Early films include four written by A. A. Milne, including ''The Bump'', starring C. Aubrey Smith
Sir Charles Aubrey Smith (21 July 1863 – 20 December 1948) was an English Test cricketer who became a stage and film actor, acquiring a niche as the officer-and-gentleman type, as in the first sound version of ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937) ...
; ''Twice Two''; ''Five Pounds Reward''; and ''Bookworms'', the latter two starring Howard. Some of these films survive in the archives of the British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
.
In British and Hollywood productions, Howard often played stiff upper lip
A person who is said to have a stiff upper lip displays fortitude and stoicism in the face of adversity, or exercises great self-restraint in the expression of emotion.[Outward Bound
Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organizations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt and Kurt Hahn in 1941. Today there are organizations, called schools, in over 35 countries which are att ...]
'' (1930), though in a different role from the one he portrayed on Broadway. He had second billing under
Norma Shearer
Edith Norma Shearer (August 11, 1902June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress who was active on film from 1919 through 1942. Shearer often played spunky, sexually liberated ingénues. She appeared in adaptations of Noël Coward, Eugene O'N ...
in ''
A Free Soul
''A Free Soul'' is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film that tells the story of an alcoholic San Francisco defense attorney who must defend his daughter's ex-boyfriend on a charge of murdering the mobster she had started a relationship with, who ...
'' (1931), which also featured
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''A Free Soul'' (1931) ...
and future ''
Gone With the Wind
Gone with the Wind most often refers to:
* ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell
* ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel
Gone with the Wind may also refer to:
Music
* ''Gone with the Wind'' ...
'' rival
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...
eight years prior to their
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
masterpiece. He starred in the film version of ''Berkeley Square'' (1933), for which he was nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for
Best Actor. He played the title role in ''
The Scarlet Pimpernel
''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having ...
'' (1934), which is often considered the definitive portrayal.
![Pygmalion-1938](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Pygmalion-1938.jpg)
When Howard co-starred with
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...
in ''
The Petrified Forest
''The Petrified Forest'' is a 1936 American film directed by Archie Mayo and based on Robert E. Sherwood's 1935 Broadway drama of the same name. The motion picture stars Leslie Howard, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart. The screenplay was written ...
'' (1936) – having earlier co-starred with her in the film adaptation of
W. Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...
's book ''
Of Human Bondage
''Of Human Bondage'' is a 1915 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. The novel is generally agreed to be Maugham's masterpiece and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although he stated, "This is a novel, not an autobiography; though much in i ...
'' (1934) – he reportedly insisted that
Humphrey Bogart play
gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...
Duke Mantee, repeating his role from the stage production. This re-launched Bogart's screen career, and the two men became lifelong friends; Bogart and
Lauren Bacall later named their daughter "Leslie Howard Bogart" after him. In the same year Howard starred with
Norma Shearer
Edith Norma Shearer (August 11, 1902June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress who was active on film from 1919 through 1942. Shearer often played spunky, sexually liberated ingénues. She appeared in adaptations of Noël Coward, Eugene O'N ...
in a film version of Shakespeare's ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'' (1936).
Davis was again Howard's co-star in the romantic comedy ''
It's Love I'm After
''It's Love I'm After'' is a 1937 American screwball comedy film directed by Archie Mayo and starring Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, and Olivia de Havilland. Based on the story "Gentlemen After Midnight" by Maurice Hanline, with a screenplay by Casey ...
'' (1937) (also co-starring
Olivia de Havilland
Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. ...
). He played Professor Henry Higgins in the film version of
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
's play ''
Pygmalion
Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to:
Mythology
* Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue
Stage
* ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau
* ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...
'' (1938), with
Wendy Hiller
Dame Wendy Margaret Hiller, (15 August 1912 – 14 May 2003) was an English film and stage actress who enjoyed a varied acting career that spanned nearly 60 years. Writer Joel Hirschorn, in his 1984 compilation ''Rating the Movie Stars'', desc ...
as Eliza, which earned Howard another
Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In 1939, as war approached, he played opposite
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films, television movies, and plays.Obituary ''Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, she is often ...
in ''
Intermezzo
In music, an intermezzo (, , plural form: intermezzi), in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work. In music history, the term ha ...
''; that August, Howard was determined to return to the country of his birth. He was eager to help the war effort, but lost any support for a new film, instead being obliged to relinquish £20,000 of holdings in the US before he could leave the country.
Howard is perhaps best remembered for his role as Ashley Wilkes in ''
Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind most often refers to:
* ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell
* ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel
Gone with the Wind may also refer to:
Music
* ''Gone with the Wind'' ...
