67] | Leonard Mortimer | Grand Theatre, Croydon, London |
| 6 May 1918 | Box B[67] | Captain Robert Stroud | London Coliseum, London |
| 3 June 1918 | Sinners[67] | Robert Ransom | Prince of Wales Theatre, Birmingham, England |
| 20 July 1918 – Spring 1919[69] | The Title[67][68][69] | John Culver | Royalty Theatre, London |
| 3 April 1919 | Our Mr. Hepplewhite[67][68][69] | Lord Bagley | Criterion Theatre, London |
| 24 November 1919 | Just A Wife Or Two[67] | Victor Hamilton | West Pier, Brighton, England |
| 5 January 1920 | Mr. Pim Passes By[67][68][69] | Brian Strange | New Theatre, London and TheGarrick Theatre, London |
| 10 February 1920 | The Young Person in Pink[67][68][69] | Lord Stevenage | Prince of Wales Theatre, London |
| 16 February 1920 | Kitty Breaks Loose[67][69] | Jack Wilson/Sir John Wilde | Duke of York's Theatre, London |
| 9 June 1920 | East Is West[67][68][69] | Billy Benson | Lyric Theatre, London |
| July 1920 | Rosalind of the Farmyard[69] | Captain L'Estrange | Shaftesbury Theatre, London |
| 1 November 1920 – January 1921 | Just Suppose | Honourable Sir Calverton Shipley | Henry Miller's Theatre, New York[11] |
| 10 December 1920 | P's and Q's | Charley Stark | Morosco Theatre, New York |
| 10 October – October 1921 | The Wren | Hugh Roddy | Gaiety Theatre, New York[70] |
| 22 December 1921 – February 1922 | Danger | Percy Sturgess | 39th Street Theatre, New York[11] |
| 14 March – June 1922 | The Truth About Blayds | Oliver Blayds | Booth Theatre, New York[11] |
| 24 August – September 1922 | A Serpent's Tooth | Jerry Middleton | Little Theatre, New York[11] |
| 14 November – December 1922 | The Romantic Age | Gervase Mallory | Comedy Theatre, New York[11] |
| 25 December 1922 – January 1923 | The Lady Cristilinda | Martini | Broadhurst Theatre, New York[11] |
| 20 February – April 1923 | Anything Might Happen | Hal Turner | Comedy Theatre, New York[11] |
| 21 May – June 1923 | Aren't We All? | The Honourable William Tatham | Gaiety Theatre, New York[11] |
| 7 January – May 1924 | Outward Bound | Henry | Ritz Theatre, New York[11] |
| 25 August – December 1924 | The Werewolf | Paolo Moreira | 49th Street Theatre, New York[11] |
| 13 January – February 1925 | Shall We Join the Ladies? | Mr. Preen | Empire Theatre, New York[11] |
| 13 January – February 1925 | Isabel | Peter Graham | Empire Theatre, New York[11] |
| 15 September 1925 – February 1926 | The Green Hat | Napier Harpenden | Broadhurst Theatre, New York[11] |
| 27 July 1926 | The Way You Look At It[67][68][69] | Bobby Rendon | Queen's Theatre, London |
| 20 December 1926 | Mayfair[67] | Broad Street Theatre, Newark (Out-of-Town Tryout) | |
| 21 March – August 1927 | Her Cardboard Lover | Andre Sallicel | Empire Theatre, New York[11] |
| 29 September – October 1927 | Murray Hill[71] | Wrigley | Author Bijou Theatre, New York[11] |
| 26 October 1927 – March 1928 | Escape | Matt Denant | Booth Theatre, New York[11] |
| June 1928 | Tell Me the Truth (A Bit of Tomfoolery)[69] | — | Author Ambassadors Theatre, London |
| 21 August 1928 | Her Cardboard Lover[68][69] | Andre Sallicel | Lyric Theatre, London |
| 6 March 1929 | Berkeley Square[68][69] | Peter Standish | Lyric Theatre, London |
| 1929 | Candle Light[68] | Josef | Southampton, England |
| 30 September 1929 – January 1930 | Candle Light | Josef | Empire Theatre, New York[11] |
| 4 November 1929 – May 1930 | Berkeley Square | Peter Standish | Co-producer, Co-director Lyceum Theatre, New York[11] |
| 8 February – February 1930 | Out of a Blue Sky | — | Author, Director Booth Theatre, New York[11] |
| 12 January – June 1932 | The Animal Kingdom | Tom Collier | Co-producer Broadhurst Theatre, New York[11] |
| 31 March – April 1932 | We Are No Longer Children | — | Co-director Booth Theatre, New York[11] |
| 19–28 October 1933[72] | This Side Idolatry[68][69] | William Shakespeare | Producer Lyric Theatre, London |
| July 1934 | Elizabeth Sleeps Out[69][71] | — | Author Whitehall Theatre, London |
| 7 January – June 1935 | The Petrified Forest | Alan Squier | Co-producer Broadhurst Theatre, New York[11] |
| 20 April – May 1936 | Elizabeth Sleeps Out[71] | — | Author Comedy Theatre, New York[11] |
| 10 November – December 1936 | Hamlet | Hamlet | Director, producer Imperial Theatre, New York[11] |
| 27 September 1937 | Alias Mrs. Jones[67] | — | Author, Director Little Theatre, Bristol, England |
| May 1938 | Here's to Our Enterprise[69] | Lyceum Theatre, London | |
| 25 September 1942 | Cathedral Steps[69] | Horatio Nelson[73] | St. Paul's Cathedral, London |
Howard was not only an accomplished actor on stage and screen, he appeared many times on radio as well. Howard began his career on radio in the early 1930s when he performed dramatic readings forThe Yardley Program. Not much is known about the programme because the recordings have been lost, but references to the show can be found in fan magazines of the time[74] and the show is listed inThe New York Times radio programme guide.[75] Howard was also a guest performer on such shows asThe Rudy Vallee Show/Fleischmann's Yeast Hour,Lux Radio Theatre,The Silver Theatre,The Magic Key of RCA,Your Hit Parade andKraft Music Hall withBing Crosby.
