Leonard Mudie
Encyclopedia
Leonard Mudie was a British-born character actor whose career ran many decades.
His first film appearance was in 1921, and his last on-screen performance was in the Star Trek
classic TV series.
Fans of the TV series Adventures of Superman
remember him for several diverse roles:
He also played in an episode of the 1950s TV series, Science Fiction Theater.
He was one of several actors, including Peter Brocco
, Elisha Cook Jr.
, Jeff Corey
and Vic Perrin
to have appeared in both Superman and Star Trek. According to his IMDB entry, he was the oldest actor to have appeared in Trek, in the pilot episode The Cage
, which was actually not released until after his death.
His first film appearance was in 1921, and his last on-screen performance was in the Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
classic TV series.
Fans of the TV series Adventures of Superman
Adventures of Superman (TV series)
Adventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show is the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California...
remember him for several diverse roles:
- Drums of Death, playing a generally good but somewhat devious archeologist.
- A Ghost for Scotland Yard, as a maniacal, vengeful magician.
- The Magic Necklace, an archeologist again, perhaps sporting the same pith helmet he wore in Drums of Death
- The Jolly Roger, as the leader of a comical group of pirates stranded on an island a la Mutiny on the Bounty.
He also played in an episode of the 1950s TV series, Science Fiction Theater.
He was one of several actors, including Peter Brocco
Peter Brocco
Peter Brocco was an American film and TV character actor for nearly 60 years.He appeared as a criminal type in several episodes of Adventures of Superman. He holds the distinction of having been killed off in two of them, a relative rarity for villains in the series...
, Elisha Cook Jr.
Elisha Cook Jr.
Elisha Vanslyck Cook, Jr. was an American character actor who made a career out of playing cowardly villains and weedy neurotics in dozens of films...
, Jeff Corey
Jeff Corey
Jeff Corey was an American stage and screen actor and director who became a well-respected acting teacher after being blacklisted in the 1950s.-Biography:...
and Vic Perrin
Vic Perrin
Vic Perrin was an American actor and voice artist. He is best remembered as the "Control Voice" in the original version of the TV series The Outer Limits ....
to have appeared in both Superman and Star Trek. According to his IMDB entry, he was the oldest actor to have appeared in Trek, in the pilot episode The Cage
The Cage (TOS episode)
"The Cage" is the first pilot episode of the Star Trek: The Original Series science fiction series. It was completed in early 1965 , but not broadcast on television in its complete form until the autumn of 1988. The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler...
, which was actually not released until after his death.
Selected filmography
- The MummyThe Mummy (1932 film)The Mummy is a 1932 horror film from Universal Studios directed by Karl Freund and starring Boris Karloff as a revived ancient Egyptian priest. The movie also features Zita Johann, David Manners and Edward Van Sloan...
(1932) - The Mystery of Mr. XThe Mystery of Mr. XThe Mystery of Mr. X is a 1934 crime film starring Robert Montgomery as a jewel thief who gets mixed up in a series of murders in 19th century London. It is based on the novel X v. Rex by Philip MacDonald .-Plot:...
(1934) - The House of Rothschild (1934)
- CleopatraCleopatra (1934 film)Cleopatra is a 1934 epic film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and distributed by Paramount Pictures, which retells the story of Cleopatra VII of Egypt....
(1934) - Clive of IndiaClive of India (film)Clive of India is a 1935 drama film based on Robert, Lord Clive's historical biography. It was written by R.J. Minney and W.P. Lipscomb and directed by Richard Boleslawski.-Cast:* Ronald Colman as Baron Robert Clive* shahrukh khan as devdas...
(1935) - Cardinal RichelieuCardinal Richelieu (film)Cardinal Richelieu is a 1935 American historical film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring George Arliss, Maureen O'Sullivan, Edward Arnold and Cesar Romero...
(1935) - Becky Sharp (1935)
- Top HatTop HatTop Hat is a 1935 screwball comedy musical film in which Fred Astaire plays an American dancer named Jerry Travers, who comes to London to star in a show produced by Horace Hardwick . He meets and attempts to impress Dale Tremont to win her affection...
(1935) (uncredited) - RendezvousRendezvous (1935 film)Rendezvous is a 1935 spy film set in World War I, starring William Powell as an American cryptologist who tangles with German spies. The film was based on The American Black Chamber, the controversial memoirs of Herbert Yardley, founder and head of MI8....
(1935) - Captain Blood (1935)
- Mary of ScotlandMary of Scotland (film)Mary of Scotland is a 1936 RKO film starring Katharine Hepburn as the 16th century ruler, Mary, Queen of Scots. Directed by John Ford, it is an adaptation of the 1933 Maxwell Anderson play by Dudley Nichols. The play starred Helen Hayes as Mary...
(1936) - Anthony AdverseAnthony AdverseAnthony Adverse is a 1936 American drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay by Sheridan Gibney is based on the sprawling 1,224-page novel of the same title by Hervey Allen.-Plot:...
(1936) - Lloyd's of LondonLloyd's of London (film)Lloyd's of London is a 1936 American drama film directed by Henry King. It stars Tyrone Power, Madeleine Carroll, and Guy Standing. The supporting cast includes Freddie Bartholomew, George Sanders, Virginia Field, and C. Aubrey Smith. Loosely based on history, the film follows the dealings of a man...
(1936) - The League of Frightened MenThe League of Frightened Men (1937 film)The League of Frightened Men is a 1937 mystery film based on the second Nero Wolfe novel by Rex Stout. Directed by Alfred E. Green, the Columbia Pictures film stars Walter Connolly as Nero Wolfe, a role played by Edward Arnold in the previous year's Meet Nero Wolfe...
