Frederick Leister

Frederick Leister (1 December 1885 – 24 August 1970) was an English actor born in London under the name Frederick Charles Holloway, the son of George Leister Holloway and Mary Ann King Holloway, née Le Capelain. He was educated at Dulwich and Worthing Grammar School and was initially directed toward a legal career, serving as an articled clerk at a solicitor's firm before turning to the stage.

Leister made his acting debut in 1906 in the chorus of A Country Girl at the Crown Theatre, Peckham, and spent the following six years touring in musical comedies. His London debut came at the Prince's Theatre in February 1913, after which he took supporting roles at the Lyceum and the Duke of York's Theatre until 1915. He then enlisted in the army, serving as a lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Artillery and entering France in September 1917. In 1911, he married Dora Luther, with whom he had one daughter, Jean. He and Dora adopted the surname Leister by deed poll in 1929. Dora died in 1954 at the age of 64.

Following his military service, Leister built a career that moved between classical drama, detective plays, drawing room comedies, and occasional musical comedy. His classical roles included Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor in 1919, Faulconbridge in King John in 1920, Pavel Lebedyev in Ivanov in 1950, and Peter Nikolayevich in The Seagull in 1953. He played the Emperor in The White Horse Inn at the London Coliseum in 1931. Among his longest-running modern engagements in the West End were the role of Maxwell Davenport in The Late Christopher Bean from 1933 to 1934, and Charles Donkin in Ian Hay's comedy Housemaster from 1936 to 1937. In 1944 he appeared in the West End production No Medals by Esther McCracken, and in 1956 he took a role in Agatha Christie's thriller Towards Zero at the St James's Theatre.

Leister's Broadway career spanned 1933 to 1938 and included appearances in Evensong, Libel, and Dark Victory. He reprised his role as Charles Donkin on Broadway in 1938 when Housemaster was retitled Bachelor Born. In addition to his stage work, Leister appeared in more than 60 films between 1922 and 1961.