John Laurie
John Laurie ( born March 25, 1897 in Dumfries, † June 23, 1980 in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire ) was a Scottish actor.
Life
Laurie grew up the son of a factory worker and initially studied architecture. After the outbreak of the First World War he enlisted voluntarily, however, to the British Army. After the war he turned his attention to acting and became a student at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. On stage, he could be seen from 1921. His first marriage (since 1924) took less than two years since his wife Florence Saunders died on 24 January 1926.
Acting Career
In the following years, John Laurie made primarily as a theater actor in plays by Shakespeare, a name ( Hamlet, Richard III. , And Macbeth). From 1930, however, could also be seen in film productions him increasingly. His screen debut Juno and the Paycock was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. His breakthrough achieved Laurie five years later with the produced also by Hitchcock film The 39 Steps (1935 ). Even during and after his time as a reservist in the British Home Guard (1940-1944), he turned more famous films, including Fanny By Gaslight ( 1944) and Disney's Treasure Island ( 1950). He regularly was also seen in TV serials. Especially with the BBC sitcom Dad's Army, he remained the British public as Private Frazer in memory. Laurie died in 1980 at the age of 83 years from emphysema.