Raymond Huntley
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- April 23, 1904
- Died
- October 19, 1990
- Birthplace
- King's Norton, Worcestershire, England, UK
Horace Raymond Huntley (23 April 1904 – 15 June 1990) was an English actor who appeared in dozens of British films from the 1930s to the 1970s. He also appeared in the ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs as the pragmatic family solicitor Sir Geoffrey Dillon, and other television shows, such as the Wodehouse Playhouse, ('Romance at Droitwich Spa'), in 1975. Born in Kings Norton, Worcestershire (now a suburb of Birmingham) in 1904, Huntley made his stage debut at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre on 1 April 1922, in A Woman Killed with Kindness. His London debut followed at the Court Theatre on 22 February 1924, in As Far as Thought can Reach. He subsequently inherited the role of Count Dracula from Edmund Blake in Hamilton Deane's touring adaptation of Dracula, which arrived at London's Little Theatre on 14 February 1927, subsequently transferring to the larger Duke of York's Theatre. Later that year he was offered the chance to reprise the role on Broadway (in a script streamlined by John L. Balderston); when he declined, the part was taken by Bela Lugosi instead. Huntley did, however, appear in a US touring production of the Deane/Balderston play, covering the east coast and midwest, from 1928-30. "I have always considered the role of Count Dracula to have been an indiscretion of my youth" he recalled in 1989. After Dracula, he made his Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on 23 February 1931, in The Venetian Glass Nephew. On returning to the UK, his many West End appearances included The Farmer's Wife (Queen's Theatre 1932), Cornelius (Duchess Theatre 1935), Bees on the Boat Deck (Lyric Theatre 1936) Time and the Conways (Duchess Theatre 1937), When We Are Married (St Martin's Theatre 1940), Rebecca (Queen's Theatre 1940; Strand Theatre 1942), They Came to a City (Globe Theatre 1943), The Late Edwina Black (Ambassadors Theatre 1948), And This Was Odd (Criterion Theatre 1951), Double Image (Savoy Theatre 1956), Any Other Business (Westminster Theatre 1958), Caught Napping (Piccadilly Theatre 1959), Difference of Opinion (Garrick Theatre 1963), An Ideal Husband (Garrick Theatre 1966), Getting Married (Strand Theatre 1967), Soldiers (New Theatre 1968) and Separate Tables (Apollo Theatre 1977). He also starred opposite Flora Robson in the Broadway production of Black Chiffon (48th Street Theatre 1950). Often cast as a supercilious bureaucrat or other authority figure, Huntley was also a staple figure in British films, his many appearances including The Way Ahead, I See a Dark Stranger, Passport to Pimlico and The Dam Busters. In his later years, he became well-known on television as Sir Geoffrey Dillon, the family solicitor to the Bellamys in LWT's popular 1970s drama series Upstairs, Downstairs. Huntley died in Westminster Hospital, London in 1990. In his obituary, the New York Times wrote, "During his long career the actor played judges, bank managers, churchmen, bureaucrats and other figures of authority. He could play them straight if necessary, but in comedy his natural dryness of delivery was exaggerated to the point where the character he was playing invited mockery as a pompous humbug." Source: Article "Raymond Huntley" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Filmography
Sleepwalker 1984
as Old Englishman
A Voyage Round My Father 1984
as Judge
The Portland Millions 1976
as Dr. Tristram
Symptoms 1974
as Burke
That's Your Funeral 1972
as Emmanuel Holroyd
Young Winston 1972
as Old Officer
Destiny of a Spy 1969
as Supt. Pode
Arthur? Arthur! 1969
as George Payne
The Adding Machine 1969
as Smithers
Hostile Witness 1968
as John Naylor
Hot Millions 1968
as Bayswater
The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery 1966
as Sir Horace, the Minister
Rotten to the Core 1965
as Governor
The Black Torment 1964
as Colonel John Wentworth
Father Came Too! 1964
as Mr. Wedgewood
The Yellow Teddy Bears 1963
as Harry Haliburton
Nurse on Wheels 1963
as Vicar Walcott
On the Beat 1962
as Sir Ronald Ackroyd
Waltz of the Toreadors 1962
as Ackroyd
Crooks Anonymous 1962
as Mr. Wagstaffe
Only Two Can Play 1962
as Vernon
Tune On the Old Tax Fiddle 1961
as Mr. Gaunt
The Pure Hell of St Trinian's 1960
as Judge Slender
Suspect 1960
as Sir George Gatting the Minister of Defense
Sands of the Desert 1960
as Bossom
A French Mistress 1960
as Reverend Edwin Peake
Make Mine Mink 1960
as Inspector Pape
- Follow That Horse!
