Leslie Howard: Unmasking the Pimpernel
By Dan Van Neste

   ?They seek him here, they seek him there; Those Frenchies seek him everywhere ...? so spake the vane, foppish Sir Percy Blakeney in poetic tribute to his alter ego, the heroic Scarlet Pimpernel. Those famous lines from the 1934 British film classic might well have been composed in reference to the dreamy-eyed, soft-voiced British actor who recited them. One of the 1920s? most prestigious stage actors, Leslie Howard was lured to Hollywood in the early sound era by highly lucrative film offers and promises of creative control. He soon became a top ranked movie star; the cinema?s ideal English gentleman. In his most memorable screen roles, he played sensitive idealists, soft spoken intellectuals, whose apparent passivity disguises a noble and heroic spirit. Although Howard had a limited acting range and lacked screen charisma, he gave his roles sensitivity, vulnerability, and soulful depth.
   The introspective complexity of his characterizations were mirrored in Howard?s private life. He was a genuine enigma whose paradoxical behavior confused and confounded everyone, including those nearest and dearest to him. Even his tragic, untimely death was and remains shrouded in mystery. Like his Scarlet Pimpernel, he was a master of disguise who cannot be understood until you realize that the man behind the art bore an uncanny resemblance to his creations.
   Ironically, Hollywood?s premiere Englishman had little if any English blood. Leslie Howard Steiner was born in London April 3, 1893, to a young Jewish couple. Film books and bios often list his surname as Stainer, the name Leslie claimed. Like so many celebrities, he felt a need to disassociate himself from his Jewish origins to escape anti-Semitism. His mother, the former Lilian Blumberg, came from a middle class Jewish family with blood ties to the continent. His father, Ferdinand (Frank) was a poor Hungarian emigrant who became a British subject and was employed as a stockbroker?s clerk. The couple were married in 1892 despite the serious objections of the Blumbergs. Shortly after Leslie?s birth, the Steiners spent several years in Vienna where his sister Dorice was born. The Steiner and Blumberg families eventually reconciled, and Leslie?s parents moved back to England, next door to Lilian?s mother.
   As a youngster, the shy, self-conscious, near-sighted Leslie became firmly attached to his protective mother who organized his life and encouraged him artistically. Despite above average intelligence, the short, skinny boy was not a good student and loathed attending school in Dulwich. He escaped his unhappiness through writing. In grade school he wrote his first play. By age 14, he and two family friends were producing their own musical comedies. As a result, Lilian organized the Upper Norwood Dramatic Club for her son and managed (on a tight budget) to expose her brood (which by 1914 also included daughter Irene and sons Jimmy and Arthur) to the English theater.
   Frank Steiner did not share his wife?s enthusiasm for the arts, and insisted Leslie take a position as a London bank clerk, a job for which the young man showed little aptitude and thoroughly detested. In 1914 Leslie escaped this ?human bondage? when World War I broke out. Envisioning victory and glory, the naive 21-year-old volunteered for service in the British cavalry, even though he had never ridden a horse. The fact that he was accepted and quickly became an expert equestrian was in itself a miracle.
   In January 1915 Leslie was transported to the fighting front where his romantic notions of war quickly vanished. A second lieutenant in the Northamptonshire Yeomanry, he was returned to England in 1916. According to daughter Leslie Ruth Howard?s perceptive and affectionate biography, ?A Quite Remarkable Father,? ?His nervous, highly strung temperament let him down ... a case of severe shell shock.? Shortly after his return, the traumatized ex-soldier met 21-year-old Ruth Martin, a gray-eyed rather plump brunette ?with lovely features.? From the outset, she seemed to understand and accept Leslie?s strengths and weaknesses and his need for guidance and protection. Their friendship quickly blossomed into romance and marriage in March, 1916.
   Having escaped the war, Leslie now faced the challenge of earning a living. Convinced of his ability, his mother urged him to find an agent and pursue acting. He eventually landed small roles in the touring companies of Peg O? My Heart, Charley?s Aunt, and the juvenile lead in the road version of Matheson Lang?s Under Cover. On February 14, 1918, Leslie Howard (he had dropped the Steiner name) made his London stage debut in a small role in Arthur Pinero?s The Freaks, followed by the juvenile lead in The Title with Aubrey Smith. Even more eventful was the birth (on April 7, 1918) of his son Ronald, whom he affectionately referred to as Winkie or Wink.
   In 1919 he was cast in supporting parts in two London stage comedies, Our Mr. Hipplewhite and A.A. Milne?s Mr. Pim Passes By, and a larger role in an English film, The Lackey and the Lady, produced at a small movie studio in Bushey where Leslie?s uncle, Wilfred Noy, was a director. There Leslie met talented Adrian Brunel who was working as the studio?s scenario editor. In 1920 the creative duo formed their own film company, Minerva Film Ltd. with Leslie as director and Brunel as producer. The initial results were a few rather primitive yet critically acclaimed films including: Bookworms, Five Pounds Reward, and The Bump produced on a shoestring budget during 1919-20. Unfortunately, Minerva Films soon went belly up leaving investors like H.G. Wells without a penny of principal, much less their ?five pounds reward.?

This was just a sample of the article appearing in issue #19. To read and appreciate the full story plus photographs please order Winter 1999-2000 back issue #19 .