(1937) - They Won't ForgetThey Won't ForgetThey Won't Forget is a 1937 film directed by Mervyn LeRoy . It was based on a novel by Ward Greene called Death in The Deep South, which was in turn a fictionalized account of a real life case: the trial and subsequent lynching of Leo Frank after the murder of Mary Phagan in 1913...
(1937) - Lancer SpyLancer SpyLancer Spy is a 1937 film about an Englishman who impersonates a German officer, receiving fame upon arriving in Germany. A female German spy is instructed to check on him but falls in love with him instead.-Cast:...
(1937) - The Adventures of Robin HoodThe Adventures of Robin Hood (film)The Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American swashbuckler film directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley. Filmed in Technicolor, the picture stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains.-Plot:...
(1938) (uncredited) - KidnappedKidnapped (1938 film)Kidnapped is a 1938 adventure film directed by Alfred L. Werker and starring Warner Baxter and Freddie Bartholomew. It is based on the book Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.- Plot :...
(1938) - When Were You BornWhen Were You BornWhen Were You Born is a 1938 murder mystery film starring Anna May Wong as an astrologer who helps the police. Each of the twelve principal characters was born under a different astrological sign.-Plot:...
(1938) - SuezSuez (film)Suez is a 1938 film account of the building of the Suez Canal by Ferdinand de Lesseps, played by Tyrone Power. It was so highly fictionalized that de Lesseps' descendants sued for libel....
(1938) - Devil's IslandDevil's Island (1939 film)Devil's Island is a 1939 prison film directed by William Clemens and starring Boris Karloff.-Cast:* Boris Karloff - Dr. Charles Gaudet* Nedda Harrigan - Madame Helene Lucien* James Stephenson - Colonel Armand Lucien* Adia Kuznetzoff - Pierre Leroux...
(1939) - Arrest Bulldog DrummondArrest Bulldog DrummondArrest Bulldog Drummond is a 1939 American film directed by James P. Hogan.- Cast :*John Howard as Capt. Hugh Chesterton "Bulldog" Drummond*Heather Angel as Phyllis Clavering*H.B. Warner as Col. J.A. Nielsen*Reginald Denny as Algernon "Algy" Longworth...
(1939) - Dark VictoryDark VictoryDark Victory is a 1939 American drama film directed by Edmund Goulding and starring Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, and Ronald Reagan...
(1939) - Congo MaisieCongo MaisieCongo Maisie is a 1940 comedy-drama film directed by H. C. Potter and starring Ann Sothern for the second time as showgirl Maisie Ravier.-Cast:* Ann Sothern as Maisie Ravier* John Carroll as Dr. Michael Shane* Rita Johnson as Kay McWade...
(1940) - British IntelligenceBritish Intelligence (film)British Intelligence is a 1940 spy film set in World War I. It was directed by Terry O. Morse and starred Boris Karloff and Margaret Lindsay. Released in the USA in January 1940, the Warner Bros. B picture was based on a 1918 play Three Faces East written by Anthony Paul Kelly that was produced on...
(1940) - Charlie Chan's Murder CruiseCharlie Chan's Murder CruiseCharlie Chan's Murder Cruise is a 1940 murder mystery film starring Sidney Toler in his fifth of many performances as Charlie Chan. It is a remake of the 1931 lost film Charlie Chan Carries On, which is also the title of the Earl Derr Biggers novel on which both movies are based.-Cast:*Sidney Toler...
(1940) - Foreign CorrespondentForeign Correspondent (film)Foreign Correspondent is a 1940 American spy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock which tells the story of an American reporter who tries to expose enemy spies in Britain, a series of events involving a continent-wide conspiracy that eventually leads to the events of a fictionalized World War...
(1940) - Shining VictoryShining VictoryShining Victory is a 1941 film based on the play, Jupiter Laughs, by A. J. Cronin. It stars James Stephenson, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Donald Crisp, and Barbara O'Neil, and it was the first film directed by Irving Rapper. Bette Davis makes a brief cameo appearance as a nurse in the film.-Plot...
(1941) - Skylark (1941)
- DivorceDivorce (film)Divorce is a 1945 drama film about a much-divorced woman who sets her sights on her married childhood friend. It stars Kay Francis, Bruce Cabot, and Helen Mack.-Cast:*Kay Francis as Diane Carter*Bruce Cabot as Bob Phillips*Helen Mack as Martha Phillips...
(1945) - The Private Affairs of Bel AmiThe Private Affairs of Bel AmiThe Private Affairs of Bel Ami is a 1947 drama film which stars George Sanders as a ruthless cad who uses women to rise in Parisian society...
(1947) - Limelight (1952)
- The Magnetic MonsterThe Magnetic MonsterThe Magnetic Monster is a 1953 independent science fiction film, directed by Curt Siodmak, and starring Richard Carlson and King Donovan.-Plot:...
(1953) - The Black Shield of FalworthThe Black Shield of FalworthThe Black Shield of Falworth is a 1954 film made by Universal Studios, produced by Robert Arthur and Melville Tucker and directed by Rudolph Maté...
(1954) - Autumn LeavesAutumn Leaves (film)Autumn Leaves is a 1956 Columbia Pictures drama film starring Joan Crawford and Cliff Robertson in an older woman/younger man tale of mental illness. The screenplay was written by Jean Rouverol and Hugo Butler, though it was credited to Jack Jevne, Rouverol and Butler being blacklisted at the time...
(1956) - The Story of Mankind (1957)
- The Big FishermanThe Big FishermanThe Big Fisherman is a 1959 American film directed by Frank Borzage about the later life of Peter, one of the closest disciples of Jesus.The film is adapted from a novel written by Lloyd C. Douglas...
(1959)