Brian Aherne was an Oscar-nominated Anglo-American stage and screen actor who was one of the top cinema character actors in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Born on May 2, 1902 in King's Norton, Worcestshire, England, Aherne performed as an actor as a child. At age 18 he made his debut as an adult with the company that would evolve into the world-famous Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Three years later, he made his debut in London's West End, the English equivalent of Broadway. After his experience in Birmingham, Aherne studied architecture, but a life as an actor was too strong to resist, so he returned to the theater in 1923. For the next eight years, he toured the provinces and appeared in the West End in various productions. In 1931, he made his Broadway debut playing Robert Browning in "The Barretts of Wimpole Street." He alternated between the New York and London stage in the early 1930s. Aherne made his movie debut in 1924, and by the mid-1930s, he moved to Hollywood. In 1940, he was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for _Juarez , entitled "A Dreadful Man". He died at age 83 of heart failure on February 10, 1986 in Venice, Florida.
Brother of Patrick Aherne.
Ex-brother-in-law of Olivia de Havilland and Renee Houston.
Educated in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England and at Malvern College, Worcestshire.
Trained as a child at the Italia Contis School in London, making his stage debut aged 9 in Birmingham.
Studied architecture following his career as a child actor but returned to the stage in 1923 in a revival of "Paddy the Next Best Thing" at the Savoy Theatre, London.
Had a pilots license and owned a plane.
Had played King Arthur in two different films: Prince Valiant and Lancelot and Guinevere .
Had appeared with Rosalind Russell in four films: Hired Wife , My Sister Eileen , What a Woman and Rosie! .
Brother-in-law of Broadway producer Alfred De Liagre Jr..
He had a stepdaughter, Leonie Labrot Gately. She had five sons: Peter, Terry, William, Timothy and Scott.
On Feb. 8, 1980, he was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1752 Vine St.
Wrote a biography of his friend George Sanders entitled "A Dreadful Man", which contained much autobiographical information.
In 1945 he traveled to Italy, France, Holland and Germany to perform for the troops in "The Barretts of Wimpole Street".
Brian Aherne performed the role Professor Henry Higgins for one year, in the first roadshow Chicago company of "My Fair Lady" during the 1957-58 season. Bill Hargate was his personal wardrobe dresser during the run of the show. Sally Ann Howes performed the role Liza Doolittle opposite Brian Ahernes role Professor Henry Higgins during the entire first year roadshow "My Fair Lady" Chicago engagement.
While married to Joan Fontaine , he lived on the Hollywood hilltop property where North Crescent Heights Blvd. ends, above and adjacent to Hollywood Blvd. and Laurel Canyon Blvd. The "U" plan two-story Colonial mansion faced southeast with a view of both Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles. The front four-columned front porch, with tall French doors, opened into the center foyer with a curved staircase leading upstairs to a central hall landing, with bedrooms and guest quarters left and right of the upstairs wings. On the main floor the large living space and a library room, each with fireplace, was left of the staircase. To the right of the foyer staircase was the grand dining room with a fireplace, butlers pantry, main kitchen, with servant quarters located behind the kitchen. In the open "U" courtyard was a swimming pool, with garages and chauffeur quarters as a separate backup building. The front circular concrete driveway connected to an unpaved dirt road which connected to the city-maintained asphalt North Crescent Heights Blvd. This West Hollywood neighborhood was the Beverly Hills of the 1930s-50s with film illuminates living on the North Crescent Heights hillside estates. Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore each owned houses next to each other, with Victor Mature as their neighbor. The Greek government owned its ambassadors residence. At the foot of the hill, Gloria Swanson s Georgian columned two-story residence on Selma Ave. at North Crescent Heights Blvd. was opposite Judy Canova s residence. Veronica Lake s residence was on the west side of North Crescent Heights, on Hollywood Blvd.s "East Sunset Strip" area overlooking "The Garden of Allah"; at the start of the fabled Sunset Blvd. Strip, where John Barrymore and Errol Flynn had their party apartment units in The Garden of Allah. At the Hollywood Blvd./Laurel Canyon "flats"area, on Hollywood Blvd., Claude Rains was neighbor to Clark Gable.
In 1958-59 Aherne granted Columbia Pictures the right to access the eastern bluff of his hilltop property for the premiere of its production Pepe , which occurred on Dec. 27, 1960. Columbias art director Ted Haworth designed an exterior palatial patio with a full-size swimming pool, surrounded by a terrace with balustrade railings, overlooking Hollywood, downtown Los Angeles and a panoramic view of the West. The Aherne-Joan Fontaine (qv( mansion facade served as the backdrop for the reverse location-angle shots. Upon completion of filming, the property area was restored to the original condition; the film company removed (dug out) the swimming pool, the concrete patio-terrace, the balustrades, all the Italian Cypress and shrubbery planted around the films set. After Aherne and Fontaine divorced, the property was sold, then abandoned, and became a Sunset Strip hippie enclave-fort. In the late 1960s the mansion was torn down, with the property fenced and gated; Great Western Bank, in the mid-1970s, subdivided the property into home sites, building two-story "McMansions" that sold for approximately $350,000-$500,000.
Aherne passed away on February 10, 1986, three months from what would have been his 84th birthday on May 2.