'' (1939), his last American film, but he was uncomfortable with Hollywood, and returned to
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
to help with the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
effort. He starred in a number of Second World War films including ''
49th Parallel'' (1941), ''
"Pimpernel" Smith'' (1941) and ''
The First of the Few
''The First of the Few'' (US title ''Spitfire'') is a 1942 British black-and-white biographical film produced and directed by Leslie Howard, who stars as R. J. Mitchell, the designer of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft. David Niven co ...
'' (1942, known in the U.S. as ''Spitfire''), the latter two of which he also directed and co-produced. His friend and ''The First of the Few'' co-star
David Niven
James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in ''Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...
said Howard was "...not what he seemed. He had the kind of distraught air that would make people want to mother him. Actually, he was about as naïve as General Motors. Busy little brain, always going."
In 1944, after his death, British exhibitors voted him the second-most popular local star at the box office. His daughter said he was a "remarkable man".
File:A Free Soul (1931) film poster.jpg, ''A Free Soul
''A Free Soul'' is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film that tells the story of an alcoholic San Francisco defense attorney who must defend his daughter's ex-boyfriend on a charge of murdering the mobster she had started a relationship with, who ...
'' (1931) film poster
A film poster is a poster used to promote and advertise a film primarily to persuade paying customers into a theater to see it. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. The ...
File:Leslie Howard-Ann Harding in The Animal Kingdom.jpg, Howard and Ann Harding
Ann Harding (born Dorothy Walton Gatley; August 7, 1902 – September 1, 1981) was an American theatre, motion picture, radio, and television actress. A regular player on Broadway and in regional theater in the 1920s, in the 1930s Harding was ...
in ''The Animal Kingdom
''The Animal Kingdom'' (also known as ''The Woman in His House'' in the UK) is a 1932 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code comedy-drama film directed by Edward H. Griffith based upon a comedy of manners play of the same name by Philip Barry. ...
'' (1932)
File:Leslie Howard - Myrna Loy - 32.JPG, Howard and Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...
in ''The Animal Kingdom
''The Animal Kingdom'' (also known as ''The Woman in His House'' in the UK) is a 1932 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code comedy-drama film directed by Edward H. Griffith based upon a comedy of manners play of the same name by Philip Barry. ...
'' (1932)
File:Of Human Bondage Poster.jpg, ''Of Human Bondage
''Of Human Bondage'' is a 1915 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. The novel is generally agreed to be Maugham's masterpiece and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although he stated, "This is a novel, not an autobiography; though much in i ...
'' (1934) film poster
File:Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer as Romeo and Juliet.jpg, Howard and Norma Shearer
Edith Norma Shearer (August 11, 1902June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress who was active on film from 1919 through 1942. Shearer often played spunky, sexually liberated ingénues. She appeared in adaptations of Noël Coward, Eugene O'N ...
in ''Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'' (1936)
File:Romeo and Juliet lobby card 2.jpg, ''Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'' (1936) lobby card with John Barrymore
John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...
and Basil Rathbone
Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was a South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume ...
File:Spitfire-1943-Howard-John.jpg, Howard and Rosamund John
Rosamund John (19 October 1913 – 27 October 1998), born Nora Rosamund Jones, was an English film and stage actress.
Early life
She was born and brought up in Tottenham in North London, the daughter of Frederick Henry Jones, a wine merchant' ...
in ''The First of the Few
''The First of the Few'' (US title ''Spitfire'') is a 1942 British black-and-white biographical film produced and directed by Leslie Howard, who stars as R. J. Mitchell, the designer of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft. David Niven co ...
'' (1942)
Personal life
Howard married Ruth Evelyn Martin (1895–1980) in March, 1916, and their children
Ronald "Winkie" and Leslie Ruth "Doodie" who appeared with her father and David Niven in the film ''
The First of the Few
''The First of the Few'' (US title ''Spitfire'') is a 1942 British black-and-white biographical film produced and directed by Leslie Howard, who stars as R. J. Mitchell, the designer of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft. David Niven co ...
'' (1942), playing the role of nurse to David Niven's character, and as a major contributor in the filmed biography of her father, ''Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn''. His son became an actor and played the title role in the television series ''
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
'' (1954). His younger brother
Arthur
Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...
was also an actor, primarily in British comedies. His sister
Irene
Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace".
