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Denholm Mitchell Elliott, CBE (May 31 1922 – October 6 1992) was a distinguished British actor, well known for his appearances on stage, film and television.

Elliott was born in London to Myles Layman Elliott and Nina. He attended Malvern College and afterwards served in the RAF during World War Two. In 1942 he was shot down over Germany and spent the rest of the war in a P.O.W. camp. After the war, he made his film debut in Dear Mr. Prohack (1949). He went on to play a large range of parts, often playing ineffectual and occasionally seedy characters, such as the journalist Bayliss in Defence of the Realm, the abortionist in Alfie, and the washed-up film director in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.

In the 1980s he won three BAFTA awards as best supporting actor for Trading Places as Dan Aykroyd's kindly butler, A Private Function and Defence of the Realm, as well as an Academy Award nomination for A Room with a View. He also became familiar to a wider audience as the well meaning but ineffectual Dr. Marcus Brody in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In 1988, Elliott was awarded the CBE for his services to acting.

Elliott was married twice, the first time to the British actress, Virginia McKenna for a few months in 1954, and the second to Susan Robinson, with whom he had two children. His daughter Jennifer committed suicide in 2003.

Elliott died of AIDS-related tuberculosis at the age of 70. His widow Susan set up a charity, European and UK Coalition of People Living with HIV and Aids, in his memory.

Selected filmography

• The Sound Barrier (1952)
• The Cruel Sea (1953)
• The Heart of the Matter (1953)
• King Rat (1965)
• Alfie (1966)
• Too Late the Hero (1970)
• A Doll's House (1973)
• The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974)
• Robin and Marian (1976)
• A Bridge Too Far (1977)
• Watership Down (1978) (voice)
• The Boys from Brazil (1978)
• Zulu Dawn (1979)
• Saint Jack (1979)
• Bad Timing (1980)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
• Brimstone and Treacle (1982)
• Trading Places (1983)
• The Razor's Edge (1984)
• A Room with a View (1985)
• Bleak House (1985)
• Maurice (1987)
• September (1987)
• Bangkok Hilton (1989)
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
• Toy Soldiers (1991)
• A Murder of Quality (1991)
• Noises Off (1992)

References

• Denholm Elliott: Quest for Love (1994) by Susan Elliott & Barry Turner.

External links

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