Michael Rennie made his film debut with a modest bit part in Alfred
Hitchcock's The
Secret Agent (1936). After serving in the Royal Air Force during
WWII, Rennie's career truly began to take off with roles in The Wicked
Lady (1945) and I'll Be Your Sweetheart (1945). He was then off to Hollywood,
contracted to Twentieth Century Fox commencing with a role in The Black
Rose (1950). He followed this with a starring role in The Day the Earth
Stood Still (1951), and significant parts in Otto Preminger's The 13th
Letter (1951), Phone Call from a Stranger (1952), Les Miserables (1952),
J. L. Mankiewicz's 5 Fingers (1952) and The Robe (1953). His career
began to decline after Henry Koster's Desirée (1954), film opportunities
were less appealing and gradually he slipped away from cinema screens.
On television, he spent two years portraying Harry Lime in the syndicated
series of The Third Man (1959).
