12 Facts About Lionel Jeffries

Lionel Charles Jeffries was an English actor, director, and screenwriter.

Lionel Jeffries appeared primarily in films and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role in The Spy with a Cold Nose.

Lionel Jeffries trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Lionel Jeffries entered repertory at the David Garrick Theatre, Lichfield, Staffordshire for two years and appeared in early British television plays.

Jeffries built a successful career in British films mainly in comic character roles and as he was prematurely bald he often played characters older than himself, such as the role of father to Caractacus Potts in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, although Jeffries was actually six months younger than Van Dyke, who was born on 13 December 1925.

Lionel Jeffries turned to writing and directing children's films, including a well-regarded version of The Railway Children and The Amazing Mr Blunden.

Lionel Jeffries was a member of the British Catholic Stage Guild.

Lionel Jeffries had a negative attitude towards television and avoided the medium for many years.

Lionel Jeffries reluctantly appeared on television in an acting role in the 1980 London Weekend Television Dennis Potter drama Cream in My Coffee and realised that television production values were now little different from those in the film industry; as a result he developed a belated career in television.

Lionel Jeffries began to suffer from vascular dementia in 1998 and retired from acting in 2001.

Lionel Jeffries died on 19 February 2010, at a nursing home in Poole, Dorset.

Lionel Jeffries was married to Eileen Mary Walsh from 1951 until his death.