Ernest Cossart

Ernest Cossart (born Emil Gottfried von Holst, 24 September 1876 – 21 January 1951) was an English-American actor. After a stage career in England, he moved to the US, appearing on Broadway and all around the country. In the 1930s and 1940s, he appeared in films, specializing in playing butlers, valets, and similar roles, but playing a range of other parts.

Life and career Cossart was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, the younger of the two children of Adolph von Holst (1846–1901), a professional musician, and his first wife, Clara (née Lediard; 1841–1882).

The elder child, Gustavus, later known as Gustav Holst, became a leading English composer. When he decided to pursue an acting career, he took the stage name Ernest Cossart, appearing on stage in Britain before moving to the US in 1908, working in Broadway productions and all over the country. During the First World War, he served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was severely wounded. After the war, he appeared in musical comedy in the West End before returning to Broadway in 1919. In 1932, he appeared as Colonel Tallboys in the world premiere of Bernard Shaw's Too True to Be Good, with Beatrice Lillie and Leo G. Carroll.

Cossart moved into acting in Hollywood films in the 1930s. He was often typecast as butlers; The New York Times said of him:

In Angel, Cossart and Edward Everett Horton as the servants were judged to have had the best of the film. In addition to such roles, Cossart played a range of different characters, appearing as Pa Monaghan with Ronald Reagan in Kings Row, and as Squire Brown in Tom Brown's School Days. In two films, he played Roman Catholic priests, one French and the other Irish-American.

Cossart died in New York at the age of 74, survived by his wife, the actress Maude Davis, and their daughter, the actress Valerie Cossart (1907–1994).

Broadway roles

Mary of Scotland (1933) as Lord Throgmorton

Partial filmography

The Strange Case of Mary Page (1916) The Scoundrel (1935) – Jimmy Clay Two for Tonight (1935) – Homps The Great Ziegfeld (1936) – Sidney Desire (1936) – Aristide Duvalle Palm Springs (1936) – Starkey Murder with Pictures (1936) – Stanley Redfield Three Smart Girls (1936) – Binns Champagne Waltz (1937) – Waiter As Good as Married (1937) – Quinn Angel (1937) – Wilton Bringing Up Baby (1938) – Joe Letter of Introduction (1938) – Andrews Zaza (1938) – Marchand Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939) – Binns

Never Say Die (1939) – Jeepers The Magnificent Fraud (1939) – Duval Lady of the Tropics (1939) – Father Antoine Tower of London (1939) – Tom Clink The Light That Failed (1939) – Beeton A Bill of Divorcement (1940) – Rev. Dr. Pumphrey Tom Brown's School Days (1940) – Squire Brown Kitty Foyle (1940) – Pop Skylark (1941) – Theodore Kings Row (1942) – Pa Monaghan Tonight and Every Night (1944) – Sam Royce The Girl of the Limberlost (1945) Cluny Brown (1946) – Syrett The Jolson Story (1946) – Father McGee Angel Street (play) (1950) – Inspector, Ford Theatre Hour, season 3, episode 4 (television)