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Clifford Hardman "Clive" Brook (1 June 1887 – 17 November 1974) was an English stage and film actor.
After making his first screen appearance in 1920, Brook emerged as a leading British actor in the early 1920s. After moving to the United States in 1924, Brook became one of the major stars for Paramount Pictures in the late silent era. During 1928–29 he successfully made the transition to sound and continued to be featured in many of Hollywood's most prestigious films. Career highlights include Josef Von Sternberg's Underworld (1927) and Shanghai Express (1932); as well as being the first actor to portray Sherlock Holmes in a 'talkie'. In the mid-1930s he returned to Britain where he appeared regularly in leading film roles until his retirement from movies in 1944.
Brook was born in Islington, London, the son of George Alfred Brook and Charlotte Mary Brook.[1] He attended Dulwich College because of his father's desire for him to be a lawyer, but family financial problems caused him to leave at age 15. He then studied elocution at a polytechnic.[2]
He served in the British Army during the First World War, rising to the rank of major.[3] Brook was 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) tall and had brown hair with grey eyes.
Before Brook went into acting, he worked as a journalist and an insurance clerk.[3] He first appeared on stage in 1918 and also in films from 1919. He worked first in British films then in Hollywood.
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Brook debuted on film in Trent's Last Case (1920).[2] He was memorable in Josef von Sternberg's Underworld (1927) as an alcoholic ex-lawyer who is taken under the wing of a professional thief. Von Sternberg later featured him in one of Brook's best remembered appearances, playing opposite Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express (1932). He played Sherlock Holmes three times: The Return of Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes (in that order), and as part of an anthology film, Paramount on Parade (1930).
In 1934 he was voted one of the most popular stars at the British box office.[4]
At the end of his career, Brook appeared in a number of British television dramas, notably in the "ITV Play of the Week" strand on the fledgling Independent Television commercial channel. He returned to film one last time in The List of Adrian Messenger (1963).[5]
Brook returned to England in 1935 because of kidnapping threats toward his children.[2] In 1943, he adapted the comedy On Approval by Frederick Lonsdale and wrote, produced, directed and starred in the film with Beatrice Lillie, Googie Withers and Roland Culver. The costumes were by Cecil Beaton.
In 1949 he presented the radio series The Secrets of Scotland Yard.[6] In 1956 he appeared on stage in One Bright Day at the Apollo Theatre in London.[citation needed]
Brook starred as Josiah Bolton in the comedy Second Threshold from 2 January 1951 until 21 April 1951.[7]
In 1920, Brook married Charlotte Elisabeth Mildred Evelyn. Their children, Faith and Lyndon, were also actors.[2]
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.jpg/1594px-Film_actor_Clive_Brook_(SAYRE_11966).jpg "Clive Brook")
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