In May, 1935, Leslie Howard and his daughter, Leslie Ruth Howard, aged 10, appeared onThe Rudy Vallee Show/Fleischmann's Yeast Hour in "The Enchanted Forest" scene fromJames M. Barrie'sDear Brutus. The show was so popular with audiences that for the first time in the show's history an encore was performed six weeks later on 27 June 1935. That show survives and can be heard on the Old Time Radio Library's website.[76]
At the end of 1936 Howard began appearing as a guest onEddie Cantor's Texaco Town. It took six months and three appearances before he and Cantor finally delivered the punchline in the skit "Three Pairs of Rubbers." Howard's appearances were not limited to guest spots. Beginning in October 1935 and into the spring of 1936 Howard had his own show on CBS. It was a serial titledThe Amateur Gentleman.[77] The show eventually becameLeslie Howard's Matinee[78] with each week bringing a new adapted play popular at the time to radio listeners. Howard also appeared inColumbia Presents Shakespeare as Benedick in the playMuch Ado About Nothing withRosalind Russell in the summer of 1937.[79] Howard produced two shows forLux Radio Theatre: Lady for A Day, starringMay Robson and Guy Kibbee, andThe Life of Émile Zola, starringPaul Muni and Josephine Hutchinson.
His last known radio appearance in the United States before returning to Britain to help with the war effort was theRadio Tribute to the King and Queen in which dozens of British stars performed skits while KingKing George VI andQueen Elizabeth listened withPresident Roosevelt andMrs. Roosevelt fromHyde Park.[80][81] Howard's appearances on the BBC'sBritain Speaks were broadcast to the United States from 16 July 1940, after the onset of the Second World War, urging America to enter the war in support of Britain. By January 1941 Howard had completed 27 broadcasts ofBritain Speaks.[82] Howard also appeared on a panel programme for the BBC calledThe Brains Trust.
Most of Howard's radio broadcasts have been lost, but a few have survived.
| Date | Network | Show Title | Episode Title | Episode Number | Appearing | Listen (Shows filed under show title) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 March 1932 to 8 May 1932 | NBC Networks | Yardley Program[83] | Yardley Program | Leslie Howard Reading, London String Quartet[84] | ||
| 1933 or 1934[85] | NBC | Rudy Vallee – Fleischmann's Yeast Hour | Leslie Howard, Margaret Sullavan | |||
| 23 May 1934 | NBC | Sketch: Without the Benefit of Clergy[84][86] | Without the Benefit of Clergy | Leslie Howard | ||
| 9 December 1934 | NBC | Lux Radio Theatre | Berkeley Square | 9 | Leslie Howard, Helen Chandler | |
| 14 February 1935 | NBC | Rudy Vallee – Fleischmann's Yeast Hour | A Minuet | 278[87] | Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon | Old Time Radio LibraryArchived 13 July 2016 at theWayback Machine |
| 31 March 1935 | NBC | Lux Radio Theatre | The Romantic Age | 25 | Leslie Howard, Sidney Fox | |
| 16 May 1935 | NBC | Rudy Vallee – Fleischmann's Yeast Hour | Dear Brutus | 291 | Leslie Howard, Leslie Ruth Howard | |
| 27 June 1935 | NBC | Rudy Vallee – Fleischmann's Yeast Hour | Dear Brutus | 297 | Leslie Howard, Leslie Ruth Howard | Old Time Radio LibraryArchived 13 July 2016 at theWayback Machine |
| 6 October 1935 to 1 December 1935 | CBS | The Amateur Gentleman[88] | The Amateur Gentleman | Leslie Howard, Elizabeth Love | ||
| 8 December 1935 | CBS | Play: Dear Brutus[84] | Dear Brutus | Leslie Howard, Leslie Ruth Howard | ||
| 22 December 1935 | CBS | Play: Purple and Fine Linen[84] | Purple and Fine Linen | Leslie Howard | ||
| 29 December 1935 | CBS | Play: An Unfinished Story[84] | An Unfinished Story | Leslie Howard, Paula Winslowe[89] | ||
| 5 January 1936 | CBS | Play: Her Cardboard Lover[84][90] | Her Cardboard Lover | Leslie Howard | ||
