John Justin

John Justin, born John Justinian de Ledesma on 24 November 1917 in the Knightsbridge district of London, was an English stage and film actor who died on 29 November 2002. His father was a well-off Argentine rancher, and Justin spent part of his childhood on his father's estancia before receiving his education at Bryanston School in Bryanston. He developed an early interest in flying and earned his pilot's qualification at the age of 12, though his age prevented him from flying solo at the time.

Justin's path toward acting began in his teenage years. At 16 he joined the Plymouth Repertory, and in 1937 he briefly enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before leaving to join John Gielgud's repertory company, with whom he appeared in Dear Octopus. In 1938 he auditioned for the role of Ahmad in the 1940 film The Thief of Bagdad, opposite Sabu, securing the part by signing a seven-year contract with producer Alexander Korda. The role became the one for which he is perhaps best remembered.

Production of The Thief of Bagdad was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. After completing the film, Justin joined the Royal Air Force, where he served as a test pilot and flying instructor and was injured in a crash. He was granted leave in 1943 to appear in The Gentle Sex, a film directed and narrated by Leslie Howard in praise of the Auxiliary Territorial Service, and again in 1944 for Journey Together, a film about RAF aircrew cadets featuring Richard Attenborough, Jack Watling, David Tomlinson, Edward G. Robinson, and Bessie Love.

Following the war, Justin returned to the stage and screen. In 1948 he performed at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-on-Avon, appearing in King John, The Merchant of Venice, The Winter's Tale, Othello, Hamlet, and Troilus and Cressida, and also made the film Call of the Blood that same year. In 1949 he appeared on stage in Peter Pan and performed in Antigone on the BBC. His West End work continued with Return to Tyassi and The Angel with the Trumpet, both in 1950.

The early 1950s brought a concentration on film. Justin took the lead in the 1952 film Hot Ice and appeared in The Sound Barrier the same year, following a stage production of Uncle Vanya. His subsequent film credits included The Village and the biopic Melba in 1953; King of the Khyber Rifles with Tyrone Power for 20th Century Fox in 1954; Seagulls Over Sorrento with Gene Kelly in 1954; and two leading roles, in The Teckman Mystery with Margaret Leighton and The Man Who Loved Redheads with Moira Shearer, both in 1954 and 1955 respectively. Fox engaged him again for Untamed in 1955, Warwick Films cast him opposite Victor Mature in Safari in 1956, and Fox's Island in the Sun in 1957 gave him a prominent role alongside Dorothy Dandridge.

Stage work continued alongside his film career. In 1957 he appeared in Dinner with the Family, and in 1959 he joined the Old Vic, where his productions included The Double Dealer, As You Like It, and The Importance of Being Earnest. Justin made his Broadway debut in 1960 in Little Moon of Alban, the same year he appeared in The Spider's Web. He subsequently performed in Much Ado About Nothing in 1963, Death of a Salesman in 1965, and As You Like It in 1965. Between 1963 and 1970 he made no film appearances. In 1968 he played Thorin Oakenshield in the BBC Radio adaptation of The Hobbit.

His later stage work included Lulu in 1971, a South African tour of Who Killed Santa Claus? in 1971, Old Fruit in 1974, and A Man and His Wife in 1974. His later film credits included Ken Russell's Savage Messiah in 1972, Lisztomania in 1975, and Valentino in 1977. In 1979 he played the ghoulish lover in the BBC production Schalcken the Painter, part of the Ghost Story for Christmas series and based on Sheridan Le Fanu's 1839 tale. Justin described his film career as "a mistake," stating that his true love was the stage.

Justin was married three times. His first wife was dancer and choreographer Pola Nirenska. His second marriage, to actress Barbara Murray, lasted from 1952 to 1964 and produced three daughters. From 1970 until his death in 2002, he was married to Alison McMurdo.