Editing Leo G. Carroll

{{Short description|English actor (1886–1972)}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Leo G. Carroll
| image              = Leo G. Carroll 1951.JPG
| imagesize          = 
| caption            = Carroll in 1951
| birth_name         = Leo Grattan Carroll
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|df=y|1886|10|25}}
| birth_place        = [[Weedon Bec]], [[Northamptonshire]], England
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1972|10|16|1886|10|25|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Hollywood, California]], U.S.
| resting_place      = [[Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery]] in [[Glendale, California]]
| other_names        = Leo Carroll
| years_active       = 1912–1914; 1919–1972
| occupation         = Actor
| spouse             = {{marriage|Edith Nancy de Silva Carroll<br>|1926}}
| children           = 1
}}

'''Leo Grattan Carroll''' (25 October 1886<ref name=site>{{cite book|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Alfred_Hitchcock_Encyclopedia/sUkxDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=leo+g.+carroll+1886&pg=PA55&printsec=frontcover|title=The Alfred Hitchcock Encyclopedia|first=Stephen|last=Whitty|date=1 July 2016|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield, p. 55|isbn=9781442251595|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Supporting_Actors_in_Motion_Pictures/FFFyDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=leo+g.+carroll+1886&pg=PA47&printsec=frontcover|title=Supporting Actors in Motion Pictures Volume II|first=Roger L.|last=Gordon|date=7 September 2018|publisher=Dorrance Publishing Company, pp. 47-48|isbn=9781480958418|via=Google Books}}</ref> – 16 October 1972) was an English actor.<ref name=nyt>{{cite news| title=Leo G. Carroll, Actor, 80, Dead| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/19/archives/leo-g-carroll-actor-80-dead-star-of-toperv-series-was-on-stage-and-.html| date=19 October 1972| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| page=70| access-date=8 December 2020}}</ref> In a career of more than 40 years, he appeared in six [[Alfred Hitchcock|Hitchcock]] films including [[Spellbound (1945 film)|''Spellbound'']], ''[[Strangers on a Train (film)|Strangers on a Train]]'' and ''[[North by Northwest]]'' and in three [[television series]], ''[[Topper (TV series)|Topper]]'', ''[[Going My Way (TV series)|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 [[Ireland|Irish]]-born father was a foreman in an [[materiel|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 [[World War I|First World War]], when he served in the [[British Army]].<ref name="ms022525">{{cite news |title=Mr. Cyril Maude's Late Leading Lady for Orpheum Stock |work=The Montreal Star |date=February 25, 1925 |location=Montreal, Canada |page=6 |via = [[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Carroll saw action in France, [[Salonika]], and Palestine during the war; he was badly [[Wounded in action|wounded]] while serving in the last.<ref name="ms022525" /> After his recovery and discharge, he again took up acting in December 1919.<ref name="ms022525" />

He then performed in [[London]] and on [[Broadway (theatre)|Broadway]].<ref name=nyt/> His American stage debut came in ''[[The Vortex]]''.<ref name="bg">{{cite news |title=Leo G. Carroll Still Acting Role He Made Famous in 'The Late George Apley' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28628365/leo_g_carroll/ |access-date=20 February 2019 |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=23 December 1945 |page=4 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> 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"<ref name=bg/> Trump in the Broadway play ''[[The Green Bay Tree]]''<ref name="ibdb">{{cite web |title=Leo G. Carroll |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/leo-g-carroll-14387 |website=[[Internet Broadway Database]] |access-date=20 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220011322/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/leo-g-carroll-14387 |archive-date=20 February 2019}}</ref> (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 (writer)|Patrick Hamilton]]'s ''Angel Street'' (better known as ''[[Gaslight (play)|Gaslight]]''), which ran for three years at the [[John Golden Theatre|Golden Theatre]] on West 45th Street in New York City.{{Citation needed|date=February 2019}}

After the production closed, he starred in the title role in [[John P. Marquand]]'s ''[[The Late George Apley]]''.<ref name=bg/> In 1947 he starred in [[John Van Druten]]'s ''[[The Druid Circle]]'' at the [[Morosco Theatre]].