Irene, and related names, may refer to:
* Irene (given name)
Places
* Irene, Gauteng, South Africa
* Irene, South Dakota, United States
* Irene, Texas, United Stat ...
was a costume designer and a casting director for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
. His sister Doris Stainer founded the
Hurst Lodge School
{{{Use British English, date=February 2023
{{coord, 51.388, -0.671, display=title
{{Infobox school
, name = Hurst Lodge School
, image =
, image_size =
, motto =
, established = 1945
, closed =
, type = Independent
, president =
, head ...
in
Sunningdale
Sunningdale is a large village with a retail area and a civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. It takes up the extreme south-east corner of Berkshire, England. It has a railway station on the (London) Waterloo to Reading ...
,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
, in 1945 and remained its headmistress until the 1970s.
Howard was widely known as a "ladies' man",
and he once said that he "didn't chase women but … couldn't always be bothered to run away".
[Gazeley, Helen]
"Memories of Hollywood, in the hills of Surrey."
''The Daily Telegraph'' (London), 29 April 2007. Retrieved: 4 August 2010. He reportedly had affairs with
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's '' L ...
when they appeared on stage in the UK in ''Her Cardboard Lover'' (1927), with
Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 191123 November 1979) was a British actress who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933). After her success in ''The Scarle ...
while filming ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' (1934), and with
Conchita Montenegro
Conchita Montenegro (born Concepción Andrés Picado; September 11, 1911 – April 22, 2007) was a Spanish model, dancer, stage and screen actress. She was educated in a convent in Madrid.
Multitalented
Montenegro first worked professionally ...
, with whom he had appeared in the film ''Never the Twain Shall Meet'' (1931). There were also rumours of affairs with Norma Shearer and
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...
during filming of ''The Animal Kingdom''. Howard reportedly fathered a daughter -
Carol Grace
Carol Grace (September 11, 1924 – July 21, 2003) was an American actress and author. She is often referred to as Carol Marcus Saroyan or Carol Matthau.
Biography
Carol Grace was born in New York City's Lower East Side; her mother, who was si ...
, born 1924 - by Rosheen Marcus; Carol married writer
William Saroyan
William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''T ...
and then actor
Walter Matthau.
Howard fell in love with Violette Cunnington in 1938 while working on ''Pygmalion''. She was secretary to
Gabriel Pascal
Gabriel Pascal (born Gábor Lehel; 4 June 1894 – 6 July 1954) was a Hungarian film producer and director whose best-known films were made in the United Kingdom.
Pascal was the first film producer to successfully bring the plays of Georg ...
who was producing the film; she became Howard's secretary and lover, and they travelled to the United States and lived together while he was filming ''Gone with the Wind'' and ''Intermezzo'' (both 1939). His wife and daughter joined him in Hollywood before production ended on the two films, making his arrangement with Cunnington somewhat uncomfortable for everyone. He left the United States for the last time with his wife and daughter in August, 1939, and Cunnington soon followed. She appeared in ''"Pimpernel" Smith'' (1941) and ''The First of the Few'' (1942) in minor roles under the stage name of Suzanne Clair. She died of pneumonia in her early thirties in 1942, just six months before Howard's death. Howard left her his
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...
house in his will.
The Howard family's home in Britain was Stowe Maries, a 16th-century, six-bedroom farmhouse on the edge of
Westcott, Surrey
Westcott is a semi-rural English village and former civil parish west of the centre of Dorking on the A25 between the North Downs and Greensand Ridge, making it one of the 'Vale of Holmesdale' villages (greatly in Westcott an AONB) and is in ...
.
His will revealed an estate of £62,761, the equivalent of £ as of . An
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
was placed at 45 Farquhar Road, Upper Norwood, London in 2013.
Death
![Bay of Biscay map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Bay_of_Biscay_map.png)
In May 1943, Howard travelled to
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
to promote the British cause. He stayed in Monte
Estoril
Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has h ...
, at the Hotel Atlântico, between 1 May and 4 May, then again between 8 May and 10 May and again between 25 May and 31 May 1943. The following day, 1 June 1943, he was aboard
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines/
BOAC Flight 777
BOAC Flight 777A was a KLM flight scheduled as a British Overseas Airways Corporation civilian airline flight from Portela Airport in Lisbon, Portugal to Whitchurch Airport near Bristol, England. On 1 June 1943, the Douglas DC-3 serving the f ...
, "G-AGBB" a
Douglas DC-3 flying from
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
to
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, when it was shot down by ''
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
''
Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") that would be too fast ...
C-6 maritime fighter aircraft over the Atlantic (off
Cedeira
Cedeira is a municipality in the province of A Coruña in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. It is situated in the northern coast of the Rías Altas. Cedeira has a population of 7,412 inhabitants ( INE, 2010).
Parroquias
* ...
,
A Coruña
A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...
).
[Goss 2001, pp. 50–56.] He was among the 17 fatalities, including four KLM flight crew.
