Howard Marion-Crawford
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| Howard Marion-Crawford | |
|---|---|
| Born | Howard Francis Marion-Crawford January 17, 1914 England |
| Died | November 24, 1969 (aged 55) London, England |
| Years active | 1935 - 1969 |
| Spouse(s) | Jeanne Scott-Gunn (div.) Mary Wimbush (1946-1954) |
Howard Marion-Crawford (17 January 1914 – 24 November 1969), the grandson of writer F. Marion Crawford, was a British character actor, best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in the 1954 television adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. In 1948, Marion-Crawford had played Holmes in a radio adaptation of The Adventure of the Speckled Band, making him one of the few actors to portray both Holmes and Watson.
Howard Marion-Crawford is also known for his portrayal of Dr. Petrie in a series of low budget Fu Manchu movies in the late 1960s, and was a regular broadcaster in BBC Radio Drama. Among his movie appearances are the character of Cranford in The Man in the White Suit and a British medical officer in Lawrence of Arabia.
He often played "blusterers", "old duffers" and upper-class military types, appearing as guest performer in television programmes like The Avengers, and Danger Man.
Marion-Crawford was married four times. Early in World War II, he was married to Jeanne Scott-Gunn, with whom he had a single son, Harold Francis Marion-Crawford. In 1946, he married the actor Mary Wimbush, with whom he had another son, Charles.
A large man with a very distinctive booming voice, Howard Marion-Crawford had a lot of talent and acting came easily to him. Unfortunately, this sometimes led to him being unreliable and his later years were a struggle. Plagued by ill health late in life, he died from a mixture of alcohol and sleeping pills in 1969.
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My husband, brother and I, now in our seventies, remember Howard Marion Crawford with great affection. Was it in the late 40s or early 50s that the BBC broadcast a Paul Temple series and we listened to him and Marjorie Westbury as Paul and his wife Steve? We never missed an episode if we could avoid it. I'm sorry that he had such a sad end.
bjhombre@hotmail.com
