Felix Aylmer

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Felix Aylmer bigraphy, stories - Actor

Felix Aylmer : biography

21 February 1889 – 02 September 1979

Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones, OBE (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television.

Publications

  • Dickens Incognito (1959)
  • The Drood Case (1964)

Early life and career

Felix Aylmer was born in Corsham, Wiltshire, the son of Lilian (Cookworthy) and Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Edward Aylmer Jones. He was educated at King James’s Grammar School, Almondbury near Huddersfield, where he was a boarder from 1897 to 1900, Magdalen College School, and Exeter College, Oxford, where he was a member of Oxford University Dramatic Society. He trained under the Victorian-era actress and director Rosina Filippi before securing his first professional engagement at the London Coliseum in 1911.

He acted with Sir Laurence Olivier in Shakespearean films, appearing as Polonius in Hamlet (1948), and often played wise old men, such as Merlin in Knights of the Round Table (1953). He played the Archbishop of Canterbury in the film adaptation of Becket (1964), with Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole and gave elocution lessons to the young Audrey Hepburn.

His memorable style of delivery—dignified and learned— was frequently mimicked by comedians such as Peter Sellers and Kenneth Williams. Indeed, as dramatist and barrister John Mortimer noted, the mannerisms Aylmer brought to bear in his roles came to be imitated in the real-life performances of judges on the bench. Williams observed that an impersonation of Aylmer was a speciality of a colleague during his days with ENSA, the Armed Forces Entertainment Association, but he was certain that none of the troops knew who was being impersonated.

Aylmer was President of Equity from 1950 to 1969. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1950 King’s Birthday Honours and knighted in the 1965 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

At the age of 80 Felix Aylmer played a villain in an episode of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) entitled "It’s Supposed to be Thicker than Water". His last major screen role was as the Abbot in the 1960s sitcom Oh, Brother!, opposite Derek Nimmo. He died in a nursing home in Pyrford, Surrey in 1979.

One of his younger siblings was Air Chief Marshal Sir John Whitworth-Jones.

Filmography

  • Escape (1930)
  • The Temporary Widow (1930)
  • The World, the Flesh, the Devil (1932)
  • Home, Sweet Home (1933)
  • The Ghost Camera (1933)
  • The Shadow (1933)
  • The Wandering Jew (1933)
  • The Clairvoyant (1934)
  • Whispering Tongues (1934)
  • The Night Club Queen (1934)
  • The Path of Glory (1934)
  • The Iron Duke (1934)
  • My Old Dutch (1934)
  • Doctor’s Orders (1934)
  • She Shall Have Music (1935)
  • Hello, Sweetheart (1935)
  • Old Roses (1935)
  • Checkmate (1935)
  • The Divine Spark (1935)
  • The Ace of Spades (1935)
  • The Price of a Song (1935)
  • In the Soup (1936)
  • The Improper Duchess (1936)
  • Rhodes of Africa (1936)
  • Tudor Rose (1936)
  • Her Last Affaire (1936)
  • Royal Eagle (1936)
  • Seven Sinners (1936)
  • As You Like It (1936)
  • Dusty Ermine (1936)
  • Man in the Mirror (1936)
  • Sensation (1936)
  • Jack of All Trades (1936)
  • The Mill on the Floss (1937)
  • The Live Wire (1937)
  • Dreaming Lips (1937)
  • The Frog (1937)
  • Glamorous Night (1937)
  • The Vicar of Bray (1937)
  • Action for Slander (1937)
  • Victoria the Great (1937)
  • The Rat (1937)
  • South Riding (1938)
  • Bank Holiday (1938)
  • Kate Plus Ten (1938)
  • Break the News (1938)
  • I’ve Got a Horse (1938)
  • Sixty Glorious Years (1938)
  • The Citadel (1938)
  • Just Like a Woman (1939)
  • Young Man’s Fancy (1939)
  • Night Train to Munich (1940)
  • Girl in the News (1940)
  • Spies of the Air (1940)
  • Charley’s (Big-Hearted) Aunt (1940)
  • Dr. O’Dowd (1940)
  • The Briggs Family (1940)
  • The Case of the Frightened Lady (1940)
  • Saloon Bar (1940)
  • The Seventh Survivor (1941)
  • The Saint’s Vacation (1941)
  • The Ghost of St. Michael’s (1941)
  • Spellbound (1941)
  • Major Barbara (1941)
  • Kipps (1941)
  • Once a Crook (1941)
  • Atlantic Ferry (1941)
  • I Thank You (1941)
  • Hi Gang! (1941)
  • South American George (1941)