Wilfrid Hyde-white


Actor
Wilfrid Hyde-white

About

Also Known As
Wilfrid Hyde White, Hyde White, Wilfred Hyde-White, Wilfred Hyde White
Birth Place
Gloucestershire, England, GB
Born
May 12, 1903
Died
May 06, 1991
Cause of Death
Congestive Heart Failure

Biography

Distinguished-looking, urbane character actor noted for his droll humor on stage as the father of the title character in the drawing room comedy "The Reluctant Debutante" (London 1956, Broadway 1957) and the Laurence Olivier-Vivien Leigh "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1952). Often cast as genteel Englishmen whose surface manners mask a roguish or larcenous soul, Hyde-White is best known for his...

Photos & Videos

Family & Companions

Blanche Hope Aitken
Wife
Married in 1927; died in 1948.
Ethel Korenmann
Wife
Second wife; married in 1957 until his death.

Notes

"The premise of the drollery has to be firm. It has to "look" leisurely, but actually my technique is hidebound by method. I really don't take chances onstage. My style of acting is made up of certain tricks acquired over many years. The suaveness isn't born of confidence; it's born of fright." --Wilfrid Hyde-White quoted in his May 7, 1991 obituary in The New York Times.

Biography

Distinguished-looking, urbane character actor noted for his droll humor on stage as the father of the title character in the drawing room comedy "The Reluctant Debutante" (London 1956, Broadway 1957) and the Laurence Olivier-Vivien Leigh "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1952). Often cast as genteel Englishmen whose surface manners mask a roguish or larcenous soul, Hyde-White is best known for his performances as Crippin, a British Council functionary in "The Third Man" (1949), the hypocritical headmaster in "The Browning Version" (1951) and Henry Higgins's bemused friend, Colonel Pickering, in "My Fair Lady" (1964). On TV he appeared briefly on the nighttime soap opera "Peyton Place" (1967), starred as Emerson Marshall in the legal comedy series, "The Associates" (1979) and played Dr. Goodfellow in "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" (1981).

Filmography

 

Cast (Feature Film)

Fanny Hill (1983)
The Toy (1982)
The Letter (1982)
Judge
Father Damien: The Leper Priest (1980)
Oh God! Book II (1980)
Judge Miller
Xanadu (1980)
Voice
Scout's Honor (1980)
In God We Trust (1980)
The Cat and the Canary (1979)
Cyrus West
No Longer Alone (1978)
King Solomon's Treasure (1978)
Battlestar Galactica (1978)
The Great Houdinis (1976)
Superintendent Melville
A Brand New Life (1973)
Berger
Columbo: Dagger of the Mind (1972)
Fragment of Fear (1971)
Mr. Copsey
The Magic Christian (1970)
Ship's captain
Skullduggery (1970)
Eaton
Gaily, Gaily (1969)
The governor
Run a Crooked Mile (1969)
Dr Ralph Sawyer
P. J. (1968)
Billings-Browne
The Million Eyes of Su-Muru (1967)
Colonel Baisbrook
The Liquidator (1966)
The chief
Chamber of Horrors (1966)
Harold Blount
Ten Little Indians (1966)
Judge Cannon
You Must Be Joking! (1965)
General Lockwood
Operation Snafu (1965)
Trowbridge
John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! (1965)
Mustafa Guz
My Fair Lady (1964)
Colonel Pickering
Crooks Anonymous (1963)
Montague
Aliki--My Love (1963)
Richard Caraway
In Search of the Castaways (1962)
Lord Glenarvan
On the Double (1961)
Colonel Somerset
Ada (1961)
Sylvester Marin
Two-Way Stretch (1961)
Rev. Basil "Soapy" Fowler
Let's Make Love (1960)
George Wales
Flame Over India (1960)
Libel (1959)
[Hubert] Foxley
The Vicious Circle (1959)
Robert Brady
Carry On Nurse (1959)
Wonderful Things! (1958)
The Silken Affair (1958)
Sir Horace Hogg
The Truth About Women (1958)
Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957)
"Doodles" Fletcher
That Woman Opposite (1957)
Sir Maurice Lawes
Cash on Delivery (1956)
Starke
My Teenage Daughter (1956)
Sir Joseph
Quentin Durward (1955)
Master Oliver
Betrayed (1954)
Gen. Charles Larraby
Man with a Million (1954)
Roderick Montpelier
Duel in the Jungle (1954)
Pitt
The Rainbow Jacket (1954)
Lord Stoneleigh
The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953)
Mr Marston
Top Secret (1952)
Sir Hubert Wells
No Highway in the Sky (1951)
Fisher
Mr. Drake's Duck (1951)
Mr. May
Outcast of the Islands (1951)
Vinck
The Browning Version (1951)
Trio (1950)
Mr. Gray
The Mudlark (1950)
Tucker
The Man on the Eiffel Tower (1950)
Professor Grollet
The Third Man (1949)
Crabbin
Quartet (1949)
2nd club man
The Forbidden Street (1949)
Mr. [William] Culver
Conspirator (1949)
Lord Penistone
Helter Skelter (1949)
That Dangerous Age (1949)
Adam And Evelyne (1949)
The Winslow Boy (1948)
The Bad Lord Byron (1948)
Meet Me at Dawn (1947)
Demi-Paradise (1943)
Waiter
Elephant Boy (1937)
Commissioner
Admirals All (1935)

Cast (TV Mini-Series)