Follow That Horse! 1960
Actor
Bottoms Up! 1960
as Garrick-Jones
Breathless 1960
as A Journalist (uncredited)
Our Man in Havana 1960
as General
I'm All Right Jack 1959
as Magistrate
The Mummy 1959
as Joseph Whemple
Innocent Meeting 1959
as Harold Phillips
Carlton-Browne of the F.O. 1959
as Foreign Secretary Tufton-Slade
Room at the Top 1958
as Mr. Hoylake
The Criminals 1958
as Hector Crawford
Next to No Time 1958
as Forbes, Factory Supervisor
Brothers in Law 1957
as Tatlock Q.C.
Town on Trial 1957
as Dr. Reese
The Green Man 1956
as Sir Gregory Upshott
The Last Man to Hang 1956
as Attorney General
Geordie 1955
as Olympic Selector
Doctor at Sea 1955
as Captain Beamish
The Dam Busters 1955
as Official, National Physical Laboratory
The Constant Husband 1955
as J.F. Hassett
The Prisoner 1955
as The General
Aunt Clara 1954
as Rev. Maurice Hilton
The Teckman Mystery 1954
as Maurice Miller
Orders Are Orders 1954
as Col. Fred Bellamy
Hobson's Choice 1954
as Nathaniel Beenstock
Meet Mr. Lucifer 1953
as Patterson
Glad Tidings 1953
as Tom Forester
- Laxdale Hall
Laxdale Hall 1953
as Samuel Pettigrew, M.P.
Number Three 1953
as Prof. Brander
Man Bait 1952
as Clive Oliver
- When We Are Married
When We Are Married 1951
as Councillor Albert Parker
Mr. Denning Drives North 1951
as Wright
The House in the Square 1951
as Mr. Throstle
The Long Dark Hall 1951
as Chief Inspector Sullivan
Trio 1950
as Mr. Henry Chester
Passport to Pimlico 1949
as Mr. Wix
It's Hard to be Good 1948
as Williams
Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill 1948
as Moy-Thompson
So Evil My Love 1948
as Henry Courtney
Broken Journey 1948
as Edward Marshall
School for Secrets 1946
as Prof. Laxton-Jones
I See a Dark Stranger 1946
as J. Miller
They Came to a City 1944
as Malcolm Stritton
The Way Ahead 1944
as Pvt. Herbert Davenport
When We Are Married 1943
as Albert Parker
The New Lot 1943
as Barrington
The Day Will Dawn 1942
Actor
"Pimpernel" Smith 1941
as Marx
Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It 1941
as Dr. Kerbishley
The Ghost Train 1941
as John Price
Freedom Radio 1941
as Rabenau
The Ghost of St. Michael's 1941
as Mr Humphries
Night Train to Munich 1940
as Kampenfeldt
Let's Be Famous 1939
as Singer in trio (uncredited)
- When We Are Married
When We Are Married 1938
as Councillor Albert Parker
Dinner at the Ritz 1937
as Gibout
Knight Without Armour 1937
as White Officer
London Melody 1937
as Policeman Outside Nightclub
Rembrandt 1936
as Ludwick
Whom the Gods Love: The Original Story of Mozart and His Wife 1936
as Langer
- Can You Hear Me, Mother?
Can You Hear Me, Mother? 1935
as Dolan
What Happened Then? 1934
Actor
Credits from TMDB.