==Films and television==
{{More citations needed|section|date=December 2021}}

Carroll, who had moved to [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], made his film debut in ''[[Sadie McKee]]'' (1934), as Finnegan Phelps, starring ([[Joan Crawford]]). He often played doctors or butlers, but he made appearances as [[Jacob Marley|Marley's ghost]] in {{film show year|A Christmas Carol|1938}} and as Joseph in {{film show year|Wuthering Heights|1939}}. He appeared in two [[Charlie Chan]] films, ''[[City in Darkness]]'' (1939) as a shady French locksmith, followed by a role in ''[[Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise]]'' (1940) as a passenger on a ship. In the original version of {{film show year|Father of the Bride|1950}}, he played an unctuous wedding caterer. In the 1951 film ''[[The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel]]'' he played a sympathetic German field marshal, [[Gerd von Rundstedt]], presenting him as a tragic, resigned figure completely disillusioned with [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]].

[[File:Leo G. Carroll Diana Hyland Man From UNCLE 1966.JPG|thumb|right|255px|Carroll as [[Alexander Waverly]] on ''[[The Man from U.N.C.L.E.]]'', with guest star [[Diana Hyland]].]]

Carroll had roles in six [[Alfred Hitchcock]] films: {{film show year|Rebecca|1940}}, {{film show year|Suspicion|1941}}, {{film show year|Spellbound|1945}}, ''[[The Paradine Case]]'' (1947), {{film show year|Strangers on a Train|1951}} and ''[[North by Northwest]]'' (1959). He appeared in more Hitchcock films than anyone other than [[Clare Greet]] (1871–1939) (who appeared in seven) 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 ''{{film year|We're No Angels|1955}}'' (1955) with [[Humphrey Bogart]], [[Peter Ustinov]] and [[Basil Rathbone]], among others.

In addition to appearing as Rev. Mosby with actress [[Hayley Mills]] in {{film show year|The Parent Trap|1961}}, Carroll is remembered for his role as the frustrated banker haunted by the ghosts of George and Marion Kerby in the television series ''[[Topper (TV series)|Topper]]'' (1953–1956), with co-stars [[Anne Jeffreys]], [[Robert Sterling]] and [[Lee Patrick (actress)|Lee Patrick]].{{r|etvs|page1=1097–1098}} He appeared as the older Father Fitzgibbon from 1962 to 1963 in [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s ''[[Going My Way (TV series)|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 (TV series)|Channing]]'' on ABC.<ref name="etvs">{{cite book| last1=Terrace| first1=Vincent| title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YX_daEhlnbsC&q=channing| date=10 January 2014| publisher=McFarland & Co.| location=Jefferson, N.C.| isbn=978-0786486410| page=176| edition=2nd}}</ref> 

Carroll subsequently gained national recognition as spymaster [[Alexander Waverly]] on ''[[The Man from U.N.C.L.E.]]'' (1964–1968).{{r|etvs|page1=650}} 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.{{r|etvs|page1=393}} 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.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-star-obituary-for-leo-g/106836443/ "Leo G. Carroll Dies; Actor, TV's "Topper"]. ''[[The Indianapolis Star]]'', p. 51 (18 October 1972). Retrieved 10 May 2025. - via [[Newspapers.com]]</ref> He is interred at the [[Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery]] in [[Glendale, California|Glendale]], [[California]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Ellenberger| first=Allan R.| title=Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory| location=Jefferson, N.C.| publisher=McFarland & Co.| date=1 May 2001| isbn=978-0786409839| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZraJCgAAQBAJ&q=leo+carroll| page=103| postscript=none}}; {{cite news| title=Mass Slated Today for Actor Leo G. Carroll| work=Valley News| date=19 October 1972| page=35}}</ref>

