Raymond Huntley
Known for: Acting
Horace Raymond Huntley (23 April 1904 – 15 June 1990) was an English actor who appeared in dozens of British films from the 1930s to the 1970s. He also appeared in the ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs as the pragmatic family solicitor Sir Geoffrey Dillon, and other television shows, such as the Wodehouse Playhouse, ('Romance at Droitwich Spa'), in 1975. Born in Kings Norton, Worcestershire (now a suburb of Birmingham) in 1904, Huntley made his stage debut at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre on 1 April 1922, in A Woman Killed with Kindness. His London debut followed at the Court Theatre on 22 February 1924, in As Far as Thought can Reach. He subsequently inherited the role of Count Dracula from Edmund Blake in Hamilton Deane's touring adaptation of Dracula, which arrived at London's Little Theatre on 14 February 1927, subsequently transferring to the larger Duke of York's Theatre. Later that year he was offered the chance to reprise the role on Broadway (in a script streamlined by John L. Balderston); when he declined, the part was taken by Bela Lugosi instead. Huntley did, however, appear in a US touring production of the Deane/Balderston play, covering the east coast and midwest, from 1928-30. "I have always considered the role of Count Dracula to have been an indiscretion of my youth" he recalled in 1989. After Dracula, he made his Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on 23 February 1931, in The Venetian Glass Nephew. On returning to the UK, his many West End appearances included The Farmer's Wife (Queen's Theatre 1932), Cornelius (Duchess Theatre 1935), Bees on the Boat Deck (Lyric Theatre 1936) Time and the Conways (Duchess Theatre 1937), When We Are Married (St Martin's Theatre 1940), Rebecca (Queen's Theatre 1940; Strand Theatre 1942), They Came to a City (Globe Theatre 1943), The Late Edwina Black (Ambassadors Theatre 1948), And This Was Odd (Criterion Theatre 1951), Double Image (Savoy Theatre 1956), Any Other Business (Westminster Theatre 1958), Caught Napping (Piccadilly Theatre 1959), Difference of Opinion (Garrick Theatre 1963), An Ideal Husband (Garrick Theatre 1966), Getting Married (Strand Theatre 1967), Soldiers (New Theatre 1968) and Separate Tables (Apollo Theatre 1977). He also starred opposite Flora Robson in the Broadway production of Black Chiffon (48th Street Theatre 1950). Often cast as a supercilious bureaucrat or other authority figure, Huntley was also a staple figure in British films, his many appearances including The Way Ahead, I See a Dark Stranger, Passport to Pimlico and The Dam Busters. In his later years, he became well-known on television as Sir Geoffrey Dillon, the family solicitor to the Bellamys in LWT's popular 1970s drama series Upstairs, Downstairs. Huntley died in Westminster Hospital, London in 1990. In his obituary, the New York Times wrote, "During his long career the actor played judges, bank managers, churchmen, bureaucrats and other figures of authority. He could play them straight if necessary, but in comedy his natural dryness of delivery was exaggerated to the point where the character he was playing invited mockery as a pompous humbug." Source: Article "Raymond Huntley" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Filmography
Series
Crown Court
Mr. Justice Downes
1972
Series
Crown Court
Mr. Justice Ambleforth
1972
Series
The Wednesday Play
Superintendent Willow
1964
Series
The Wednesday Play
Dr. Hallam Aitkinson
1964
Series
Omnibus
Self
1967
Series
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
Alderman Tindal
1969
Series
Danger Man
Clements
1960
Series
The Count of Monte Cristo
Reimer
1956
Series
Upstairs, Downstairs
Sir Geoffrey Dillon
1971
Series
No Hiding Place
Ward
1959
Series
Gideon's Way
Sir Percy Richmond
1965
Series
Sunday Night Theatre
Mr. Culver
1950
Series
Sunday Night Theatre
Crichton
1950
Series
Sunday Night Theatre
Spence
1950
Series
Sunday Night Theatre
Inspector Hubbard
1950
Series
Sunday Night Theatre
Prof. Brander
1950
Series
Sunday Night Theatre
Gordon Meslin
1950
Series
Sunday Night Theatre
Challiss
1950
Series
Sunday Night Theatre
Manning
1950
Series
Sunday Night Theatre
Lord Laithwaite
1950
Sunday-Night Play
The Reader
1960
Sunday-Night Play
Sir Edward Moss
1960
Sunday-Night Play
Sir Arthur Hopwood-Lane
1960
Sunday-Night Play
Herbert Nodes
1960
Sunday-Night Play
Gilbert Morris
1960
Series
Sykes
Mr. Gatwick
1972
Series
Justice
Judge
1971
Series
Justice
High Court Judge
1971
Series
Softly Softly: Task Force
Doctor Mancroft
1969
Series
Interpol Calling
Schroeder
1959
Series
Steptoe and Son
Psychiatrist
1962
Film
Breathless
A Journalist (uncredited)
1960
Series
Hancock's Half Hour
Doctor
1956
Series
Sir Francis Drake
Doctor Dee
1961
Series
Theatre Night
Sir Norman Tullis
1957
Series
Theatre Night
Dr. Rodd
1957
Series
Brass
Judge
1983
Series
Knight Errant Limited
Dr. Felthorpe
1959
Series
Knight Errant Limited
Henry Latto
1959
Series
Victorian Scandals
Dr Tristram
1976
Series
On Trial
Travers Humphreys
1960
Film
The Dam Busters
Official, National Physical Laboratory
1955
Series
Barnaby Rudge
1960
Series
Barnaby Rudge
Mr. John Chester
1960
Film
Hobson's Choice
Nathaniel Beenstock
1954
Film
Young Winston
Old Officer
1972
Film
The Mummy
Joseph Whemple
1959
Series
A Man Called Harry Brent
Sir Gordon Town
1965
Film
Room at the Top
Mr. Hoylake
1958
Film
Our Man in Havana
General
1960
My Honourable Mrs
Professor Walter Ramsay
1975
Series
Armchair Theatre
Sturdee
1956
Series
Armchair Theatre
Carlo
1956
Series
Armchair Theatre
Hector Crawford
1956
Series
Armchair Theatre
Mr. Gaunt
1956
Film
Crooks Anonymous
Mr. Wagstaffe
1962
Film
"Pimpernel" Smith
Marx
1941
Film
Innocent Meeting
Harold Phillips
1959
Film
Night Train to Munich
Kampenfeldt
1940
Film
I'm All Right Jack
Magistrate
1959
Film
Sleepwalker
Old Englishman
1984
Film
Hot Millions
Bayswater
1968
Film
Passport to Pimlico
Mr. Wix
1949
Film
So Evil My Love
Henry Courtney
1948
Film
The House in the Square
Mr. Throstle
1951
Film
The Way Ahead
Pvt. Herbert Davenport
1944
Film
Meet Mr. Lucifer
Patterson
1953
Film
The Green Man
Sir Gregory Upshott
1956
Film
Brothers in Law
Tatlock Q.C.
