Brian Aherne

Brian Aherne, born William Brian de Lacy Aherne on 2 May 1902 in King's Norton, Worcestershire, was an English actor whose career spanned stage, screen, radio, and television in both Britain and the United States. The son of architect William de Lacy Aherne and his wife Louise, née Thomas, he was the younger of two brothers, both of whom became actors. His elder brother was Pat Aherne. Educated in Edgbaston, Birmingham, Aherne received early stage training at the Italia Conti Academy in London before completing his formal education at Malvern College. He died on 10 February 1986.

His stage career began remarkably early. On 5 April 1910, he appeared with the Pilgrim Players in Birmingham in Fifinella, and by 26 December 1913 he had made his London debut at the Garrick Theatre in Where the Rainbow Ends, a play by Clifford Mills and John Ramsey with music by Roger Quilter. After briefly pursuing architecture, he returned to the stage and secured an engagement under Robert Courtneidge, appearing at London's Savoy Theatre on 26 December 1923 as Jack O'Hara in a revival of Paddy the Next Best Thing, adapted by W. Gayer-Mackay and Robert Ord from the novel. He subsequently toured with Violet Vanbrugh as Hugo in The Flame and appeared at the London Playhouse in May 1924 as Langford in Leon Gordon's White Cargo, a role he sustained throughout 1924 and 1925. In 1926, he accompanied Dion Boucicault Jr. to Australia, where he performed in several plays by J.M. Barrie, including Quality Street, What Every Woman Knows, The Admirable Crichton, and Mary Rose, as well as Frederick Lonsdale's Aren't We All. He returned to the London stage at the Strand in March 1927, again as Langford in White Cargo, and continued performing in London until late 1930.

Aherne's screen career began in Britain with The Eleventh Commandment in 1924. He made several films for Stoll Pictures at Cricklewood Studios, including The Squire of Long Hadley (1925) and A Woman Redeemed (1927), both directed by Sinclair Hill, as well as King of the Castle (1925) and Safety First (1926). His later silent work included two films directed by Anthony Asquith, Shooting Stars and Underground. He made his sound debut in The W Plan (1930), directed by Victor Saville, and appeared opposite Madeleine Carroll in Madame Guillotine (1931).

Aherne made his Broadway debut on 9 February 1931 at the Empire Theatre, playing Robert Browning in Rudolf Besier's The Barretts of Wimpole Street opposite Katharine Cornell. The production ran for 370 performances and established a lasting professional and personal friendship between Aherne and Cornell. He returned to Broadway in 1932 for Lucrece, again starring Cornell, though that production had a short run. In 1934, he reunited with Cornell in Romeo and Juliet, playing Mercutio to her Juliet, with Basil Rathbone as Romeo, for 77 performances. A 1935 Broadway revival of The Barretts of Wimpole Street with Cornell ran for 24 performances, and in 1936 Aherne appeared in Cornell's production of Saint Joan, co-starring Maurice Evans. The following year he played Iago in a Broadway production of Othello. A further revival of The Barretts of Wimpole Street with Cornell followed in 1945, and the two reunited once more for The Constant Wife in 1951 and 1952. Additional Broadway credits include Lucrece (1932), She Stoops to Conquer (1949–1950), Escapade (1953), Quadrille (1954–1955) with the Lunts, and Dear Liar (1960).

His American film career began with The Song of Songs (1933) alongside Marlene Dietrich. At Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer he co-starred with Helen Hayes in What Every Woman Knows (1934) and with Joan Crawford in the commercially successful I Live My Life (1935). At RKO he appeared in The Fountain (1934) with Ann Harding and in Sylvia Scarlett (1935) with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Emperor Maximilian in Warner Bros.' Juarez (1939). Other notable film appearances include The Great Garrick (1937), directed by James Whale, in which he received top billing; Merrily We Live (1938) with Constance Bennett; Captain Fury (1939) for Hal Roach; Vigil in the Night (1940) with Carole Lombard; The Lady in Question (1940) at Columbia, in which he was billed above Rita Hayworth; and supporting roles in Alfred Hitchcock's I Confess (1953) and Titanic (1953), in which he played Captain E.J. Smith. In 1954, 20th Century Fox cast him as King Arthur in Prince Valiant.

In 1943, Aherne left film work to serve as a flight instructor for the Royal Air Force at Falcon Field in Arizona. That same year, Columbia Pictures reported paying him $144,958, making him the studio's second-highest-paid individual after Harry Cohn.

Aherne made his television debut in 1950 with a production of Dear Brutus for The Ford Theatre Hour, a play he had previously performed on stage in Boston. Subsequent television appearances included Armstrong Circle Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, The Billy Rose Show, Pulitzer Prize Playhouse, and Robert Montgomery Presents. He later appeared in The Twilight Zone episode "The Trouble With Templeton," as well as in episodes of Wagon Train and Rawhide.