Edmund Breon

Edmund Breon (born Iver Edmund de Breon MacLaverty; 12 December 1882 – 24 June 1953) was a Scottish film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1907 and 1952.

Life and career Born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Breon began in John Hare's touring company and later played on the West End stage and in Glasgow, gaining prominence. According to his grandson, film editor, Breon "started out at the turn of the century doing silent pictures in France. Vampire movies", so it is reasonably certain that MacLaverty is indeed the actor who appeared under the name Edmond Bréon in many Gaumont films 1907–1922 including, most famously, playing the part of Inspector Juve for Louis Feuillade in the ground-breaking Fantômas series. He did also appear in a small part in the 1915–1916 Feuillade series Les vampires although this is not, as his grandson supposes, a horror film. He returned to Britain where he made the film A Little Bit of Fluff (1928) then went to Canada in 1929 and worked on the land. A year later he emigrated to the United States and gained his first big American film part in The Dawn Patrol (1930). Breon appeared in a mixture of British and American films over the following two decades. He also appeared on stage in the West End production of the comedy Spring Meeting in 1938.

A 1949 newspaper article noted that Breon's "career has been interrupted by serious illness and an accident which kept him idle for two years."

His grandson also recalls that he played the role of Dr. Ambrose in Howard Hawks’ The Thing from Another World (1951).

Breon died in Cork, Ireland, on 24 June 1953.

Selected filmography

L'homme aimanté (1907) Fantômas - À l'ombre de la guillotine (1913) – Inspector Juve Fantômas (1913) – Inspector Juve Le mort qui tue (1913) – Inspector Juve Fantomas: The Mysterious Finger Print (1914) – Inspector Juve Le Faux Magistrat (1914) – Inspector Juve Severo Torelli (1914) La petite Andalouse (1915) – Don Benigno – Lawyer Les vampires (1915) – Satanas' Secretary L'énigme (1919) Barrabas (1919) – Lucius L'écuyère (1922) A Little Bit of Fluff (1928) – John Ayres The Dawn Patrol (1930) – Lieut. Phipps Raffles (1930) – Harry – Lord & Lady Melrose's Friend (uncredited) On Approval (1930) – Richard Wemys The Love Habit (1931) – Alphonse Dubois Uneasy Virtue (1931) – Harvey Townsend Born to Love (1931) – Tom Kent (uncredited) Chances (1931) – The General I Like Your Nerve (1931) – Clive Lattimer Women Who Play (1932) – Rachie Wells Wedding Rehearsal (1932) – Lord Fleet Leap Year (1932) – Jack Debrant No Funny Business (1933) – Edward Waltz Time (1933) – Judge Bauer Three Men in a Boat (1933) – George The Private Life of Don Juan (1934) – Cardona, the Playwright, as Playwrights Go The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) – Col. Winterbottom Mister Cinders (1934) – Sir George Lancaster Royal Cavalcade (1935) – Minor Role (uncredited) Night Mail (1935) – Lord Ticehurst The Divine Spark (1935) – Rossini She Shall Have Music (1935) – Freddie Gates Love in Exile (1936) – Baron Zarroy Strangers on Honeymoon (1936) – Sir Gregory French Leave (1937) – Col. Root Keep Fit (1937) – Sir Augustus Marks Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1937) – Colonel Winterbottom Premiere (1938) – Morel Owd Bob (1938) – Lord Meredale A Yank at Oxford (1938) – Captain Wavertree Almost a Honeymoon (1938) – Aubrey Lovitt Dangerous Medicine (1938) – Totsie Mainwaring Crackerjack (1938) – Tony Davenport Luck of the Navy (1938) – Admiral Maybridge Many Tanks Mr. Atkins (1938) – Colonel The Outsider (1939) – Dr. Ladd Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) – Colonel Morgan It Happened to One Man (1940) – Adm. Drayton The Lodger (1944) – Manager (uncredited) Gaslight (1944) – General Huddleston The Hour Before the Dawn (1944) – Freddy Merritt The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) – Major Rupert Bancroft (uncredited) Casanova Brown (1944) – Mr. Drury Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1944) – Guide (uncredited) An American Romance (1944) – (uncredited) The Woman in the Window (1944) – Dr. Michael Barkstane The Man in Half Moon Street (1945) – Sir Humphrey Brandon The Corn Is Green (1945) – Bit Part (uncredited) Saratoga Trunk (1945) – McIntyre (uncredited) Devotion (1946) – Sir John Thornton (uncredited) Dressed to Kill (1946) – Julian 'Stinky' Emery The Imperfect Lady (1947) – Lord Chief Justice Forever Amber (1947) – Lord Redmond Julia Misbehaves (1948) – Jamie (uncredited) Master of Lassie (1948) – Jamie Soutar Enchantment (1948) – Uncle Bunny Rope of Sand (1949) – Chairman Challenge to Lassie (1949) – Magistrate The Thing from Another World (1951) – Dr. Ambrose (uncredited) At Sword's Point (1952) – Queen's Chamberlain