1957
Film
The Constant Husband
J.F. Hassett
1955
Film
Rembrandt
Ludwick
1936
Film
Doctor at Sea
Captain Beamish
1955
Film
Number Three
Prof. Brander
1953
Film
Suspect
Sir George Gatting the Minister of Defense
1960
Film
The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery
Sir Horace, the Minister
1966
Film
The Pure Hell of St Trinian's
Judge Slender
1960
Film
School for Secrets
Prof. Laxton-Jones
1946
Film
The Teckman Mystery
Maurice Miller
1954
Film
Only Two Can Play
Vernon
1962
Film
Nurse on Wheels
Vicar Walcott
1963
Film
The Prisoner
The General
1955
Film
On the Beat
Sir Ronald Ackroyd
1962
When We Are Married
Councillor Albert Parker
1951
Film
Aunt Clara
Rev. Maurice Hilton
1954
Film
The Ghost Train
John Price
1941
Film
Hostile Witness
John Naylor
1968
Film
Destiny of a Spy
Supt. Pode
1969
Laxdale Hall
Samuel Pettigrew, M.P.
1953
Film
A French Mistress
Reverend Edwin Peake
1960
That's Your Funeral
Emanuel Holroyd
1970
Film
Broken Journey
Edward Marshall
1948
Film
Father Came Too!
Mr. Wedgewood
1964
Film
Arthur? Arthur!
George Payne
1969
Film
Orders Are Orders
Col. Fred Bellamy
1954
Film
The Last Page
Clive Oliver
1952
Film
The Last Man to Hang
Attorney General
1956
Film
The Black Torment
Colonel John Wentworth
1964
Film
Make Mine Mink
Inspector Pape
1960
Film
A Voyage Round My Father
Judge
1984
Film
Carlton-Browne of the F.O.
Foreign Secretary Tufton-Slade
1959
Film
The Day Will Dawn
1942
Film
Town on Trial
Dr. Reese
1957
Film
Freedom Radio
Rabenau
1941
Film
The Long Dark Hall
Chief Inspector Sullivan
1951
Film
That's Your Funeral
Emmanuel Holroyd
1972
Film
Waltz of the Toreadors
Ackroyd
1962
Film
Mr. Denning Drives North
Wright
1951
Film
Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It
Dr. Kerbishley
1941
Film
Bottoms Up!
Garrick-Jones
1960
Film
Sands of the Desert
Bossom
1960
Film
Let's Be Famous
Singer in trio (uncredited)
1939
Film
Knight Without Armour
White Officer
1937
Film
Symptoms
Burke
1974
Film
I See a Dark Stranger
J. Miller
1946
Film
Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill
Moy-Thompson
1948
A Time Of Day
1957
Film
Rotten to the Core
Governor
1965
Film
The Portland Millions
Dr. Tristram
1976
Can You Hear Me, Mother?
Dolan
1935
Film
They Came to a City
Malcolm Stritton
1944
Film
Next to No Time
Forbes, Factory Supervisor
1958
Film
Geordie
Olympic Selector
1955
Film
The Ghost of St. Michael's
Mr Humphries
1941
Film
The Yellow Teddy Bears
Harry Haliburton
1963
Film
Trio
Mr. Henry Chester
1950
Film
The New Lot
Barrington
1943
Film
Dinner at the Ritz
Gibout
1937
Film
When We Are Married
Albert Parker
1943
Film
The Criminals
Hector Crawford
1958
Film
London Melody
Policeman Outside Nightclub
1937
Film
Whom the Gods Love: The Original Story of Mozart and His Wife
Langer
1936
Follow That Horse!
1960
Film
The Adding Machine
Smithers
1969
When We Are Married
Councillor Albert Parker
1938
Film
Glad Tidings
Tom Forester
1953
Film
It's Hard to be Good
Williams
1948
Film
Tune On the Old Tax Fiddle
Mr. Gaunt
1961
Film
What Happened Then?
1934