The BOAC DC-3 ''Ibis'' had been operating on a scheduled Lisbon–Whitchurch route throughout 1942–43 that did not pass over what would commonly be referred to as a
war zone. By 1942, however, the Germans considered the region an "extremely sensitive war zone".
[Rosevink and Hintze 1991, p. 14.] On two occasions, 15 November 1942 and 19 April 1943, the camouflaged airliner had been attacked by
Messerschmitt Bf 110
The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often known unofficially as the Me 110,Because it was built before ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke'' became Messerschmitt AG in July 1938, the Bf 110 was never officially given the designation Me 110. is a twin-engine (Des ...
fighters (a single aircraft and six Bf 110s, respectively) whilst ''en route''; each time, the pilots escaped via evasive tactics.
[. Retrieved: 23 July 2010.]
On 1 June 1943, "G-AGBB" again came under attack by a swarm of eight V/KG40 Ju 88 C-6 maritime fighters. The DC-3's last radio message indicated it was being fired upon at longitude 09.37 West, latitude 46.54 North.
["ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-3-194 G-AGBB Bay of Biscay."](_blank)
''Aviation Safety Network.'' Retrieved: 23 July 2010.
According to German documents, the DC-3 was shot down at , some from
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
, France, and northwest of
La Coruña, Spain
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
. ''Luftwaffe'' records indicate that the Ju 88 maritime fighters were operating beyond their normal patrol area to intercept and shoot down the aircraft.
First ''
Oberleutnant'' Herbert Hintze, ''
Staffelkapitän
''Staffelkapitän'' is a position (not a rank) in flying units ( ''Staffel'') of the German Luftwaffe that is the equivalent of RAF/USAF Squadron Commander. Usually today a ''Staffelkapitän'' is of '' Oberstleutnant'' or ''Major'' rank.
In the ...
'' of 14 ''Staffel'', V./
Kampfgeschwader 40
''Kampfgeschwader'' 40 (KG 40) was a Luftwaffe medium and heavy bomber wing of World War II, and the primary maritime patrol unit of any size within the World War II Luftwaffe. It is best remembered as the unit operating a majority of the four-eng ...
, and based in Bordeaux, stated that his ''Staffel'' shot down the DC-3 because it was recognized as an enemy aircraft.
Hintze further stated that his pilots were angry that the ''Luftwaffe'' leaders had not informed them of a scheduled flight between Lisbon and the UK, and that had they known, they could easily have escorted the DC-3 to Bordeaux and captured it and all aboard. The German pilots photographed the wreckage floating in the Bay of Biscay, and after the war, copies of these captured photographs were sent to Howard's family.
The following day, a search of the waters on the route was undertaken by "N/461", a
Short Sunderland
The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of Sunderland in North Ea ...
flying boat from
No. 461 Squadron RAAF. Near the same coordinates where the DC-3 was shot down, the Sunderland was attacked by eight Ju 88s and, after a furious battle, it managed to shoot down three of the attackers, with an additional three "possibles", before crash-landing at
Praa Sands
Praa Sands ( kw, Poll an Wragh), (formerly Prah Sands) commonly pronounced pray or prah, is a white-sand beach and coastal village in Cornwall, England. It is in the parish of Breage and lies off the A394 road between Helston and Penzance. For ...
near
Penzance
Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...
. In the aftermath of these two actions, all BOAC flights from Lisbon were re-routed and operated only under the cover of darkness.
The news of Howard's death was published in the same issue of ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' that reported the "death" of
Major William Martin, the “Man who never was” created for the ruse involved in
Operation Mincemeat
Operation Mincemeat was a successful British deception operation of the Second World War to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. Two members of British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a tramp who died from eating ...
.
Theories regarding the air attack
![Monumento á memoria do actor Leslie Howard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Monumento_%C3%A1_memoria_do_actor_Leslie_Howard.jpg)
A long-standing but ultimately unsupported hypothesis suggested that the Germans believed that the
British Prime Minister
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As moder ...
,
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
, was on board the flight. Churchill's history of World War II suggested that the Germans targeted the commercial flight because the British Prime Minister's "presence in North Africa
or_the_1943_ or_the_1943_Casablanca_conference">Casablanca_conference.html"_;"title="or_the_1943_Casablanca_conference">or_the_1943_Casablanca_conferencehad_been_fully_reported",_and_German_agents_at_the_Lisbon_airfield_mistook_a_"thickset_man_smoking_a_cigar"_boarding_the_plane_for_Churchill_returning_to_England._The_death_of_the_fourteen_civilians_including_Leslie_Howard_"was_a_painful_shock_to_me",_Churchill_wrote;_"the_brutality_of_the_Germans_was_only_matched_by_the_stupidity_of_their_agents".
