Brian Aherne (2 May 1902 – 10 February 1986) was a British actor of both stage and screen, who found success in Hollywood.
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1 | Aherne passed away on February 10, 1986, three months from what would have been his 84th birthday on May 2. |
2 | In 1958-59 Aherne granted Columbia Pictures the right to access the eastern bluff of his hilltop property for the premiere of its production Pepe (1960), which occurred on Dec. 27, 1960. Columbia's art director Ted Haworth designed an exterior palatial patio with a full-size swimming pool, surrounded by a terrace with balustrade railings, overlooking Hollywood, downtown Los Angeles and a panoramic view of the West. The Aherne-'Joan Fontaine (I)' (qv( mansion facade served as the backdrop for the reverse location-angle shots. Upon completion of filming, the property area was restored to the original condition; the film company removed (dug out) the swimming pool, the concrete patio-terrace, the balustrades, all the Italian Cypress and shrubbery planted around the film's set. After Aherne and Fontaine divorced, the property was sold, then abandoned, and became a Sunset Strip hippie enclave-fort. In the late 1960s the mansion was torn down, with the property fenced and gated; Great Western Bank, in the mid-1970s, subdivided the property into home sites, building two-story "McMansions" that sold for approximately $350,000-$500,000. |
3 | While married to Joan Fontaine, he lived on the Hollywood hilltop property where North Crescent Heights Blvd. ends, above and adjacent to Hollywood Blvd. and Laurel Canyon Blvd. The "U" plan two-story Colonial mansion faced southeast with a view of both Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles. The front four-columned front porch, with tall French doors, opened into the center foyer with a curved staircase leading upstairs to a central hall landing, with bedrooms and guest quarters left and right of the upstairs wings. On the main floor the large living space and a library room, each with fireplace, was left of the staircase. To the right of the foyer staircase was the grand dining room with a fireplace, butler's pantry, main kitchen, with servant quarters located behind the kitchen. In the open "U" courtyard was a swimming pool, with garages and chauffeur quarters as a separate backup building. The front circular concrete driveway connected to an unpaved dirt road which connected to the city-maintained asphalt North Crescent Heights Blvd. This West Hollywood neighborhood was the Beverly Hills of the 1930s-'50s with film illuminates living on the North Crescent Heights hillside estates. Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore each owned houses next to each other, with Victor Mature as their neighbor. The Greek government owned its ambassador's residence. At the foot of the hill, Gloria Swanson's Georgian columned two-story residence on Selma Ave. at North Crescent Heights Blvd. was opposite Judy Canova's residence. Veronica Lake's residence was on the west side of North Crescent Heights, on Hollywood Blvd.'s "East Sunset Strip" area overlooking "The Garden of Allah"; at the start of the fabled Sunset Blvd. Strip, where 'John Barrymore' and Errol Flynn had their party apartment units in The Garden of Allah. At the Hollywood Blvd./Laurel Canyon "flats"area, on Hollywood Blvd., Claude Rains was neighbor to Clark Gable. |
4 | Brian Aherne performed the role Professor Henry Higgins for one year, in the first roadshow Chicago company of "My Fair Lady" during the 1957-58 season. Bill Hargate was his personal wardrobe dresser during the run of the show. Sally Ann Howes performed the role Liza Doolittle opposite Brian Aherne's role Professor Henry Higgins during the entire first year roadshow "My Fair Lady" Chicago engagement. |
5 | In 1945 he traveled to Italy, France, Holland and Germany to perform for the troops in "The Barretts of Wimpole Street". |
6 | Wrote a biography of his friend George Sanders entitled "A Dreadful Man", which contained much autobiographical information. |
7 | On Feb. 8, 1980, he was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1752 Vine St. |
8 | He had a stepdaughter, Leonie Labrot Gately. She had five sons: Peter, Terry, William, Timothy and Scott. |
9 | Brother-in-law of Broadway producer Alfred De Liagre Jr.. |