==Selected filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Film
! Role
! Director
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| rowspan=4 | 1934 || ''[[Sadie McKee]]'' || Phelps Finnegan || [[Clarence Brown]] || 
|-
| ''[[Stamboul Quest]]'' || Kruger, #117 aka Bertram Church || [[Sam Wood]]<br>Jack Conway (uncredited) || Uncredited
|-
| ''[[The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934 film)|The Barretts of Wimpole Street]]'' || Dr. Ford-Waterlow || [[Sidney Franklin (director)|Sidney Franklin]] || 
|-
| ''[[Outcast Lady]]'' || Dr. Masters || [[Robert Z. Leonard]] || 
|-
| rowspan=4 | 1935 || ''[[Clive of India (film)|Clive of India]]'' || Mr. Manning || [[Richard Boleslawski]] || 
|-
| ''[[The Right to Live (1935 film)|The Right to Live]]'' || Dr. Harvester || [[William Keighley]] || 
|-
| ''[[Murder on a Honeymoon]]'' || Joseph B. Tate || [[Lloyd Corrigan]] || 
|-
| ''[[The Casino Murder Case (film)|The Casino Murder Case]]'' || Smith || [[Edwin L. Marin]] || 
|-
| 1936 || ''[[The Man I Marry]]'' || Mr. Furthermore, || [[Ralph Murphy]] || Uncredited
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1937 || ''[[Captains Courageous (1937 film)|Captains Courageous]]''
| Burns || [[Victor Fleming]] || Uncredited
|-
| ''[[London by Night (film)|London by Night]]'' || Correy || [[Wilhelm Thiele]] || 
|-
| 1938 || ''[[A Christmas Carol (1938 film)|A Christmas Carol]]'' || Marley's Ghost || [[Edwin L. Marin]] || 
|-
| rowspan=5 | 1939 || ''[[Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police]]'' || Henry Seaton ||'[[James P. Hogan (director)|James P. Hogan]] || 
|-
| ''[[Wuthering Heights (1939 film)|Wuthering Heights]]'' || Joseph || [[William Wyler]] || 
|-
| ''[[The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex]]'' || Sir Edward Coke || [[Michael Curtiz]] || 
|-
| ''[[Tower of London (1939 film)|Tower of London]]'' || Lord Hastings || [[Rowland V. Lee]] || 
|-
| ''[[Charlie Chan in City in Darkness]]'' || Louis Santelle || [[Herbert I. Leeds]] || 
|-
| rowspan=3 | 1940 || ''[[Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise]]'' || Professor Gordon || [[Eugene Forde]] || 
|-
| ''[[Waterloo Bridge (1940 film)|Waterloo Bridge]]'' || Policeman || [[Mervyn LeRoy]] || Uncredited
|-
| ''[[Rebecca (1940 film)|Rebecca]]'' || Dr. Baker || [[Alfred Hitchcock]] || 
|-
| rowspan=4 | 1941 || ''[[Scotland Yard (1941 film)|Scotland Yard]]'' || Craven || [[Norman Foster (director)|Norman Foster]] || 
|-
| ''[[This Woman Is Mine]]'' || Angus 'Sandy' McKay || [[Frank Lloyd]] || 
|-
| ''[[Bahama Passage]]'' || Delbridge || [[Edward H. Griffith]] || 
|-
| ''[[Suspicion (1941 film)|Suspicion]]'' || Captain Melbeck || [[Alfred Hitchcock]] || 
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1945 || ''[[The House on 92nd Street]]'' || Col. Hammersohn || [[Henry Hathaway]] || 
|-
| ''[[Spellbound (1945 film)|Spellbound]]'' || Dr. Murchison || [[Alfred Hitchcock]] || 
|-
| rowspan=4 | 1947 || ''[[Time Out of Mind (1947 film)|Time Out of Mind]]'' || Capt. Fortune
| [[Robert Siodmak]] || 
|-
| ''[[Song of Love (1947 film)|Song of Love]]'' || Professor Wieck || [[Clarence Brown]] || 
|-
| ''[[The Paradine Case]]'' || Sir Joseph || [[Alfred Hitchcock]] || 
|-
| ''[[Forever Amber (film)|Forever Amber]]'' || Matt Goodgroome || [[Otto Preminger]] || 
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1948 || ''[[So Evil My Love]]'' || Jarvis || [[Lewis Allen (director)|Lewis Allen]] || 
