Englishmen (or women) who were not

[Lord Lionheart]

Thought this might be a fun thread for any stereotypical English ( British actors) who actually were not British. I know of a few and hope to learn of some more just for surprise factor;



Leo McKern - Good old Horace Rumpole was actually Australian, mate.

Sid James - Everyone's favorite cockney was South African and did not step into the UK until he was well into his 30's

Laurence Harvey - Lithuanian by birth, not sure what his story was.



Of course many would have been British as they were born in the days of the empire, thought it might be a fun thread. Any more?

[Steve Crook]

Zvi Mosheh Skikne, (aka Laurence Harvey) and his family moved to South Africa when he was 6. He joined the South African army during WWII and served in Egypt and Italy. He started acting in SA but then he won a scholarship to RADA so he moved to London. At some time he met the South African Sid James and, the story goes, they were riding on a London bus when Sid suggested that Zvi Mosheh Skikne change his name. They were just riding past Harvey Nichols at gthe time



He was the first Lithuanian actor to be nominated for an Oscar.





A few other classic English people who weren't:

Deborah Kerr was Scottish

Leslie Howard was born in London to Hungarian parents



Steve

[CaptainWaggett]

Irene Handl's father was a bank clerk from Vienna while her mother was French. Naunton Wayne was Welsh rather than English (for some reason, the Welsh, Scots and Irish get a little touchy if you use British and English interchangeably though you'd think they'd be flattered )

[Gazza]

Janet Suzman is South African - she came to England when she was 20 years old.

[CaptainWaggett]

name='Gazza']Janet Suzman is South African - she came to England when she was 20 years old.

Ditto Antony Sher and Nigel Hawthorne

[Dame Starry]

Although Nigel Hawthorne was raised in South Africa, he was actually born in Coventry.

[batman]

The Sanders/Conway brothers .... both born in Russia.

[sippog]

name='Dame Starry']Although Nigel Hawthorne was raised in South Africa, he was actually born in Coventry.

Surely where you were raised is what shapes who you are; though actors, by their nature, are good at re-inventing themselves.



Laurence Harvey was also raised in South Africa. So was Stratford Johns and Henry Goodman. Judi Bowker was raised in Zambia. I assume we're distinguishing here between those actors who make no bones about their origins, like Alice Krige and Antony Sher, and those the public perceive as English.

[Mark O]

Moira Lister was South African also, though you'd never guess unless you knew, she is buried in the Country of her Birth, and Coral Browne was Australian.......both played the 'Englishwoman' many, many times........

[Steve Crook]

name='CaptainWaggett']Irene Handl's father was a bank clerk from Vienna while her mother was French. Naunton Wayne was Welsh rather than English (for some reason, the Welsh, Scots and Irish get a little touchy if you use British and English interchangeably though you'd think they'd be flattered )

Well, when you have great Welshmen like Basil Radford, William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill ...



Or is this only a one-way forced adoption?



It's like when a Scottish athlete does well at the Olympics then he's British (or sometimes even English). But if he does badly then he's Scottish



The current issue of Private Eye points out that there's a cyclist in the Olympics who is competing for Great Britain. But he's from the Isle of Man (the first Manx Olympian?)



The Isle of Man is part of the British Isles, but is it part of Great Britain?



Steve

[CaptainWaggett]

name='sippog']Surely where you were raised is what shapes who you are; though actors, by their nature, are good at re-inventing themselves.



Laurence Harvey was also raised in South Africa. So was Stratford Johns and Henry Goodman. Judi Bowker was raised in Zambia. I assume we're distinguishing here between those actors who make no bones about their origins, like Alice Krige and Antony Sher, and those the public perceive as English.

Henry Goodman was raised in South Africa? I didn't know that. It couldn't have been for his whole childhood because, aged 10, he was in Conspiracy of Hearts (Things You Won't Find on IMDB Part 5456)

name='Steve Crook']Well, when you have great Welshmen like Basil Radford, William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill ...



Or is this only a one-way forced adoption?



It's like when a Scottish athlete does well at the Olympics then he's British (or sometimes even English). But if he does badly then he's Scottish



The current issue of Private Eye points out that there's a cyclist in the Olympics who is competing for Great Britain. But he's from the Isle of Man (the first Manx Olympian?)



The Isle of Man is part of the British Isles, but is it part of Great Britain?



Steve

Yes, that's why I used a , Steve. It wasn't actually me who was using the terms British and English interchangeably

[GRAEME]

name='sippog']Surely where you were raised is what shapes who you are; though actors, by their nature, are good at re-inventing themselves.

Up to a point...



In the case of Brits living in other parts of what was then the Empire - I'm afraid their Britishness remains solidly intact.



Like, Cliff ain't Indian or anything.



But here's another one - Patrick McGoohan - raised in Sheffield / born in New York / parents Irish.

[Lord Lionheart]

Personally I was more interested in actors who played the quintisenntial English gentleman, cockney or what have you.

I guess we could go off on tangents about Scottish and Irish etc. e.g Sean Connery playing Bond etc. I was looking for more of a 'wow I didn't know he was actually from a,b,c. I think Laurence Harvey and Sid James werew good ones.



BTW I used to bump into Patrick McGoohan quite frequently here in a pub in Los Angeles around 10 years ago. I sat next to him a few times . Kept himself to himself, a grey whispy beard and obviously getting on a bit.

[SirOllyBolly]

George Sanders - born St. Petersburg, Russia

[batman]

name='SirOllyBolly']George Sanders - born St. Petersburg, Russia

Tom Conway - born St. Petersburg, Russia



(George's brother)

[EHV_Emmetts]

Allan Cuthbertson



Always seemed to play archetypal upper crust Britishers - in fact was an Australian.

[CaptainWaggett]

name='EHV_Emmetts']Allan Cuthbertson



Always seemed to play archetypal upper crust Britishers - in fact was an Australian.

I had no idea about that - he didn't come to England until he was 27. A few years later and he'd have been able to keep his Aussie accent. He was one of those actors that you imagine was born aged 53 in a Club tie!



Years ago I met someone who claimed to have been in nursery school in Russia with George Sanders though sadly there were no anecdotes about juvenile sarcasm in the sand-pit.

[SirOllyBolly]

Basil Rathbone - born Philip St. John Basil Rathbone in Johannesburg, South African Republic

[Tom Bancroft]

No secret that he was an Aussie - but Charles Tingwell made loads of films in Britain playing an English detective and other roles where he was perceived as English.

[batman]

Pierce Brosnan played a charming Englishman in Remington Steele and is, of course, Irish. He has also been that quintessential Englishman James Bond .... who is of Scottish ancestory.