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William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 190210 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States.
His first Broadway appearance in The Barretts of Wimpole Street in 1931 teamed him with Katharine Cornell, with whom he appeared in many productions. In films, he played opposite Madeleine Carroll, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth, Constance Bennett and Carole Lombard, and was Oscar-nominated for his role as Emperor Maximilian in Juarez (1939). On TV, he appeared in The Twilight Zone episode, "The Trouble With Templeton", Wagon Train and Rawhide.
Educated in Edgbaston, Birmingham, he received stage training at Italia Conti Academy in London as a child actor and then completed his education at Malvern College. The Hollywood Walk of Fame : Brian Aherne biography
He then studied with a view to becoming an architect, but, having had considerable amateur experience in Birmingham and with Liverpool's Green Room Club, he obtained an engagement under Robert Courtneidge, and appeared at London's Savoy Theatre, opening on 26 December 1923, as Jack O'Hara in a revival of Paddy the Next Best Thing, the play by W. Gayer-Mackay and Robert Ord (from the novel).
He then toured with Violet Vanbrugh as Hugo in The Flame and appeared at the London Playhouse in May 1924 as Langford in Leon Gordon's White Cargo, in which he played all through 1924–1925.
In 1926. he accompanied Dion Boucicault Jr. to Australia, where he appeared in several plays by J.M. Barrie (as Valentine Brown in the comedy Quality Street, John Shand in the comedy What Every Woman Knows, Crichton in The Admirable Crichton, Simon and Harry in Mary Rose) and Willocks in Aren't We All?, another comedy by Frederick Lonsdale.
Aherne reappeared in London at the Novello Theatre in March 1927, again as Langford, in White Cargo and continued on the London stage in a succession of plays until late 1930 when he went to the U.S.
His latter silents were two films Shooting Stars and Underground by director Anthony Asquith. Aherne made his sound debut in The W Plan (1930), directed by Victor Saville. He appeared opposite Madeleine Carroll in Madame Guillotine (1931).
Aherne returned to Broadway in 1932 for Lucrece, which starred Cornell. It only had a short run. He then went to Hollywood, where he made his American film debut in The Song of Songs (1933) with Marlene Dietrich.
He returned to England, where he starred in the film of Basil Dean's The Constant Nymph (1933).
In 1934, he was reunited with Cornell on Broadway in Romeo and Juliet, playing Mercutio; Cornell was Juliet, and Basil Rathbone was Romeo. It only ran 77 performances.
He returned to Broadway, where he appeared in Cornell's production of Saint Joan (1936), co-starring Maurice Evans. Back in Hollywood, he appeared in Beloved Enemy (1936) with Merle Oberon at Goldwyn Productions. Then, in 1937, he appeared as Iago on Broadway in Othello.
At Warner Bros., Aherne was top-billed in The Great Garrick (1937), directed by James Whale. He supported Constance Bennett in the hit comedy Merrily We Live (1938) for Hal Roach Studios, distributed by MGM. He was Oscar-nominated for his role as Emperor Maxmilian in Juarez (1939).
Hal Roach gave Aherne the star role in Captain Fury (1939) as a bushranger in colonial Australia. He supported Carole Lombard in Vigil in the Night (1940) at RKO, then reunited with Madeleine Carroll in My Son, My Son! (1940) for Edward Small.
MGM put Aherne in a supporting role in Smilin' Through (1941). He also had supporting roles in Skylark (1941) at Paramount and My Sister Eileen (1942) at Columbia. He stayed at this studio to star with Loretta Young in A Night to Remember (1942), and was he one of many stars in Forever and a Day (1943).
At Columbia, Aherne had a supporting role in First Comes Courage (1943) and in The Beautiful Cheat (1943).
In 1943, he quit films to become a flight instructor for the Royal Air Force at Falcon Field, Arizona. In November 1943, it was reported Columbia paid him $144,958 for the year, making him the second highest paid person at Columbia after Harry Cohn.
He fell ill with influenza while touring army camps in 1944.
Aherne returned to movies with RKO's The Locket (1946), billed after Laraine Day. He was top-billed in Smart Woman (1948), co-starring producer Constance Bennett. He did Drums Along the Amazon (1948) for Republic.
Aherne was in a Broadway revival of She Stoops to Conquer (1949-1950).
Aherne did Escapade (1953) on Broadway and "Two for Tea" for Lux Video Theatre and "Element of Risk" and "Breakdown" for Robert Montgomery Presents (1953).
20th Century Fox asked Aherne back to Hollywood to play King Arthur in Prince Valiant (1954) and to play a supporting part in A Bullet Is Waiting (1954).
He did Quadrille (1954–1955) on Broadway with the Lunts, then "Now in Rehearsal" for the Eddie Cantor episode of The Colgate Comedy Hour (1955). Aherne did "The Martyr" for General Electric Theater (1955), "Reunion in Vienna" for Producers' Showcase (1955), and "The Round Dozen" and "Appearances and Reality" for The Star and the Story (1955).
Aherne went to MGM for The Swan (1956). On TV, he did "One Minute from Broadway" for Sneak Preview (1956), "Night Shriek" for Climax! (1956), "The Sacred Trust" and "The Lamp of Father Cataldo" for Crossroads (1956), "The Transfer" for The Errol Flynn Theatre (1956), "Safe Enough" for Studio 57 (1957), and "Story Without a Moral" for Goodyear Theatre (1959).
