Charles Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick

Charles Guy Fulke Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick, 7th Earl Brooke (4 March 1911 – 20 January 1984), was a British peer and the last Earl of Warwick to live at the family seat Warwick Castle before its sale in 1978. He became the first British aristocrat to star in a Hollywood movie, and was later nicknamed the Duke of Hollywood by the local press.

Early life Portrait of his mother, Marjorie, Countess of Warwick, by John Singer Sargent. Charles Guy Fulke Greville was born at 13a Lower Grosvenor Place West, London on 4 March 1911. "Fulkie", as he was known to intimates, had two younger brothers, Richard Francis Maynard Greville, a Governor of University College Hospital, and John Ambrose Henry Greville, who was killed in action in 1942 during World War II. on the death of his father (who had only become the 6th Earl four years earlier in 1924). He joined the Grenadier Guards after completing his education.

Career Acting career In the 1920s and 1930s, many British actors found work in the American film industry; Sheridan Morley called this the "Hollywood Raj". In 1936, Lord Warwick became the first British aristocrat to be offered a Hollywood contract by MGM. He was to receive £200 a year, and the services of a valet and secretary.

Newspaper reports at the time suggested his reasoning for taking a film contract was sex motivated. He referred to his wages as his own "pocket money" and that he was 'simply seeking a job like everyone else'. He used the stage name Michael Brooke to distance himself from his aristocratic background. After six months he was dropped by MGM resulting in a long court battle thereafter.

As the highest-profile Englishman in Hollywood, Charles became a celebrity figure with nicknames like 'The Duke of Hollywood' and 'Warwick the Filmmaker' (a pun on Warwick the Kingmaker). Listed with a string of high-profile affairs including Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich and Paulette Goddard, he was famed for socialising within celebrity circles.

In 1938, he was offered another chance at acting through Paramount. He finally got his chance to star in a movie and was given a lead role in The Dawn Patrol alongside David Niven and Errol Flynn. This would be his only mainstream movie however, and he was dropped thereafter.

The Earl of Warwick

Following his failure in America, and with the start of the Second World War, Warwick returned to the United Kingdom. Coventry, near his family seat, suffered tremendous aerial bombing, and he opened his home to evacuees from the city, as well as to the Ministry of Supply. It was rumoured that Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess was held at Warwick Castle for one night while being transported from Scotland to London.

He was Mayor of Warwick between 1951 and 1952, organising great celebrations for the success of the boxer Randolph Turpin upon his becoming World Middleweight Champion, and hosted King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Warwick Castle when they visited Warwick and Leamington in 1951.

Warwick was a Conservative member of the House of Lords; his political actions included successfully opposing certain agricultural measures. He supported his uncle Anthony Eden who succeeded Winston Churchill as Prime Minister in 1955.

Later life In 1955, Lord Warwick bought houses in Switzerland, Italy, and France, and began travelling between the three. In 1957, he funded and established the Eagle Ski Club in Gstaad, Switzerland, becoming its first honorary President.

Throughout the next decade, Warwick, widely described as one of Britain's richest men, began to sell many of the family possessions, including estates in Warwick, heirlooms, and much of the armour collection at Warwick Castle. In 1969, he left England altogether to avoid British income taxes. His son sold Warwick Castle to Madame Tussauds in 1978, causing a public confrontation between father and son.

Personal life Lord Warwick was married three times. He was also engaged to Margaret Whigham, later Duchess of Argyll, but the engagement was broken off in March 1932.

His first marriage took place on 11 July 1933 to his second cousin, Rose Bingham, daughter of David Cecil Bingham (a granddaughter of the 5th Earl of Rosslyn and Gen. Sir Cecil Bingham and a descendant of the 4th Earl of Lucan). Before their 1938 divorce, Charles and Rose were the parents of one son:

David Robin Francis Guy Greville, 8th Earl of Warwick (1934–1996), They divorced in 1967 and she married Harry Thomson Jones. Mary, the former wife of Harold Edward Bell, was the eldest daughter of Percy Clifford Hopkinson of Seabarn in Kingston Gorse. In 1947, he pleaded guilty to "cashing two checks at Cannes, France, thus receiving francs for pounds in violation of British Treasury regulations" and was fined £1,150. They divorced in 1949.

Upon the death of Lord Warwick in Rome on 20 January 1984, David Greville, 8th Earl of Warwick, his only son by his first wife, inherited his titles. He was buried at St. Mary's Church, Warwick.