John Loder

Actor

1898-01-02 – 1988-12-26 · London, England, UK

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John Loder (3 January 1898 — 26 December 1988) was a British-American actor. He was born William John Muir Lowe in London. His father was General W. H. M. Lowe, the British officer to whom Patrick Pearse, the leader of the Irish 1916 Rising in Dublin, surrendered. Both General Lowe and his son were present at the surrender of Pearse.

He was educated at Eton and the Royal Military College and followed his father into the army, commissioned into 15th Hussars as a second lieutenant on 17 March 1915, and then serving in the Gallipoli Campaign and at one point being imprisoned by the Germans.

Upon being released, he stayed in Germany to run a pickle factory and also began to develop an interest in acting, appearing in bit-parts in a few German films. He left Germany to briefly return to England and then headed to Hollywood to try his luck in the new medium, Talkies. He appeared in The Doctor's Secret, which was Paramount's first talking picture—though his very English persona didn't win America over at this time and he returned to England where he co-starred in plush musicals and intrigue such as Love Life and Laughter and Sabotage. He was the male romantic interest in the 1937 original film version of King Solomon's Mines.

When World War II started he returned to America where he seamlessly coasted into a career in 'B' movie roles usually playing upper crust characters with occasional appearances on Broadway. He occasionally did play roles, though supporting ones, in major 'A' films such as How Green Was My Valley, in which he was at the same time one of Roddy McDowall's brothers and Donald Crisp's sons.

In 1947 he became an American citizen, his last screen appearance was in 1971. In 1959 he became a naturalised citizen of the United Kingdom as he has been of "uncertain nationality".

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