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Bernard Lee 1941.
John Bernard Lee was born into an acting family on 10th January 1908. His first stage appearance was alongside his father in 1914, and he later attended RADA, working as a fruit porter to pay his way. After appearing in several plays, he made his film debut in 1934 and made a living mixing his appearances on stage and screen. The same year, he married Gladys Merredew, who was already an established actress. Called up during World War Two, he served as a private in the Royal Fusiliers before training at Sandhurst and being commissioned into the Royal Sussex Regiment on 13th September 1941.
Demobbed in 1946, Bernard Lee’s demeanour, burnished by his experiences as an officer, led to him being offered dozens of authoritarian parts, starting with a colonel in The Courtneys of Curzon Street, the most successful British film of 1947. This was
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