David Manners

David Joseph Manners (born Rauff de Ryther Duan Acklom; April 30, 1900 – December 23, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor who plays John Harker in Tod Browning's 1931 horror classic '' Dracula'', which stars Bela Lugosi in the title role.Pace, Eric (1999)
"David Manners, 98; Menaced on Screen by Lugosi"
obituary, ''The New York Times'', January 3, 1999. Last retrieved August 21, 2017. The following year, Manners portrayed the archaeologist Frank Whemple in ''The Mummy'', another pre-Code thriller by Universal Pictures.

Early life

Manners (originally Rauff Acklom) was born in Canada at 108 Tower Road in Halifax, Nova Scotia on April 30, 1900. He was the son of British parents, Lilian Manners and writer George Moreby Acklom, as well as being the nephew of Cecil Ryther Acklom, a senior officer in the United Kingdom's Royal Navy.Norris, John (2000)
"The Life and Films of David Manners"
biography of David Manners (1900-1998) at "The David Manners Website". Last retrieved August 21, 2017. His father in Halifax was then the headmaster of Harrow House School, a prestigious private boarding school for boys. Eight years later, in 1907, Rauff, his mother, and his older sister Cecily left Canada and emigrated to the United States to join his father, who had emigrated in the previous year and secured a job as a literary advisor for E.P. Dutton, a publishing company in New York."The Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910"
enumeration date April 26, 1910, Mount Vernon City, Westchester County, New York. A digital image of the original census page is available at FamilySearch. Retrieved August 21, 2017. By 1910 the entire Acklom family was living at 108 Hillside Avenue in Mount Vernon, New York, a northern suburb of New York City.

The Ackloms by January 1920 had moved again, then to West 123rd Street in Manhattan, where 19-year-old Manners (still Rauff) continued to reside with his parents. He was employed as an assistant publisher and seemed destined to repeat his father's own career choice and live out his life as an editor and publisher."The Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920"
enumeration date January 3, 1920, New York City, New York County, New York. FamilySearch. Retrieved January 3, 1920. Retrieved August 22, 2017. Soon, perhaps in an effort to chart an entirely different course for himself professionally, Manners stopped working as an assistant publisher and returned to Canada to study forestry at the University of Toronto. He found the curriculum there boring; however, he was attracted to stage work on campus. After receiving some drama training, he made his acting debut in 1924 at the school's Hart House Theater in Euripides' play '' Hippolytus''. Despite his father's objections, Manners continued to pursue an entertainment career when he came back to the United States. Before long he was performing in theaters in Chicago, on Broadway, and elsewhere after joining Basil Sydney's Touring Company and later Eva Le Gallienne's Civic Repertory Company in New York. During his time, before he moved to Hollywood at the beginning of the sound era in films, he obtained additional training under Le Gallienne, even though she had remarked that he was "a very bad actor" after seeing one of his performances. Manners in this period also appeared on the New York stage with Helen Hayes, with whom he co-starred in Edgar Selwyn and Edmund Goulding's play ''Dancing Mothers'' at the Booth Theatre.

Hollywood career

After arriving in California, around 1927, Manners was serendipitously "discovered" by the film director James Whale at a Hollywood party, and within a few years he was a popular leading man, playing opposite such actresses as Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Stanwyck, Gloria Stuart, Myrna Loy, Loretta Young, and Ann Dvorak. He was paired several times with Helen Chandler. After performing in an uncredited role in ''The Sky Hawk'' in 1929, he was featured the next year in ''Journey's End''. Reviewers of the latter film, such as ''The New York Times'' and ''Variety'', officially bestowed their endorsements on the fledgling movie actor's work. His subsequent performances were critically praised again in ''The New York Times'' and by other influential film critics.

In late 1930 Manners filmed his best remembered role, as Jonathan Harker opposite Bela Lugosi, in Universal's horror classic '' Dracula'' (1931). Until the end of his life, he continued to receive mail from fans of the movie, although he claimed to have never seen the finished film. In his tenth movie, he co-starred with Barbara Stanwyck in Frank Capra's critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful ''The Miracle Woman'' (1931). ''The New York Times'' lauded Manners again for his portrayal of a blind war veteran, stating that "Manners does exceptionally well with this sympathetic assignment".

During his brief tenure with Warner Bros., which had loaned him to other studios quite frequently, Manners progressed from being a supporting player to achieving true movie-star status following his role in ''Crooner'' in 1932. Shortly after that production's release, he began to freelance with much success. One of the final films he made before the end of his Warner Bros.' contract was RKO's '' A Bill of Divorcement'', starring John Barrymore