Two_books_focusing_on_the_final_flight,_''Flight_777''_(Ian_Colvin,_1957)_and_''In_Search_of_My_Father:_A_Portrait_of_Leslie_Howard''_(Ronald_Howard_(British_actor).html" ;"title="Casablanca_conference.html" ;"title="Casablanca_conference.html" ;"title="or the 1943
or_the_1943_Casablanca_conference">Casablanca_conference.html"_;"title="or_the_1943_Casablanca_conference">or_the_1943_Casablanca_conferencehad_been_fully_reported",_and_German_agents_at_the_Lisbon_airfield_mistook_a_"thickset_man_smoking_a_cigar"_boarding_the_plane_for_Churchill_returning_to_England._The_death_of_the_fourteen_civilians_including_Leslie_Howard_"was_a_painful_shock_to_me",_Churchill_wrote;_"the_brutality_of_the_Germans_was_only_matched_by_the_stupidity_of_their_agents".
Two_books_focusing_on_the_final_flight,_''Flight_777''_(Ian_Colvin,_1957)_and_''In_Search_of_My_Father:_A_Portrait_of_Leslie_Howard''_(Ronald_Howard_(British_actor)">Ronald_Howard,_1984),_asserted_that_the_target_was_Howard_instead:_that_Germans_deliberately_shot_down_Howard's_DC-3_to_demoralise_Britain.
Howard_1984_Howard_had_been_travelling_through_Spain_and_Portugal_lecturing_on_film,_but_also_meeting_with_local_propagandists_and_shoring_up_support_for_the_Allies_of_World_War_II.html" "title="Casablanca conference">or the 1943 Casablanca conference">Casablanca_conference.html" ;"title="or the 1943 Casablanca conference">or the 1943 Casablanca conferencehad been fully reported", and German agents at the Lisbon airfield mistook a "thickset man smoking a cigar" boarding the plane for Churchill returning to England. The death of the fourteen civilians including Leslie Howard "was a painful shock to me", Churchill wrote; "the brutality of the Germans was only matched by the stupidity of their agents".
Two books focusing on the final flight, ''Flight 777'' (Ian Colvin, 1957) and ''In Search of My Father: A Portrait of Leslie Howard'' (Ronald Howard (British actor)">Ronald Howard, 1984), asserted that the target was Howard instead: that Germans deliberately shot down Howard's DC-3 to demoralise Britain.[Howard 1984] Howard had been travelling through Spain and Portugal lecturing on film, but also meeting with local propagandists and shoring up support for the Allies of World War II">Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
. The ''British Film Yearbook'' for 1945 described Leslie Howard's work as "one of the most valuable facets of British propaganda".
The Germans could have suspected even more surreptitious activities, since Portugal, like Switzerland, was a crossroads for internationals and spies from both sides. British historian James Oglethorpe investigated Howard's connection to the secret services. Ronald Howard's book explores the written German orders to the Ju 88 squadron in great detail, as well as British communiqués that purportedly verify intelligence reports indicating a deliberate attack on Howard. These accounts indicate that the Germans were aware of Churchill's real whereabouts at the time and were not so naïve as to believe he would be travelling alone on board an unescorted, unarmed civilian aircraft, which Churchill also acknowledged as improbable. Ronald Howard was convinced the order to shoot down Howard's airliner came directly from
Joseph Goebbels,
Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, who had been ridiculed in one of Leslie Howard's films, and believed Howard to be the most dangerous British propagandist.
Most of the 13 passengers were either British businessmen with commercial connections to Portugal, or lower-ranking British government civil servants. There were also two or three children of British military personnel.
Two passengers were bumped off the flight,
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
and
William Cecil, the teenage sons of
Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt
Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt Cecil Bulkely-Johnson Goodsir (August 22, 1900 – February 7, 1976) was an American born heiress and member of the Vanderbilt family who inherited the Biltmore Estate. She was known for her eccentric behavior.
Ear ...
, who had been recalled to London from their Swiss boarding school, thus saving their lives.
A 2008 book by Spanish writer José Rey Ximena argues that Howard was on a top-secret mission for Churchill to dissuade Spanish dictator
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
from joining the
Axis powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
.
["Book: Howard kept Spain from joining WWII."](_blank)
''United Press International
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...
'', 6 October 2008. Retrieved: 25 May 2009. Via an old girlfriend,
Conchita Montenegro
Conchita Montenegro (born Concepción Andrés Picado; September 11, 1911 – April 22, 2007) was a Spanish model, dancer, stage and screen actress. She was educated in a convent in Madrid.