The Rebels (1979)

Life Events

1922

Stage debut in "Tons of Money" on the Isle of Wight

1936

Film debut, "Rembrandt"

Photo Collections

In Search of the Castaways - Movie Posters
In Search of the Castaways - Movie Posters

Videos

Movie Clip

Let's Make Love (1960) -- (Movie Clip) To See What You're Like Following a comic prologue, French playboy magnate Clement (Yves Montand) is surrounded by sycophants, soon including Wales (Wilfrid Hyde White) and Coffman (Tony Randall) from PR, early in George Cukor's Let's Make Love, 1960.
Ten Little Indians (1966) -- (Movie Clip) What's He Like? Introduced in credits riding up an Alpine tramway, guests Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde White, Leo Genn, Hugh O'Brian, Dennis Price, Fabian, Shirley Eaton, Daliah Lavi, plus servants Mario Adorf and Marianne Hoppe, begin to chat, in the 1966 version of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians.
In Search Of The Castaways (1962) -- (Movie Clip) Confounded Wharf Rats! After their long fruitless effort in South America, Ayerton (George Sanders, his first scene) observes the party led by Lord Glenarvan (Wilfrid Hyde White), with his son (Michael Anderson Jr.), professor Paganel (Maurice Chevalier) and the Grant children (Hayley Mills, Keith Hamshere) searching for their father, in Disney’s In Search Of The Castaways, 1962.
My Fair Lady (1964) -- (Movie Clip) The Rain in Spain Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn, vocal by Marni Nixon) demonstrates her improved elocution to Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), Wilfrid Hyde-White as Col. Pickering, in the Lerner and Loewe classic, The Rain In Spain, in My Fair Lady, 1964.
Liquidator, The (1966) -- (Movie Clip) We Liquidate Them Intelligence officer Mostyn (Trevor Howard) arrives at the Whitehall office of "The Chief" (Wilfrid Hyde-White), they commiserate over another intelligence scandal and consider an outrageous solution, early in director Jack Cardiff's The Liquidator, 1966.
Our Man In Marrakesh (1966) -- (Movie Clip) I Have No Luggage! Arrived at the hotel, observed by spooky Klaus Kinski, Tony Randall, who may really be a tourist, and Senta Berger, whom we suspect is an agent, soon finding the guy murdered in the opening, in the spy comedy Our Man In Marrakesh a.k.a. Bang! Bang! You're Dead
Two Way Stretch (1960) -- (Movie Clip) Blimey Sauerkraut! Otherwise-relaxed prison trusty Dodger (Peter Sellers) is alarmed at the arrival of the notorious screw Crout (Lionel Jeffries), who proceeds to visit the warden (Maurice Denham) in the British prison comedy Two Way Stretch, 1960.
Two Way Stretch (1960) -- (Movie Clip) Not Enough Rocks To Go Around? Tough prison guard Crout (Wilfrid Hyde-White) has re-opened the quarry, cracking down on inmates Jelly (David Lodge), Lennie (Bernard Cribbins) and Dodger (Peter Sellers), which doesn't work out, in Two Way Stretch, 1960.
Two Way Stretch (1960) -- (Movie Clip) You Know Your Vicar We don’t initially know that Wilfrid Hyde-White isn’t really a vicar, as he visits the prison warden (Maurice Denham), but when cagey inmate Dodger (Peter Sellers) is brought in for counseling, we learn he’s really the notorious crook Soapy, in the British-made comedy Two Way Stretch, 1960.
Man With A Million (1953) -- (Movie Clip) The Young Gentleman American castaway Henry Adams (Gregory Peck) gets an odd offer from London aristocrats Roderick and Oliver Montpelier (Wilfrid Hyde White, Ronald Squire) in this early scene from director Ronald Neame's Man With A Million, 1953.
Ada (1961) -- (Movie Clip) Write An Official Biography Chilled candidate for governor Bo (Dean Martin) introduces the call-girl he's just married (Susan Hayward, title character) to guru Sylvester (Wilfrid Hyde-White, playing Southern), press aide Martin Balsam observing, in Ada, 1961, from a Pulitzer-nominated novel by Wirt Williams.
Our Man In Marrakesh (1966) -- (Movie Clip) Open, Airport Klaus Kinski the nameless villain dominates this opening in Casablanca, then arrivals (Helen Sanguineti, Wilfrid Hyde-White and stars Tony Randall and Senta Berger) boarding the bus, opening the spy-spoof Our Man In Marrakesh, a.k.a. Bang! Bang! You're Dead 1966.

Trailer

Family

William Edward White
Father
Canon. Former Canon of Gloucester.
Michael Hyde-White
Son
Born 1928; mother Blanche Hope Aitken.
Alex Hyde-White
Son
Actor. Born in 1959; mother Ethel Korenmann; in films from 1982.
Juliet Hyde-White
Daughter
Born 1961; mother Ethel Korenmann.

Companions

Blanche Hope Aitken
Wife
Married in 1927; died in 1948.
Ethel Korenmann
Wife
Second wife; married in 1957 until his death.

Bibliography

Notes

"The premise of the drollery has to be firm. It has to "look" leisurely, but actually my technique is hidebound by method. I really don't take chances onstage. My style of acting is made up of certain tricks acquired over many years. The suaveness isn't born of confidence; it's born of fright." --Wilfrid Hyde-White quoted in his May 7, 1991 obituary in The New York Times.