Film and stage actor, born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, N England, UK. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, and first appeared on stage in London in 1926. This was followed by successes in The Cherry Orchard, A Man with Red Hair, and Payment Deferred. He appeared with the Old Vic Company in 1933, played in and produced Shaw’s Don Juan in Hell and Major Barbara, and as a Shakespearean actor gave fine performances in Macbeth, Measure for Measure, and King Lear. He began to act in films in 1932 and among his memorable roles are The Private Life of Henry VIII (1932, Oscar), Mr Barrett in The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934), Captain Bligh in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), and Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939). He was married to the actress Elsa Lanchester (1902–86), and became a US citizen in 1950.