1. Leopold John Genn was an English actor and barrister.
22 Facts About Leo Genn
1. 2.
Leo Genn began his acting career at The Old Vic and made his film debut in 1935, starring in a total of 85 screen roles until his death in 1978.
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Leo Genn attended the City of London School, having gained scholarships in both classics and mathematics, and studied law at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he became captain of both the football and tennis teams.
4.
Leo Genn went on to study at the Middle Temple, qualifying as a barrister in 1928.
5.
Leo Genn ceased practising as a lawyer after serving as an assistant prosecutor at the Belsen War Trials.
6.
Leo Genn entered acting with the Berkley Players in order to increase his chances of finding prospective clients for his legal work.
7.
Between September 1934 and March 1936, Leo Genn was a member of the Old Vic Company, where he appeared in many productions of Shakespeare.
8.
In 1938, Leo Genn appeared in the theatrical hit The Flashing Stream by Charles Langbridge Morgan and went with the show to Broadway in New York City.
9.
Leo Genn was given a small part in the film on the strength of a "splendid voice and presence".
10.
Leo Genn received another small role in Alexander Korda's The Drum and was the young man who danced with Eliza Doolittle at the duchess's ball in Pygmalion, a film made in the same year, although he was uncredited.
11.
Leo Genn was commissioned in the Royal Artillery on 6 July 1940 and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1943.
12.
Leo Genn was part of the British unit that investigated war crimes at Belsen concentration camp and later was an assistant prosecutor at the Belsen war crimes trials in Luneburg, Germany.
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Leo Genn was in Green for Danger and The Snake Pit.
14.
Leo Genn was one of the two leading actors in The Wooden Horse in 1950.
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Leo Genn appeared in some American films, such as The Girls of Pleasure Island, and Plymouth Adventure, a fictionalised treatment of the Pilgrims' landing at Plymouth Rock.
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Leo Genn later starred opposite Gene Tierney in the British film Personal Affair.
17.
Leo Genn played Major Michael Pemberton in Roberto Rossellini's Era Notte a Roma.
18.
Leo Genn narrated the coronation programmes of both 1937 and 1953, the King George VI Memorial Programme in 1952, and the United Nations ceremonial opening in 1947.
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Leo Genn was a governor of the Mermaid Theatre and trustee of the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre.
20.
Leo Genn was council member of the Arts Educational Trust.
21.
Leo Genn was appointed distinguished visiting professor of theatre arts, Pennsylvania State University, 1968 and visiting professor of drama, University of Utah, 1969.
22.
On 14 May 1933, Leo Genn married Marguerite van Praag, a casting director at Ealing Studios.