Leo G. Carroll

Leo Grattan Carroll (25 October 1886 – 16 October 1972) was an English actor. In a career of more than 40 years, he appeared in six Hitchcock films including Spellbound, Strangers on a Train and North by Northwest and in three television series, Topper, Going My Way, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Early life Carroll was born in Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire, to William and Catherine Carroll. His Roman Catholic parents named him after then-Pope Leo XIII. In 1897, his family lived in York, where his Irish-born father was a foreman in an ordnance store. In the 1901 census for West Ham, Essex, his occupation is listed as "wine trade clerk". In the 1911 census, he is living at the same address and described as a "dramatic agent".

Stage career Carroll made his stage debut in 1912. His acting career was on hold during the First World War, when he served in the British Army as a Lieutenant in the London Regiment. Carroll saw action in France, Salonika, and Palestine during the war; he was badly wounded while serving in the last. In 1933, he was a member of the Manhattan Theatre Repertory Company in the inaugural season of the Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine.

During 1933–34, Carroll had the role of "impeccable valet" (which has no relation to the novel by Louis Bromfield apart from the shared title), and in 1941 starred with Vincent Price and Judith Evelyn in Patrick Hamilton's Angel Street (better known as Gaslight), which ran for three years at the Golden Theatre on West 45th Street in New York City.

After the production closed, he starred in the title role in John P. Marquand's The Late George Apley. and Hitchcock himself, whose cameos were a trademark. As with earlier roles, he was often cast as doctors or other authority figures (such as the spymaster "Professor" in North by Northwest). Carroll eventually played a character based on Hitchcock himself in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952).

Carroll had a central role in the highly rated movie We're No Angels (1955) with Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov and Basil Rathbone, among others.

In addition to appearing as Rev. Mosby with actress Hayley Mills in , Carroll is remembered for his role as the frustrated banker haunted by the ghosts of George and Marion Kerby in the television series Topper (1953–1956), with co-stars Anne Jeffreys, Robert Sterling and Lee Patrick. He appeared as the older Father Fitzgibbon from 1962 to 1963 in ABC's Going My Way, a series about two Roman Catholic priests at St. Dominic's parish in New York City. In 1963–1964, he portrayed John Miller in Channing on ABC.

Carroll subsequently gained national recognition as spymaster Alexander Waverly on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968). Several U.N.C.L.E. films were derived from the series, and a spin-off television series, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. in 1966. He was one of the first actors to appear in two different television series as the same character.

Carroll appeared in spots on the first two regular episodes of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the series that replaced U.N.C.L.E., and in fact appears as Mr. Waverly in the very first episode party scene where he is seen using a pen communicator to call Kuryakin to report that he believes he has found THRUSH headquarters.

Death In 1972, Carroll died aged 85 in Hollywood, following a long illness. He is interred at the Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Selected filmography Year Film Role Director Notes 1934 Sadie McKee Phelps Finnegan Clarence Brown Stamboul Quest Kruger, #117 aka Bertram Church Sam WoodJack Conway (uncredited) Uncredited The Barretts of Wimpole Street Dr. Ford-Waterlow Sidney Franklin Outcast Lady Dr. Masters Robert Z. Leonard 1935 Clive of India Mr. Manning Richard Boleslawski The Right to Live Dr. Harvester William Keighley Murder on a Honeymoon Joseph B. Tate Lloyd Corrigan The Casino Murder Case Smith Edwin L. Marin 1936 The Man I Marry Mr. Furthermore Ralph Murphy Uncredited 1937 Captains Courageous Burns Victor Fleming Uncredited London by Night Correy Wilhelm Thiele 1938 A Christmas Carol Marley's Ghost Edwin L. Marin 1939 Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police Henry Seaton James P. Hogan Wuthering Heights Joseph William Wyler The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex Sir Edward Coke Michael Curtiz Tower of London Lord Hastings Rowland V. Lee Charlie Chan in City in Darkness Louis Santelle Herbert I. Leeds 1940 Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise Professor Gordon Eugene Forde Waterloo Bridge Policeman Mervyn LeRoy Uncredited Rebecca Dr. Baker Alfred Hitchcock 1941 Scotland Yard Craven Norman Foster This Woman Is Mine Angus 'Sandy' McKay Frank Lloyd Bahama Passage Delbridge Edward H. Griffith Suspicion Captain Melbeck Alfred Hitchcock 1945 The House on 92nd Street Col. Hammersohn Henry Hathaway Spellbound Dr. Murchison Alfred Hitchcock 1947 Time Out of Mind Capt. Fortune Robert Siodmak Song of Love Professor Wieck Clarence Brown The Paradine Case Sir Joseph Alfred Hitchcock Forever Amber Matt Goodgroome Otto Preminger 1948 So Evil My Love Jarvis Lewis Allen Enchantment Proutie Irving Reis 1950 Father of the Bride Mr. Massoula Vincente Minnelli The Happy Years The Old Roman William Wellman 1951 The First Legion Father Rector Paul Duquesne Douglas Sirk The Desert Fox Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt Henry Hathaway Strangers on a Train Sen. Morton Alfred Hitchcock 1952 The Snows of Kilimanjaro Uncle Bill Henry King The Bad and the Beautiful Henry Whitfield Vincente Minnelli 1953 Treasure of the Golden Condor Raoul Dondel Delmer Daves Rogue's March Col. Henry Lenbridge Geoffrey Barkas Young Bess Mr. Mums George Sidney 1955 We're No Angels Felix Ducotel Michael Curtiz Tarantula Prof. Gerald Deemer Jack Arnold 1956 The Swan Caesar Charles Vidor 1959 North by Northwest the Professor Alfred Hitchcock 1961 The Parent Trap Rev. Dr. Mosby David Swift 1+1 (Exploring the Kinsey Report) Professor Logan Arch Oboler 1963 The Prize Count Bertil Jacobsson Mark Robson 1965 That Funny Feeling O'Shea Richard Thorpe 1968 From Nashville with Music Arnold Eddie Crandall, Robert Patrick

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

To Trap a Spy (1964) The Spy with My Face (1965) One Spy Too Many (1966) One of Our Spies Is Missing (1966) The Spy in the Green Hat (1967) The Karate Killers (1967) The Helicopter Spies (1968) How to Steal the World (1968)