Francis L. Sullivan
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- January 6, 1903
- Died
- November 19, 1956
- Birthplace
- Wandsworth, London, England, UK
Francis Loftus Sullivan (6 January 1903, Wandsworth, London - 19 November 1956, New York City) was an English film and stage actor. He attended Stonyhurst, the Jesuit public school in Lancashire, England whose alumni include Charles Laughton and Arthur Conan Doyle. A heavily built man with a striking double-chin and a deep voice, Sullivan made his acting debut at the Old Vic aged 18 in Shakespeare's Richard III and appeared in his first film in 1932. Some of his notable film roles include Mr. Bumble in Oliver Twist (1948) and Phil Nosseross in the film noir Night and the City (1950). Sullivan also played the part of Jaggers in two versions of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations - in 1934 and 1946. He appeared in a fourth Dickens film, the 1935 Universal Pictures version of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, in which he played Crisparkle. In 1938, he was featured in The Citadel, starring Robert Donat, and a decade later, he played the role of Pierre Cauchon in the technicolor version of Joan of Arc, starring Ingrid Bergman. Also in 1938 he starred in a revival of the Stokes' brothers play Oscar Wilde at London's Arts Theatre. Sullivan also acted in light comedies, notably My Favorite Spy (1951), starring Bob Hope and Hedy Lamarr, in which he played an enemy agent, and the comedy Fiddlers Three (1944), portraying Nero. He also played the role of Pothinus in the 1945 film version of George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra. The film was directed by Gabriel Pascal, and was the last film personally supervised by Shaw himself. Sullivan later reprised the role in a stage revival of the play. Sullivan, who eventually became a naturalized US citizen, won a Tony Award in 1955 for the Agatha Christie play Witness for the Prosecution. Earlier, he had played Hercule Poirot at the Embassy Theatre (London) in the Christie play, Black Coffee (1930). He died of a heart attack, aged 53 (some sources claim he died from an unspecified "lung ailment"). Description above from the Wikipedia article Francis L. Sullivan, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
Ingrid Bergman Remembered 1996
as Self (archive footage)
The Prodigal 1955
as Bosra
Hell's Island 1955
as Barzland
Drums of Tahiti 1954
as Commissioner Pierre Duvois
Plunder of the Sun 1953
as Thomas Berrien
Sangaree 1953
as Dr. Bristol
Caribbean 1952
as Andrew McAllister
Pontius Pilate 1952
as Herod Antipas
My Favorite Spy 1951
as Karl Brubaker
Behave Yourself! 1951
as Fat Freddy
Night and the City 1950
as Philip Nosseross
The Red Danube 1949
as Colonel Humphrey 'Blinker' Omicron
Christopher Columbus 1949
as Francisco de Bobadilla
Joan of Arc 1948
as Pierre Cauchon, Count-Bishop of Beauvais
The Winslow Boy 1948
as Attorney General
Oliver Twist 1948
as Mr. Bumble
Broken Journey 1948
as Anton Perami
Take My Life 1947
as Prosecuting Counsel
The Man Within 1947
as Mr. Braddock
Great Expectations 1946
as Mr. Jaggers
The Laughing Lady 1946
as Sir Williams Tremayne
Caesar and Cleopatra 1946
as Pothinus
Fiddlers Three 1944
as Nero
The Butler's Dilemma 1943
as Leo Carrington
The Lady from Lisbon 1942
as Minghetti
The Foreman Went to France 1942
as French Skipper
The Day Will Dawn 1942
as Kommandant Ulrich Wettau
"Pimpernel" Smith 1941
as General von Graum
21 Days 1940
as Mander
Young Man's Fancy 1939
as Blackbeard, Vincent St George
The Four Just Men 1939
as Leon Poiccard
The Ware Case 1938
as Attorney General
Climbing High 1938
as Madman
The Citadel 1938
as Ben Chenkin
The Drum 1938
as Governor
Kate Plus Ten 1938
as Lord Flamborough
- Fine Feathers
Fine Feathers 1937
as Hugo Steinway
Dinner at the Ritz 1937
as Brogard
Non-Stop New York 1937
as Hugo Brant
Action for Slander 1937
as Sir Quinton Jessops (as Francis Sullavan)
- Spy of Napoleon
Spy of Napoleon 1936
as Chief of Police
- A Woman Alone
A Woman Alone 1936
as Prosecutor
Her Last Affaire 1935
as Sir Julian Weyre
The Mystery of Edwin Drood 1935
as Rev. Mr. Crisparkle
Strange Wives 1934
as Bellamy
Cheating Cheaters 1934
as Dr. George Brockton
Great Expectations 1934
as Jaggers
What Happened Then? 1934
as Richard Bentley, Prosecution Counsel
- The Warren Case
The Warren Case 1934
as Prosecuting Counsel (uncredited)
Chu Chin Chow 1934
as The Caliph
The Return of Bulldog Drummond 1934
as Carl Peterson
The Fire Raisers 1934
as Stedding
Red Wagon 1933
as Cranley
The Wandering Jew 1933
as Juan de Texada (Phase IV)
Called Back 1933
as Kaledin
F.P.1 1933
as A Sailor
The Right to Live 1933
as Roger Stoneham
When London Sleeps 1932
as Rodney Haines
- The Chinese Puzzle
The Chinese Puzzle 1932
as Herman Strumm
The Missing Rembrandt 1932
as Baron von Guntermann
Credits from TMDB.