C. Aubrey Smith

Sir Charles Aubrey Smith was born on 21 July 1863 in London, England, to Charles John Smith, a medical doctor, and Sarah Ann Smith, née Clode. He was educated at Charterhouse School and St John's College, Cambridge. His sister, Beryl Faber, who died in 1912, was married to Cosmo Hamilton. In 1888 and 1889, Smith traveled to South Africa to prospect for gold, during which time he contracted pneumonia and was incorrectly declared dead by attending physicians. He married Isabella Wood in 1896, and the couple had a daughter, Honor. Smith died on 20 December 1948 in Beverly Hills at the age of 85, also of pneumonia. His ashes were returned to England nine months after his death and interred in his mother's grave at St Leonard's churchyard in Hove, Sussex.

Before establishing himself as an actor, Smith pursued a distinguished career as a cricketer. A right-arm fast bowler, he also contributed as a right-hand lower-order batsman and a capable slip fielder. His unconventional bowling run-up, which originated from deep mid-off, earned him the nickname "Round the Corner Smith." W. G. Grace remarked that it was startling when Smith suddenly appeared at the bowling crease, his approach having been concealed by the umpire. Smith played for Cambridge University between 1882 and 1885 and for Sussex at various points from 1882 to 1892. While in South Africa, he captained the Johannesburg English XI and led England to victory in his only Test match, against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in March 1889, taking five wickets for nineteen runs in the first innings. His home club for much of his career was West Drayton Cricket Club.

Smith made his Broadway debut in 1895 in The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith, the same year he began acting on the London stage. His first major stage role came the following year in The Prisoner of Zenda, in which he played the dual lead roles of king and look-alike. He later appeared in a revival of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion in the starring role of Henry Higgins. In 1907, he appeared alongside Marie Doro in The Morals of Marcus, a play Doro subsequently made into a silent film. His Broadway career spanned from 1895 to 1941 and included productions such as The Lie, Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, The Constant Wife, The Bachelor Father, and the comedy Spring Again.

Smith appeared in early British films, including The Bump in 1920, written by A. A. Milne for Minerva Films. He subsequently moved to Hollywood, where he built a career as a character actor specializing in officer and gentleman roles. He was regarded as the unofficial leader of the British film colony in Hollywood, a group that author Sheridan Morley characterized as the Hollywood Raj. His physical appearance — bushy eyebrows, beady eyes, a handlebar moustache, and a height of six feet two inches — made him one of the most recognizable faces in the industry. He worked alongside performers including Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor, Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Laurence Olivier, Ronald Colman, Maurice Chevalier, and Gary Cooper. His film credits include The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), in which he played the wise old adviser to Ronald Colman; Wee Willie Winkie (1937), in which he portrayed Colonel Williams opposite Shirley Temple; The Four Feathers (1939); Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940); Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941); And Then There Were None (1945), in which he played General Mandrake; and the 1949 remake of Little Women, in which he portrayed the grandfather of Laurie Lawrence. He also appeared as the father of Maureen O'Sullivan in Tarzan the Ape Man, the first Tarzan film featuring Johnny Weissmüller, and played the Earl of Dorincourt in David O. Selznick's Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936). Forty-one years after his stage debut in The Prisoner of Zenda, he appeared in the most acclaimed film version of the same story, this time in a supporting role.

In 1932, Smith founded the Hollywood Cricket Club, creating a pitch with imported English grass. He attracted fellow British expatriates including David Niven, Laurence Olivier, Nigel Bruce, Leslie Howard, and Boris Karloff to the club. Smith served on the first board of the Screen Actors Guild in 1933 and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1938. He was knighted by George VI in 1944 for services to Anglo-American amity. Smith has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was an officer in the Legion of Frontiersmen. Author Evelyn Waugh drew on Smith in creating the character of Sir Ambrose Abercrombie for his 1948 Hollywood satire The Loved One.