Brian Aherne Biography

Fast Facts

• Performed for the troops in Italy, France, Holland and Germany in 1945
• Originally studied to be an architect at Malvern College, but because of his amateur acting experience in Birmingham, he soon earned a role in a revival of "Paddy the Next Big Thing" at the Savoy Theatre
• Received some early stage training at Italia Conti Academy and had a few roles as a child, appearing on stage in Birmingham for the first time in a Pilgrim Players' production of "Fifinella․"
• Generally played debonair, self-assured British gentleman in films, often as a straight man next to tempestuous characters played by glamorous actresses such as Katharine Hepburn and Bette Davis
• On Broadway, he played Robert Browning in a 1931 production of "The Barretts of Wimpole Street․"
• Owned a plane and had a pilot's license to fly it
• Published an autobiography called "A Proper Job" in 1969
• Was featured in several articles in "Photoplay Magazine․"
• His Hollywood Hills property was abandoned after his divorce from Joan Fontaine, and for a time became a hippie enclave
• Wrote a biography of his friend George Sanders that was published in 1979 and called "A Dreadful Man․"