Alexander Knox

Highest Rated: 100% The Sea Wolf (1941)

Lowest Rated: 44% How I Won the War (1967)

Birthday: Jan 16, 1907

Birthplace: Strathroy, Ontario, Canada

Canadian actor Alexander Knox moved to England as a young man, where he distinguished himself as a stage actor in the 1930s, also appearing in film productions there throughout the decade. After a few supporting performances in British comedies and mysteries and a bit part in the adventure classic "The Four Feathers," he made the jump to Hollywood, where he landed a sizable role in "The Sea Wolf," an adaptation of the often-filmed Jack London novel of the same name, in which Knox acted alongside screen legend Edward G. Robinson. Three years later, Knox was chosen to portray the titular president in the biopic "Wilson," which is the role he's best remembered for. Though the film itself was a financial disaster, Knox's Academy Award-nominated depiction of Woodrow Wilson earned him high praises. Now a reputable Hollywood player, Knox continued to take starring parts in a disparate series of films, working with such leading lights as Humphrey Bogart, Rosalind Russell and Irene Dunne --until he was blacklisted from the American film industry in the '50s. Undeterred, Knox opted to continue his career in England, later to return to the U.S. for memorable supporting turns in films such as 1958's costume adventure "The Vikings" and the 1962 war epic "The Longest Day." Later, in 1966, he appeared in the U.K. historical drama "Khartoum." He continued to act in films and TV series until bowing out of the limelight in the mid-80s.