Trevor Howard

Despite The Times declaring, "We can remember no better Petruchio", the opportunity of working again with David Lean, in The Passionate Friends (1949), drew Howard back to film and, although he had a solid reputation as a theatre actor, his dislike of long runs, and the attractions of travel afforded by film, convinced him to concentrate on cinema from this point. The Passionate Friends though, in which Howard played a similar character to Alec in Brief Encounter also featured Ann Todd and Claude Rains, but was not successful.

Howard's film reputation was secured in The Third Man (1949). As Major Calloway, he played the character type with which he became most associated, the slightly dry, slightly crusty, but capable British military officer. During filming in Vienna, Howard visited the fairground which was, at that time, under the jurisdiction of the Russians, where, still wearing the uniform of a British Army Major, he was promptly arrested. He was returned to the SIB after his true identity was ascertained. He also starred in The Key (1958; based on a Jan de Hartog novel) for which he received the best actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Sons and Lovers (1960), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Another notable film was The Heart of the Matter (1953), from another Graham Greene story. Read Less

Howard was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Sons and Lovers (1960). He won one BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Key (1958) and was nominated four more times. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie for Hallmark Hall of Fame: Invincible Mr. Disraeli in 1963 and received two other nominations, one as a lead and the other as a supporting actor. He also got three Golden Globe Award nominations.

A British government document leaked to the Sunday Times in 2003 shows that Howard was among almost 300 celebrities to decline honours.

For a number of years, British film exhibitors voted him among the top ten British stars at the box office via an annual poll in the Motion Picture Herald. Read Less