Percy Herbert (actor)


Percy Herbert was an English actor.

Early years

Herbert was born in east London. His father left home when Herbert was a young boy. The middle sibling, Herbert was brought up by his mother Ann Herbert along with his brother Lawrence and his sister Maisie. In his youth he learned boxing at Repton Boxing club.

Acting career

Post-war he returned to London. Dame Sybil Thorndike
helped him secure an interview with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he won a scholarship. His acting work began in the theatre, including at John Gielgud's Old Vic Company.
Beginning in 1954, he went on to appear in 78 films. He often played soldiers including in The Cockleshell Heroes and The Bridge on the River Kwai. The Bridge on the River Kwai was about British POWs working on the Burma Railway. Herbert as well as being cast as Grogan, he was paid by Producer David Lean as a consultant on the film. It was Herbert who suggested using the well-known "Colonel Bogey March" that prisoners whistle in the film.
His other notable war films include Sea of Sand, Tunes of Glory, The Guns of Navarone, Guns at Batasi, Tobruk and The Wild Geese.
He was equally at home in comedies, fantasy, drama, and science fiction.
He also acted on television; he was a regular on the short-lived American series Cimarron Strip, during a brief foray to Hollywood. Other television work included Danger Man, The Saint, Z-Cars, Dixon of Dock Green and Worzel Gummidge.

Death

Herbert died of a heart attack, aged 72, on 6 December 1992 in Broadstairs, Kent. He was survived by his childhood sweetheart and wife Amy, and his two daughters Vanessa and Katrina.

Complete filmography

I Done a Murder - The Rev. Christopher SpokeThe Young Lovers - Richards Montserrat - MoralesThe Green Carnation - Casey O'RourkeOne Good Turn - "Seen Enough" Boxing Spectator The Night My Number Came Up - R.E.M.E. SergeantThe Prisoner - Soldier Confession - BarmanThe Gold Express Timeslip - Assassin The Cockleshell Heroes - Marine LomasDoctor at Sea - Helmsman Lost - Police Constable in Phone Box Child in the House - Det. Sgt. TaylorA Hill in Korea - Pte. MoonTiger in the Smoke - CopperQuatermass 2 - GormanThe Steel Bayonet - Pte. ClarkThe Bridge on the River Kwai - GroganNight of the Demon - Farmer Barnacle Bill - TommyThe Safecracker - Sergeant HarperNo Time to Die - 1st British soldierSea Fury - WalkerSea of Sand - 'Blanco' WhiteIdol on Parade - Sgt. Hebrides