Multitalented
Montenegro first worked professionally ...
,
Howard had contacts with Ricardo Giménez Arnau, a young diplomat in the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Further merely circumstantial background evidence is revealed in Jimmy Burns's 2009
biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
of his father, spymaster Tom Burns. According to author
William Stevenson William Stevenson may refer to:
Government and politics
* Sir William Stevenson (colonial administrator) (1805–1863), Governor of Mauritius
* William E. Stevenson (1820–1883), American politician, Governor of West Virginia
* William Ernest St ...
in ''A Man called Intrepid'', his biography of
Sir William Samuel Stephenson (no relation), the senior representative of British Intelligence for the western hemisphere during the Second World War, Stephenson postulated that the Germans knew about Howard's mission and ordered the aircraft shot down. Stephenson further argued that Churchill knew in advance of the German intention to shoot down the aircraft, but allowed it to proceed to protect the fact that the British had broken the German Enigma code. Former CIA agent Joseph B. Smith recalled that, in 1957, he was briefed by the National Security Agency on the need for secrecy and that Leslie Howard's death had been brought up. The NSA stated that Howard knew his aircraft was to be attacked by German fighters and sacrificed himself to protect the British code-breakers.
A secretly taped account by one of the pilots involved appears in Sönke Neitzel and Harald Welzer's ''Soldiers: German POWs on Fighting, Killing, and Dying''. In a recently declassified transcript of a surreptitiously recorded conversation by two German Luftwaffe prisoners of war talking about the shooting down of Howard's flight, one seems to express pride in his accomplishment, but states clearly he knew nothing of the passenger's identities or importance until hearing an English broadcast later that evening. Asked why he shot down a civil aircraft, he states it was one of four such planes he shot down: "Whatever crossed our path was shot down."
The 2010 biography by Estel Eforgan, ''Leslie Howard: The Lost Actor'', examines then recently available evidence and concludes that Howard was not a specific target, corroborating the statements by German sources that the shootdown was "an error in judgement".
[Matthews, Rowan. "N461: Howard & Churchill", ''n461.com '', 2003. Retrieved: 23 July 2010.]
There is a monument in
San Andrés de Teixido, Spain, dedicated to the victims of the crash. Howard's aircraft was shot down over the sea north of this village.
''The Mystery of Flight 777'' (documentary)
''The Mystery of Flight 777'', by film-maker Thomas Hamilton, explores the circumstances, theories and myths which have grown around the shooting down of Howard's plane. The film also aims to examine in detail some of the other passengers on board. Originally intended as a short companion piece to the Leslie Howard film, this project expanded in scope and as of January 2021 is still in production.
Biographies
Howard's premature death preempted any autobiography. A compilation of his writings, ''Trivial Fond Records'', edited and with occasional comments by his son Ronald, was published in 1982. This book includes insights on his family life, first impressions of America and Americans when he first moved to the United States to act on Broadway, and his views on democracy in the years prior to and during the Second World War.
Howard's son and daughter each published memoirs of their father: ''In Search of My Father: A Portrait of Leslie Howard'' (1984) by Ronald Howard, and ''A Quite Remarkable Father: A Biography of Leslie Howard'' (1959) by Leslie Ruth Howard.
Estel Eforgan's ''Leslie Howard: The Lost Actor'' is a full-length book biography published in 2010.
''Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn''
''Leslie Howard: A Quite Remarkable Life'', a film documentary biography produced by Thomas Hamilton of Repo Films, was shown privately at the NFB Mediatheque,
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Canada in September 2009 for contributors and supporters of the film. Subsequently, re-edited and retitled ''Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn'', the documentary was officially launched on 2 September 2011 in an event held at Howard's former home "Stowe Maries" in
Dorking
Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley District and the council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughly east–west, parallel to the Pipp Br ...
, and reported on
BBC South
BBC South is the BBC English Region serving
Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Dorset, Berkshire and parts of Gloucestershire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Surrey, West Sussex and Wiltshire, with geographic coverage varying b ...
News the same day. Lengthy rights negotiations with Warners then delayed further screenings until May 2012.
From 2012 to early 2014 the film remained in limbo due to these issues. However, in early 2014, independent producer
Monty Montgomery and Hamilton entered a co-production agreement to complete and release the documentary. This involved a complete re-edit of the documentary, from June 2014 to February 2015, with added material including archival interviews (Michael Powell, John Houseman, Ronald Howard and Irene Howard - all originally filmed in 1980 for the BBC's British Greats series), much historical footage and an additional interview. In addition a score was commissioned from composer Maria Antal and considerable post-production sweetening was undertaken on the original material.