|-
| ''[[Enchantment (1948 film)|Enchantment]]'' || Proutie || [[Irving Reis]] || 
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1950 || ''[[Father of the Bride (1950 film)|Father of the Bride]]'' || Mr. Massoula || [[Vincente Minnelli]] || 
|-
| ''[[The Happy Years]]'' || The Old Roman || [[William Wellman]] || 
|-
| rowspan=3 | 1951 || ''[[The First Legion]]'' || Father Rector Paul Duquesne || [[Douglas Sirk]] || 
|-
| ''[[The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel|The Desert Fox]]'' || Field Marshal [[Gerd von Rundstedt]] || [[Henry Hathaway]] || 
|-
| ''[[Strangers on a Train (film)|Strangers on a Train]]'' || Sen. Morton || [[Alfred Hitchcock]] || 
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1952 || ''[[The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952 film)|The Snows of Kilimanjaro]]'' || Uncle Bill || [[Henry King (director)|Henry King]] || 
|-
| ''[[The Bad and the Beautiful]]'' || Henry Whitfield || [[Vincente Minnelli]] || 
|-
| rowspan=3 | 1953 || ''[[Treasure of the Golden Condor]]'' || Raoul Dondel || [[Delmer Daves]] || 
|-
| ''[[Rogue's March (film)|Rogue's March]]'' || Col. Henry Lenbridge || [[Geoffrey Barkas]] || 
|-
| ''[[Young Bess]]'' || Mr. Mums || [[George Sidney]] || 
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1955 || ''[[We're No Angels (1955 film)|We're No Angels]]'' || Felix Ducotel || [[Michael Curtiz]] || 
|-
| ''[[Tarantula (film)|Tarantula]]'' || Prof. Gerald Deemer || [[Jack Arnold (director)|Jack Arnold]] || 
|-
| 1956 || ''[[The Swan (1956 film)|The Swan]]'' || Caesar || [[Charles Vidor]] || 
|-
| 1959 || ''[[North by Northwest]]'' || the Professor || [[Alfred Hitchcock]] || 
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1961 || ''[[The Parent Trap (1961 film)|The Parent Trap]]'' || Rev. Dr. Mosby || [[David Swift (director)|David Swift]] || 
|-
| ''One Plus One'' || Professor Logan || || 
|-
| 1963 || ''[[The Prize (1963 film)|The Prize]]'' || Count Bertil Jacobsson || [[Mark Robson (film director)|Mark Robson]] || 
|-
| 1965 || ''[[That Funny Feeling]]'' || O'Shea || [[Richard Thorpe]] || 
|-
| 1968 || ''From Nashville with Music'' || Arnold || || 
|-
|}

===''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''===
{{div col|colwidth=26em}}
* ''[[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)
{{div col end}}

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* {{IMDb name}}
* {{Tcmdb name}}
* {{IBDB name}}

{{Portal bar|Biography|England|Los Angeles|California|Theatre|Film|Television|United Kingdom}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Leo G.}}
[[Category:1886 births]]
[[Category:1972 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English male actors]]

[[Category:Burials at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:British Army soldiers]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in California]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in California]]
[[Category:English expatriate male actors in the United States]]
[[Category:English male film actors]]
[[Category:English male stage actors]]
[[Category:English male television actors]]
[[Category:English people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:Male actors from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Male actors from Northamptonshire]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Northamptonshire]]
[[Category:People from Weedon Bec]]