10 | Had appeared with Rosalind Russell in four films: Hired Wife (1940), My Sister Eileen (1942), What a Woman! (1943) and Rosie! (1967). |
11 | Had played King Arthur in two different films: Prince Valiant (1954) and Sword of Lancelot (1963). |
12 | Had a pilot's license and owned a plane. |
13 | Studied architecture following his career as a child actor but returned to the stage in 1923 in a revival of "Paddy the Next Best Thing" at the Savoy Theatre, London. |
14 | Trained as a child at the Italia Conti's School in London, making his stage debut aged 9 in Birmingham. |
15 | Educated in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England and at Malvern College, Worcestshire. |
16 | Ex-brother-in-law of Olivia de Havilland and Renee Houston. |
17 | Brother of Patrick Aherne. |
Title | Year | Status | Character |
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Rosie! | 1967 | | Oliver Stevenson |
The Cavern | 1964 | | Gen. Braithwaite |
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color | 1963 | TV Series | Johann Strauss Sr. |
Sword of Lancelot | 1963 | | King Arthur |
Rawhide | 1961 | TV Series | Woolsey |
Wagon Train | 1961 | TV Series | Lord Bruce Saybrook |
Susan Slade | 1961 | | Stanton Corbett |
The Twilight Zone | 1960 | TV Series | Booth Templeton |
The Best of Everything | 1959 | | Fred Shalimar |
Goodyear Theatre | 1959 | TV Series | James Rupert / James Spencer |
Studio 57 | 1957 | TV Series | |
The Errol Flynn Theatre | 1956 | TV Series | Hickman |
Crossroads | 1956 | TV Series | Father Cataldo / Father Anthony Kohlmann |
Cavalcade of America | 1956 | TV Series | John Kirk |
Climax! | 1956 | TV Series | David |
Sneak Preview | 1956 | TV Series | |
The Swan | 1956 | | Father Carl Hyacinth |
The Star and the Story | 1955-1956 | TV Series | Crane Douglas |
Producers' Showcase | 1955 | TV Series | Rudolf Maximilian |
General Electric Theater | 1955 | TV Series | Colonel Tafferty |
The Eddie Cantor Comedy Theater | 1955 | TV Series | |
A Bullet Is Waiting | 1954 | | David Canham |
Prince Valiant | 1954 | | King Arthur |
Robert Montgomery Presents | 1953 | TV Series | Phillip Armstrong, a scientist |
Titanic | 1953 | | Captain E. J. Smith |
I Confess | 1953 | | Willy Robertson |
Lux Video Theatre | 1951-1953 | TV Series | Reggie / Mr. Don |
Betty Crocker Star Matinee | 1952 | TV Series | |
Pulitzer Prize Playhouse | 1951 | TV Series | Sir Henry Morgan - King of Pirates |
The Billy Rose Show | 1951 | TV Series | |
Armstrong Circle Theatre | 1950 | TV Series | |
The Ford Theatre Hour | 1950 | TV Series | Dearth |
Angel on the Amazon | 1948 | | Anthony Ridgeway |
Smart Woman | 1948 | | Robert Larrimore |
The Locket | 1946 | | Dr. Blair |
Screen Snapshots Series 25, No. 2: Radio Shows | 1945 | Short | The Saint - The Saint Radio Program |
What a Woman! | 1943 | | Henry Pepper |
First Comes Courage | 1943 | | Capt. Allan Lowell |
Forever and a Day | 1943 | | Jim Trimble |
A Night to Remember | 1942 | | Jeff Troy aka Jeff Yort |
My Sister Eileen | 1942 | | Robert Baker |
Skylark | 1941 | | Jim Blake |
Smilin' Through | 1941 | | Sir John Carteret |
The Man Who Lost Himself | 1941 | | John Evans / Malcolm Scott |
Hired Wife | 1940 | | Stephen Dexter |
The Lady in Question | 1940 | | Andre Morestan |
My Son, My Son! | 1940 | | William Essex |
Vigil in the Night | 1940 | | Dr. Robert S. Prescott |
Captain Fury | 1939 | | Captain Michael Fury |
Juarez | 1939 | | Maximilian I of Mexico |
Merrily We Live | 1938 | | Wade Rawlins |
The Great Garrick | 1937 | | David Garrick |
Beloved Enemy | 1936 | | Dennis Riordan |
Sylvia Scarlett | 1935 | | Michael Fane |
I Live My Life | 1935 | | Terence 'Terry' O'Neill |
What Every Woman Knows | 1934 | | John Shand |
The Fountain | 1934 | | Lewis Allison |
The Constant Nymph | 1933 | | Lewis Dodd |
The Song of Songs | 1933 | | Richard Waldow |
Madame Guillotine | 1931 | | Louis Dubois |
The W Plan | 1930 | | Col. Duncan Grant |
Underground | 1928 | | Bill |
Shooting Stars | 1928 | | Julian Gordon |
A Woman Redeemed | 1927 | | Geoffrey Maynefleet |
Safety First | 1926 | | Hippocrates Rayne |
King of the Castle | 1925 | | Colin O'Farrell |
The Squire of Long Hadley | 1925 | | Jim Luttrell |
The Eleventh Commandment | 1924 | | Norman Barchester |
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