This new version, of '' Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn'' was screened as a "work in progress" at the San Francisco Mostly British Film Festival on 14 February 2015, with Hamilton, Tracy Jenkins and
Derek Partridge
Derek Partridge (born 29 June 1935) is a British television presenter, spokesman and voice-over artist, formerly a film and TV actor.
Partridge's father was a diplomat in the British Foreign Service.
In the 1960s, Partridge appeared in a nume ...
in attendance. The film won the award for Best Documentary Film.
Subsequent screenings (with minor changes to the commentary) took place at the Chichester International Film Festival on 18 August 2015 at the Regent Street Cinema, London in December 2015 and at the Margaret Mitchell Museum in Atlanta in May 2016 as part of the Britweek Atlanta launch.
''Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn'' had its world premiere broadcast on
Talking Pictures TV
Talking Pictures TV (TPTV) is a British free-to-air vintage-film and nostalgia television channel. It was launched on 26 May 2015 on Sky channel 343, but later also became available on Freeview, Freesat, and Virgin Media. It is on air for 24 h ...
on 27 December 2017, followed by the US TV premiere on
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...
on 4 June 2018, which opened a month-long tribute to Howard's films. It airs regularly on Talking Pictures TV and occasionally on Turner Classic Movies.
Complete filmography
Theatre credits
Radio career
Howard was not only an accomplished actor on stage and screen, he appeared many times on radio as well. Howard began his career on radio in the early 1930s when he performed dramatic readings for ''The Yardley Program.'' Not much is known about the programme because the recordings have been lost, but references to the show can be found in fan magazines of the time and the show is listed in ''The New York Times'' radio programme guide. Howard was also a guest performer on such shows as ''The Rudy Vallee Show/Fleischmann's Yeast Hour'', ''
Lux Radio Theatre
''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...
'', ''
The Silver Theatre
''The Silver Theatre'' is a television series that was broadcast on the CBS television network from 1949 to 1950. Hosted by Conrad Nagel, it was a live anthology series consisting of dramatic teleplays about romance. It was sponsored by the I ...
'', ''
The Magic Key of RCA
''The Magic Key of RCA'' was an American variety radio show that featured an unusually large and broad range of entertainment stars and other noted personalities. It was on the NBC Blue Network from September 29, 1935, until September 18, 1939.
...
'', ''
Your Hit Parade
''Your Hit Parade'' was an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year ru ...
'' and ''
Kraft Music Hall with
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
''.
In May, 1935, Leslie Howard and his daughter, Leslie Ruth Howard, aged 10, appeared on ''The Rudy Vallee Show/Fleischmann's Yeast Hour'' in "The Enchanted Forest" scene from
James M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...
's ''
Dear Brutus
''Dear Brutus'' is a 1917 fantasy play by J. M. Barrie, depicting alternative realities for its characters and their eventual return to real life. The title is a reference to a line from Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar'': "The fault, dear Brutus, is ...
.'' The show was so popular with audiences that for the first time in the show's history an encore was performed six weeks later on 27 June 1935. That show survives and can be heard on the Old Time Radio Library's website.
At the end of 1936 Howard began appearing as a guest on ''Eddie Cantor's Texaco Town.'' It took six months and three appearances before he and Cantor finally delivered the punchline in the skit "Three Pairs of Rubbers." Howard's appearances were not limited to guest spots. Beginning in October 1935 and into the spring of 1936 Howard had his own show on CBS. It was a serial titled ''The Amateur Gentleman''. The show eventually became ''Leslie Howard's Matinee'' with each week bringing a new adapted play popular at the time to radio listeners. Howard also appeared in ''Columbia Presents Shakespeare'' as Benedick in the play ''
Much Ado About Nothing
''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...
'' with
Rosalind Russell
Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907November 28, 1976) was an American actress, comedienne, screenwriter, and singer,Obituary ''Variety'', December 1, 1976, p. 79. known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in the H ...
in the summer of 1937. Howard produced two shows for ''Lux Radio Theatre: Lady for A Day'', starring
May Robson
Mary Jeanette Robison (19 April 1858 – 20 October 1942), known professionally as May Robson, was an Australian-born American-based actress whose career spanned 58 years, starting in 1883 when she was 25. A major stage actress of the late 19t ...
and Guy Kibbee, and ''The Life of Emile Zola'', starring
Paul Muni and Josephine Hutchinson.
