John Dodsworth (actor)

John Cecil Dodsworth was an English actor.

Biography and career

Born John Cecil Dodsworth in London, England. Dodsworth started his film career as an extra in British films of the 1930s before taking on small parts in The Next of Kin, They Were Sisters and The Rake's Progress. He had much larger roles in his next two films, as the romantic lead in the Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen comedy Here Comes the Sun, and Who Killed Van Loon?, an early film from Hammer Film Productions.
Like a lot of British actors of the period he moved to America in the 1950s, where he was usually cast as the archetypal English officer or aristocrat. He made his Hollywood film debut in Up Front, followed by supporting roles in prestige films including Singin' in the Rain, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Lust for Life. Interspersed with these small parts were more substantial roles in modest scale productions, such as William Cameron Menzies' cult classic The Maze and the Bowery Boys comedies Loose in London and In the Money. He also appeared in tv shows such as Jungle Jim, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Maverick and 77 Sunset Strip.
He married film production secretary Donna Hedyt in 1961. Dodsworth committed suicide in 1964 at the age of 53.