Ivan Simpson

Ivan F. Simpson (8 February 1875 – 12 October 1951) was a Scottish actor who worked in both stage and film. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he relocated as a young man to New York City, where he built a stage career spanning four decades on Broadway.

Simpson's Broadway work extended from 1905 to 1949 and included productions such as Caesar and Cleopatra, Antony and Cleopatra, Make Way for Lucia, The Haven, and Swan Song, among others.

In 1915 Simpson began working in silent film. One of his notable early screen roles came in the 1923 silent production The Green Goddess, in which he played Mr. Watkins. He reprised that same role seven years later when a sound version of the film was produced. In 1929 he appeared in Disraeli, portraying Hugh Myers alongside George Arliss, a close friend with whom he would ultimately share the screen in nine films total.

Through the 1930s Simpson established himself as a character actor in supporting and smaller roles, frequently appearing in prominent productions. His screen work during this period included a range of character types: servants such as Littimer in MGM's David Copperfield and a role in the horror film Mark of the Vampire; priests in Little Lord Fauntleroy and Random Harvest; a judge in This Land Is Mine; and a doctor in They All Kissed the Bride. He also appeared in several films featuring Errol Flynn, including Captain Blood, The Prince and the Pauper, and The Adventures of Robin Hood.