Francis L. Sullivan

Francis Loftus Sullivan (6 January 1903 – 19 November 1956) was an English film and stage actor.

Early life Francis Loftus Sullivan was born in London on 6 January 1903. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. Michael Sullivan, and he had two brothers and a sister. He attended Stonyhurst, a Jesuit public school, and had additional schooling in Neuchatel, Switzerland. He initially planned to be an engineer.

Among his film roles are Mr Bumble in Oliver Twist (1948) and Phil Nosseross in the film noir Night and the City (1950). Sullivan also played the part of the lawyer Jaggers in two versions of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations - in 1934 and 1946. He appeared in a fourth Dickens film, the 1935 Universal Pictures version of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, in which he played Crisparkle.

He was featured in The Citadel (1938), starring Robert Donat, and a decade later he played the role of Pierre Cauchon in the technicolor version of Joan of Arc (1948), starring Ingrid Bergman. In 1938 he starred in a revival of the Stokes brothers' play Oscar Wilde at London's Arts Theatre. He played the Attorney-General prosecuting the case defended by Robert Donat as barrister Sir Robert Morton, in the first film version of The Winslow Boy (1948).

Sullivan also acted in light comedies, including My Favorite Spy (1951), starring Bob Hope and Hedy Lamarr, in which he played an enemy agent, and the comedy Fiddlers Three (1944), portraying Nero. He also played the role of Pothinus in the film version of George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra (1945). The film was directed by Gabriel Pascal, and was the last film personally supervised by Shaw himself. Sullivan reprised the role in a stage revival of the play.

On television, Sullivan starred in "The Man Who Would Be King", the 17 October 1950, episode of Suspense.

Sullivan, who became a naturalised American citizen on 27 December 1954, won a Tony Award in 1955 for the Agatha Christie play Witness for the Prosecution. In 1939 they were living at 'Hatch Hill' on Kingsley Green at Fernhurst in West Sussex. They remained married until his death.

Sullivan died on 19 November 1956 in Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, aged 53.

Filmography

The Missing Rembrandt (1932) as Baron von Guntermann (film debut) The Chinese Puzzle (1932) as Herman Strumm When London Sleeps (1932) as Rodney Haines Called Back (1933) as Kaledin F.P.1 Doesn't Answer (1933) as A Sailor The Wandering Jew (1933) as Archbishop Juan de Texada Red Wagon (1933) as Cranley The Right to Live (1933) as Roger Stoneham The Fire Raisers (1934) as Stedding The Warren Case (1934) as Prosecuting Counsel (uncredited) The Return of Bulldog Drummond (1934) as Carl Peterson Princess Charming (1934) as Alakiev Chu Chin Chow (1934) as The Caliph What Happened Then? (1934) as Richard Bentley, Prosecution Counsel Jew Süss (1934) as Remchingen (uncredited) Great Expectations (1934) as Jaggers Cheating Cheaters (1934) as Dr. George Brockton Strange Wives (1934) as Bellamy The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935) as Rev. Mr. Septimus Crisparkle Her Last Affaire (1935) as Sir Julian Weyre A Woman Alone (1936) as Prosecutor The Interrupted Honeymoon (1936) as Alphonse Spy of Napoleon (1936) as Chief of Police The Limping Man (1936) as Theodore Disher Action for Slander (1937) as Sir Quinton Jessops Wasp's Nest (1937, TV) as Hercule Poirot Non-Stop New York (1937) as Hugo Brant Dinner at the Ritz (1937) as Brogard Fine Feathers (1937) as Hugo Steinway The Drum (1938) as Governor Kate Plus Ten (1938) as Lord Flamborough The Citadel (1938) as Ben Chenkin Climbing High (1938) as Madman The Ware Case (1938) as Prosecuting Attorney The Gables Mystery (1938) as Power The Four Just Men (1939) as Léon Poiccard Young Man's Fancy (1939) as Blackbeard, Vincent St George 21 Days (1940) as Mander "Pimpernel" Smith (1941) as General von Graum The Day Will Dawn (1942) as Kommandant Ulrich Wettau The Foreman Went to France (1942) as French Skipper Lady from Lisbon (1942) as Minghetti The Butler's Dilemma (1943) as Leo Carrington Fiddlers Three (1944) as Nero Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) as Pothinus The Laughing Lady (1946) as Sir Williams Tremayne Great Expectations (1946) as Mr. Jaggers The Man Within (1947) as Mr. Braddock Take My Life (1947) as Prosecuting Counsel Broken Journey (1948) as Perami Oliver Twist (1948) as Mr. Bumble The Winslow Boy (1948) as Attorney General Joan of Arc (1948) as Pierre Cauchon (Count-Bishop of Beauvais) Christopher Columbus (1949) as Francisco de Bobadilla The Red Danube (1949) as Colonel Humphrey 'Blinker' Omicron Night and the City (1950) as Philip Nosseross Behave Yourself! (1951) as Fat Freddy My Favorite Spy (1951) as Karl Brubaker Caribbean Gold (1952) as Andrew MacAllister Sangaree (1953) as Dr. Bristol Plunder of the Sun (1953) as Thomas Berrien Drums of Tahiti (1954) as Commissioner Pierre Duvois The Prodigal (1955) as Bosra Hell's Island (1955) as Barzland (final film)