His last known radio appearance in the United States before returning to Britain to help with the war effort was the ''Radio Tribute to the King and Queen'' in which dozens of British stars performed skits while King
King George VI and
Queen Elizabeth listened with
President Roosevelt and
Mrs. Roosevelt from
Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
. Howard's appearances on the BBC's ''Britain Speaks'' were broadcast to the United States from 16 July 1940, after the onset of the Second World War, urging America to enter the war in support of Britain. By January 1941 Howard had completed 27 broadcasts of ''Britain Speaks''.
[Howard, Leslie, ed. with Ronald Howard. ''Trivial Fond Records''. London: William Kimber & Co Ltd, 1982. .] Howard also appeared on a panel programme for the BBC called ''
The Brains Trust
''The Brains Trust'' was an informational BBC radio and later television programme popular in the United Kingdom during the 1940s and 1950s, on which a panel of experts tried to answer questions sent in by the audience.
History
The series was ...
''.
Unfortunately, most of Howard's radio broadcasts have been lost, but a few have survived for the enjoyment of audiences today.
Radio credits
Influence
The late Hongkongese singer and actor,
Leslie Cheung
Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing (12 September 1956 – 1 April 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actor. Throughout a 26-year career from 1977 until his death, Cheung released over 40 music albums and acted in 56 films. He was one of the most prominent ...
(Chinese: 張國榮), adopted Leslie as his first name out of his admiration of Howard.
See also
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Burns, Jimmy
''Papa Spy: Love, Faith and Betrayal in Wartime Spain'' London: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2009. .
* Churchill, Winston S. ''The Hinge of Fate''. New York: Houghton-Mifflin, 1950.
* Colvin Ian. ''Admiral Canaris: Chief of Intelligence''. London: Colvin Press, 2007. .
* Colvin Ian. ''Flight 777: The Mystery of Leslie Howard''. London: Evans Brothers, 1957.
* Covington, Howard E., Jr. ''Lady on the Hill: How Biltmore Estate Became an American Icon''. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley, 2006. .
* Eforgan, Estel. ''Leslie Howard: The Lost Actor''. London: Vallentine Mitchell Publishers, 2010. .
* Goss, Chris. ''Bloody Biscay: The Story of the Luftwaffe's Only Long Range Maritime Fighter Unit, V Gruppe/Kampfgeschwader 40, and Its Adversaries 1942–1944''. London: Crécy Publishing, 2001. .
* Howard, Leslie, ed. with Ronald Howard. ''Trivial Fond Records''. London: William Kimber & Co Ltd, 1982. .
* Howard, Leslie Ruth. ''A Quite Remarkable Father: A Biography of Leslie Howard''. New York: Harcourt Brace and Co., 1959.
* Howard, Ronald. ''In Search of My Father: A Portrait of Leslie Howard''. London: St. Martin's Press, 1984. .
* Macdonald, Bill. ''The True Intrepid: Sir William Stephenson and the Unknown Agents''. Vancouver, BC: Raincoast Books 2002, .
* Noble, Peter, ed. ''British Film Yearbook for 1945''. London: The British Broadcasting Corporation, 1945.
* Rey Ximena, José. ''El Vuolo de Ibis''
'The Flight of the Ibis''. Madrid: Facta Ediciones SL, 2008. .
* Rosevink, Ben and Lt Col Herbert Hintze. "Flight 777" .''FlyPast'', Issue #120, July 1991.
* Sklar, Robert. ''City Boys: Cagney, Bogart, Garfield''. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1992. .
* Smith, Joseph B. ''Portrait of a Cold Warrior''. New York: Random House, 1976. .
* Southall, Ivan. ''They Shall Not Pass Unseen''. London: Angus and Robertson, 1956.
* Stevenson, William. ''A Man Called Intrepid: The Incredible World War II Narrative of the Hero Whose Spy Network and Secret Diplomacy Changed the Course of History''. Guilford, Delaware: Lyons Press, 1976, reissued in 2000. .
* Verrier, Anthony. ''Assassination in Algiers: Churchill, Roosevelt, De Gaulle, and the Murder of Admiral Darlan''. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1st edition, 1991. .
External links
*
*
*
*
Van Neste, Dan."Leslie Howard: Unmasking the Pimpernel"Leslie Howardat Virtual History
Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave A Damn (2015) by Repo Films
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Leslie
1893 births
1943 deaths
20th-century English male actors
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British civilians killed in World War II
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English male film actors
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English male silent film actors
English male stage actors
Jewish English male actors
Male actors from Kent
Northamptonshire Yeomanry officers
People educated at Alleyn's School
People educated at Dulwich College
People from Forest Hill, London
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in international waters
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1943
Victims of aircraft shootdowns
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