Ralph Truman
Known for: Acting
Veteran British character player Ralph Truman was a pioneer radio actor and appeared in over 5000 broadcasts during his career. Born in London at the turn of the century, his overall film career was commendable but less enviable than his voice work on the airwaves. Originally from the stage, he had just finished a run of "Josef Suss" in 1930 when he moved directly into films, making his unbilled debut in the early talkie Farewell to Love (1931). Throughout the 1930s he would be found steadily in "B" films including The Bells (1931), That's My Uncle (1935), The Lad (1935), Mr. Cohen Takes a Walk (1935), Under the Red Robe (1937) and Dinner at the Ritz (1937). In the 1940s the distinctively balding, hook-nosed actor found featured work in more important films such as his Mountjoy in Laurence Olivier's stellar Shakespearean piece Henry V (1944). A natural for period settings, Truman played the nefarious Monks in Oliver Twist (1948), and was part of the large-scale proceedings in Christopher Columbus (1949) and Treasure Island (1950), giving animated Robert Newton a run for the money in the latter with a ripe, over-the-top pirate performance as George Merry. Married to fellow radio artist Ellis Powell, he was best known in later years for playing men of high ranking or position (lords, captains, admirals, governors, etc.). He retired after appearing in two final period epics: Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) and Lady Caroline Lamb (1972). He passed away a few years later. - IMDb mini biography by: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
Filmography
Series
Danger Man
Minister
1960
Series
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
Foreign Secretary
1971
Series
Churchill's People
Earl of Surrey
1974
Series
The Main Chance
Reginald Crowther
1969
Film
Ben-Hur
Aide to Tiberius (uncredited)
1959
Film
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Buchanan
1956
Film
Treasure Island
George Merry
1950
Film
Oliver Twist
Monks
1948
Film
Quo Vadis
Tigellinus
1951
Film
El Cid
King Ferdinand
1961
Film
Henry V
Mountjoy - The French Herald
1944
Film
Exodus
Colonel
1960
Film
Nicholas and Alexandra
Rodzianko
1971
Film
The Golden Coach
Duc de Castro
1952
Film
The Ship That Died of Shame
Sir Richard
1955
Film
Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst
Vice Admiral
1957
Film
The Master of Ballantrae
Clarendon
1953
Film
Beau Brummell
Sir Ralph Sidley
1954
Film
The Long Arm
Colonel Blenkinsop
1956
Film
Wicked as They Come
John Dowling
1956
Film
The Night My Number Came Up
Wainwright
1955
Film
Fire Over England
Spanish Inquisition Representative (uncredited)
1937
Film
Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill
Comber
1948
Film
The Saint in London
Kussella
1939
Change for a Sovereign
Archduke Paul
1937
Read All About It
Robertson
1945
Film
Dinner at the Ritz
Auctioneer
1937
Film
The Adventures of Dusty Bates
Merryvale
1947
Film
Mr. Cohen Takes a Walk
Sam Cohen
1935
Film
The Black Tent
Major Cross
1956
Film
The Drum
Dinner Guest (uncredited)
1938
Film
The Good Companions
George Memsford
1957
Film
The Spaniard's Curse
Sir Robert Wyvern
1958
Partners Please
CID Man
1932
Film
Malta Story
Vice Adm Willie Banks
1953
Film
Life of St. Paul
Orderly
1938
Film
The Interrupted Journey
Inspector Waterson
1949
Film
Lady Caroline Lamb
Admiral
1972
Film
The Man Within
Prison Interrogator
1947
Film
Web of Evidence
Sir Matthew Sprott
1959
Film
Under Ten Flags
Admiral Bensen
1960
Film
The Butler's Dilemma
Bishop
1943
The Case of Gabriel Perry
Inspector White
1935
Film
The Challenge
Giordano
1938
Film
The Crimson Circle
Lawrence Fuller
1936
Film
The Bells
Blacksmith
1931
The Marriage of Corbal
Charles
1936
Film
Christopher Columbus
Captain
1949
Film
Three Witnesses
Bellman
1935
Film
Mrs. Fitzherbert
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
1947
Film
Beware of Pity
Maj. Sandor Balinkay
1946
Film
South Riding
Nursing Home Doctor
1938
Film
The Silent Passenger
Saunders
1935
Film
Eureka Stockade
Gov. Hotham
1949
Film
Tons of Trouble
Inspector Bridger
1956
Film
The Outsider
Sir Nathan Israel
1939
Film
The Shadow
Chief Inspector Elliot
1933
Film
Lisbon Story
Police Commissionaire
1946
The Reluctant Widow
Scowler
1950
Film
Dusty Ermine
Second Thug (uncredited)
1936
Film
The Laughing Lady
Lord Mandeville
1946
Film
Sabotage at Sea
Horace Chandler
1942
Film
The Seventh Survivor
Captain
1942
Captain Bill
Red
1935
The Perfect Flaw
Richard Drexel
1934
Film
Secret Lives
Prison Guard
1937
Papworth Village Settlement
Narrator (voice)
1946
Film
Black Eyes
Diner
1939