Howard Marion-Crawford

Infobox Actor
name = Howard Marion-Crawford
birthname = Howard Francis Marion-Crawford
birthdate = birth date|1914|1|17
birthplace = England
deathdate = death date and age|1969|11|24|1914|1|17
deathplace = London, England
yearsactive = 1935 - 1969
spouse = 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.

External links

* [http://www.sardimpex.com/articoli/crawford2.htm Detailed biography of Howard Marion-Crawford]
*imdb|id=0548010