Philip Friend

Philip Wyndham Friend was a British film, television, and stage actor born on 20 February 1915 in Horsham, Sussex, England. He died on 1 September 1987 in Chiddingfold, Surrey. His Broadway appearances spanned from 1937 to 1952, with credits including French Without Tears and Jane.

Friend developed an interest in acting while attending Bradfield College. He began performing in musical comedies in 1935 and established himself on the West End before his Broadway debut in French Without Tears. After returning to London, he continued working steadily on the stage until the outbreak of World War II, at which point he enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers. During the war years he accumulated a substantial number of British film credits, beginning with small parts in Inquest (1939), The Midas Touch (1940), and Old Bill and Son (1941). Larger roles followed in The Bells Go Down (1943) alongside Tommy Trinder, Warn That Man (1943) with Gordon Harker, and The Flemish Farm (1943). He also appeared in Dangerous Moonlight (1941), Pimpernel Smith (1941), In Which We Serve (1942), The Next of Kin (1942), The Young Mr. Pitt (1942), We Dive at Dawn (1943), Two Thousand Women (1944), and Great Day (1945). His return to the stage after the war included productions of Pink String and Sealing Wax and The First Gentleman.

In February 1946, Friend signed a contract with producer David O. Selznick, who brought him to Hollywood, though Selznick ultimately did not cast him in any of his productions. Friend nonetheless found work in American films, appearing in My Own True Love (1948) with Phyllis Calvert and Enchantment (1948). At Universal Pictures he played a British soldier in Sword in the Desert (1949), a performance that led the studio to sign him to a contract and cast him in the lead of Buccaneer's Girl (1950) opposite Yvonne de Carlo. Universal retained him for Spy Hunt (1950) before dropping him, then rehired him to portray the villain in Smuggler's Island (1951). He also appeared in Thunder on the Hill (1951) and took the starring role in The Highwayman (1952) for Monogram Pictures.

During his time in the United States, Friend worked in early American television, appearing on programs including The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse and Kraft Theatre. He had been set to join the cast of the Broadway production Faithfully Yours, but Actors' Equity objected to his participation. He instead starred in Jane on Broadway in 1952. Friend subsequently returned to Britain, where he appeared in films including Desperate Moment (1953), The Diamond (1954), Dick Turpin: Highwayman (1956), Cloak Without Dagger (1956), and The Betrayal (1956), as well as British television productions such as The Errol Flynn Theatre. His later screen work included Son of Robin Hood (1958), Web of Suspicion (1959), Stranglehold (1962), and The Vulture (1966), with one of his final appearances coming in the television film Suez 1956 (1979). Friend was married to actress Eileen Erskine, and the couple had two sons.