In 1957, he went on a national tour of My Fair Lady, playing Professor Henry Higgins. In 1960, he played the title role of "The Trouble with Templeton" on the television series The Twilight Zone.
Aherne was invited back to 20th Century Fox for a sizable supporting role in the big budget The Best of Everything (1959). Aherne's final Broadway appearance was in Dear Liar (1960) with Cornell, where he played George Bernard Shaw ("with great vivacity" according to The New York Times) opposite Cornell's Mrs Patrick Campbell. He acted in the movie Susan Slade (1961). He did "The Bruce Saybrook Story" on Wagon Train (1961), and "The Gentleman's Gentleman" on Rawhide (1961). He also appeared as guest host on the TV panel show The Name's the Same.
He settled in Switzerland. He appeared in a play in England and agreed to return to Hollywood to play Rosalind Russell's love interest in Rosie! (1967).
In 1970, he appeared as a mystery guest on What's My Line?.
He published his autobiography A Proper Job in 1969 as well as A Dreadful Man (1979), a biography of his close friend George Sanders.Brian Aherne. A Dreadful Man: The Story of Hollywood's Most Original Cad, George Sanders. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979. .
Aherne was a pilot and charter member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
He died of heart failure in Venice, Florida at the age of 83 on 10 February 1986. He was cremated at Sarasota Crematory.
| 1924 | The Eleventh Commandment | Norman Barchester | |
| 1925 | The Squire of Long Hadley | Jim Luttrell | |
| King of the Castle | Colin O'Farrell | ||
| 1926 | Safety First | Hippocrates Rayne | |
| 1927 | A Woman Redeemed | Geoffrey Maynefleet | |
| 1928 | Shooting Stars | Julian Gordon | |
| Underground | Bill | ||
| 1930 | The W Plan | Colonel Duncan Grant | |
| 1931 | Madame Guillotine | Louis Dubois | |
| 1933 | The Song of Songs | Richard Waldow | |
| The Constant Nymph | Lewis Dodd | ||
| 1934 | The Fountain | Lewis Allison | |
| What Every Woman Knows | John Shand | ||
| 1935 | I Live My Life | Terence "Terry" O'Neill | |
| Sylvia Scarlett | Michael Fane | ||
| 1936 | Beloved Enemy | Dennis Riordan | |
| 1937 | The Great Garrick | David Garrick | |
| 1938 | Merrily We Live | E. Wade Rawlins | |
| 1939 | Juarez | Maximilian I of Mexico | nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role |
| Captain Fury | Captain Michael Fury | ||
| 1940 | Vigil in the Night | Dr. Robert S. Prescott | |
| My Son, My Son! | William Essex | ||
| The Lady in Question | Andre Morestan | ||
| Hired Wife | Stephen Dexter | ||
| 1941 | The Man Who Lost Himself | John Evans / Malcolm Scott | |
| Smilin' Through | Sir John Carteret | ||
| Skylark | Jim Blake | ||
| 1942 | My Sister Eileen | Robert Baker | |
| A Night To Remember | Jeff Troy | ||
| 1943 | Forever and a Day | Jim Trimble | |
| First Comes Courage | Captain Allan Lowell | ||
| What a Woman! | Henry Pepper | ||
| 1946 | The Locket | Dr. Harry Blair | |
| 1948 | Smart Woman | Robert Larrimore | |
| Angel on the Amazon | Anthony Ridgeway | Alternative titles: Drums Along the Amazon The Jungle Wilderness | |
| 1953 | I Confess | Chief Prosecutor Willy Robertson | |
| Titanic | Captain Edward John Smith | ||
| 1954 | Prince Valiant | King Arthur | |
| A Bullet Is Waiting | David Canham | ||
| 1956 | The Swan | Father Carl Hyacinth | |
| 1959 | The Best of Everything | Fred Shalimar | |
| 1961 | Susan Slade | Stanton Corbett | |
| 1963 | Lancelot and Guinevere | King Arthur | Alternative title: Sword of Lancelot |
| 1964 | The Cavern | Gen. Braithwaite | |
| 1967 | Rosie! | Oliver Stevenson | (final film role) |
| 1950 | Armstrong Circle Theatre | ||
| 1950–1953 | Robert Montgomery Presents | Phillip Armstrong | 3 episodes |
| 1951 | Pulitzer Prize Playhouse | 1 episode | |
| 1951–1953 | Lux Video Theatre | Mr. Don/Reggie | 2 episodes |
| 1955 | General Electric Theater | Colonel Tafferty | 1 episode |
| Producers' Showcase | Rudolf Maximilian | 1 episode | |
| 1955–1956 | Crossroads | Father Cataldo | 3 episodes |
| 1956 | Climax! | David | 1 episode |
| Cavalcade of America | John Kirk | 1 episode | |
| Sneak Preview | 1 episode | ||
| 1959 | Goodyear Theatre | James Rupert/James Spencer | 1 episode |
| 1960 | The Twilight Zone | Booth Templeton | 1 episode |
| 1961 | Rawhide | Woolsey | 1 episode |
| 1961 | Wagon Train | Lord Bruce Saybrook | 1 episode |
| 1963 | The Wonderful World of Disney | Johann Strauss Sr. | 2 episodes |
| 1940 | 12th Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Juarez | |
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