| 12 January 1936 | CBS | Play: The Admirable Crichton[84] | The Admirable Crichton | Leslie Howard | ||
| 26 January 1936 | CBS | Leslie Howard's Matinee[91] | There's Always Juliet[84] | Leslie Howard | ||
| 2 February 1936 | CBS | Leslie Howard's Matinee | The Guardsman[84] | Leslie Howard | ||
| 9 February 1936 | CBS | Leslie Howard's Matinee | Murray Hill[84] | Leslie Howard | ||
| 16 February 1936 | CBS | Leslie Howard's Matinee | Journey's End[84] | Leslie Howard | ||
| 23 February 1936 | CBS | Leslie Howard's Matinee | Springtime for Henry[84] | Leslie Howard | ||
| 8 March 1936 | CBS | Leslie Howard's Matinee | The Scarlet Pimpernel[84] | Leslie Howard | ||
| 15 March 1936 | CBS | Leslie Howard's Matinee | Raffles[84] | Leslie Howard | ||
| 22 March 1936 | CBS | Leslie Howard's Matinee | Just Suppose[84] | Leslie Howard | ||
| 29 March 1936 | CBS | Leslie Howard's Matinee | The Second Man[84] | Leslie Howard | ||
| 5 April 1936 | CBS | Magic Key of RCA, The | Galsworthy's Justice | 026 | Leslie Howard | Old Time Radio LibraryArchived 13 July 2016 at theWayback Machine |
| 17 September 1936 | NBC | Rudy Vallee – Fleischmann's Yeast Hour | The Miraculous Visitor | 7 | Leslie Howard, Beatrice Barrett, Carl Hubble | |
| 6 December 1936 | CBS | Eddie Cantor's Texaco Town | Three Pairs of Rubbers | 12 | Leslie Howard | Old Time Radio LibraryArchived 13 July 2016 at theWayback Machine |
| 14 February 1937 | CBS | Eddie Cantor's Texaco Town | Hamlet | 22 | Leslie Howard | Old Time Radio LibraryArchived 13 July 2016 at theWayback Machine |
| 19 May 1937 | CBS | Your Hit Parade | Interview and Lucky Strike Ad | Leslie Howard | TranscriptVariety Radio Directory | |
| 30 May 1937 | CBS | Eddie Cantor's Texaco Town | Aired in England | 37 | Leslie Howard | Old Time Radio LibraryArchived 13 July 2016 at theWayback Machine |
| 21 June 1937 | CBS | Lux Radio Theatre | Monsieur Beaucaire | 138 | Leslie Howard, Elissa Landi | Old Time Radio Library – LuxArchived 13 July 2016 at theWayback Machine |
| 19 July 1937 | CBS | Columbia Presents Shakespeare[92] | Much Ado About Nothing | 2nd show in series | Leslie Howard, Rosalind Russell[93] | Old Time Radio LibraryArchived 13 July 2016 at theWayback Machine |
| 2 January 1938 | BBC | Hamlet | Leslie Howard | |||
| 28 November 1938 | CBS | Lux Radio Theatre | Interference | 195 | Leslie Howard, Mary Astor, Herbert Marshall | |
| 12 December 1938 | CBS | Lux Radio Theatre | The Scarlet Pimpernel | 197 | Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland | Old Time Radio Library – LuxArchived 13 July 2016 at theWayback Machine |
| 15 December 1938 | NBC | The Kraft Music Hall[94] | Leslie Howard, Jane Bryan | |||
| 8 January 1939 | CBS | Silver Theatre, The | A Study in Triangles | 028 | Leslie Howard, Rita Johnson | Old Time Radio LibraryArchived 3 July 2016 at theWayback Machine |
| 26 March 1939 | CBS | The Gulf Screen Guild Theater | Never in This World[95] | 012 | Leslie Howard, Kay Francis, Mary Nash, Irving Pichel, Virginia Weidler, Morgan Wallace | Screen Guild Theater |
| 1 May 1939 | CBS | Lux Radio Theatre | Lady for a Day[96] | 217 | May Robson, Guy Kibbee, Warren William, Jean Parker | Old Time Radio Library – LuxArchived 13 July 2016 at theWayback Machine |
| 8 May 1939 | CBS | Lux Radio Theatre | The Life of Émile Zola[96] | 218 | Paul Muni, Josephine Hutchinson | Old Time Radio Library – LuxArchived 13 July 2016 at theWayback Machine |
| 11 June 1939 | NBC | Radio Tribute to the King and Queen[97] | Goodbye, Mr. Chips Segment | Leslie Howard, Greer Garson | Tribute To Their Majesties |
The late Hongkongese singer and actor,Leslie Cheung (Chinese: 張國榮), adopted Leslie as his first name out of his admiration of Howard.
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