Skelton Knaggs

{{Short description|English actor (1911–1955)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}

{{more citations needed|date=August 2017}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Skelton Knaggs

| image = Skelton Knaggs in Terror by Night.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Knaggs in Terror by Night (1946)

| birth_name = Skelton Barnaby Knaggs

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1911|06|27|df=y}}

| birth_place = Hillsborough, Yorkshire, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1955|04|30|1911|06|27|df=y}}

| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| resting_place = Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| occupation = Actor

| yearsactive = 1936–1955

| spouse = Thelma Crawshaw (1949–1955)

| website =

}}

Skelton Barnaby Knaggs (27 June 1911 – 30 April 1955) was an English stage actor who also appeared in films, especially in horror films.{{cite web|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B05E6DB1238E33BBC4D51DFB4678388659EDE&mcubz=1|title=THE SCREEN; A Chilly Christmas|authorlink=Bosley Crowther|author=Crowther, Bosley|date=25 December 1943}}{{cite web|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A07E6D6163FE73ABC4153DFB466838D659EDE&mcubz=1|title=THE SCREEN|date=9 February 1946}}{{cite web|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E05E7DA173BE333A05751C2A9649D946493D6CF&mcubz=1|title=THE SCREEN; 'It Happened at Inn,' French Picture of Humor and Violence, Has Splendid Cast--Horror Film Opens|author=Crowther, Bosley|date=22 December 1945}}

Biography

Knaggs was born in the Hillsborough district of Sheffield, England. Knaggs moved to London where he trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and subsequently became a Shakespearean actor. In addition to appearing on stage in Shakespeare's Cymbeline, Knaggs appeared in a few British films, including an uncredited role as a German orderly in Michael Powell's The Spy in Black.

File:Skelton Knaggs in Blackbeard the Pirate.jpg (1952)]]

At some point he moved to Los Angeles, California, and found work as a character actor in Hollywood. Diminutive and distinctive-looking, with a strongly featured pock-marked face and charismatically voiced with an English Midlands provincial accent, he was cast in sinister roles, often in horror films. These ranged from uncredited bit parts to prominent roles in the Sherlock Holmes thriller Terror by Night, the all-star monster rally House of Dracula and three Val Lewton productions including The Ghost Ship. In the last, a voice-over narrative by Knaggs is heard, representing the thoughts of his character, a mute seaman.

Back in London, he married Thelma Crawshaw in 1949, then returned to Hollywood. The last film in which he appeared was Fritz Lang's period adventure based on J. Meade Falkner's novel Moonfleet.

Death

An alcoholic, Knaggs died of cirrhosis of the liver in Los Angeles in 1955 at the age of 43. His body was buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Filmography

File:The Ghost Ship 1943 Finn the Mute.jpg (1943)]]

class="wikitable"
Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

rowspan=2|1936

| Everything Is Thunder

| Young Man with Lantern

| Film debut, Uncredited

Rembrandt

| Minor Role

| Uncredited

1937

| The High Command

| Fazerack

|

1938

| South Riding

| Reg. Aythorne

|

rowspan=2|1939

| The Spy in Black

| German Sailor Looking for Capt. Hardt

| Uncredited

Torture Ship

| Jesse Bixel

|

1940

| Diamond Frontier

| Morgan

|

rowspan=4|1943

| Thumbs Up

| Shooting Gallery Concessionaire

| Uncredited

Headin' for God's Country

| Jeff

|

Thank Your Lucky Stars

| Villager in Pub

| Uncredited

The Ghost Ship

| Finn - the Mute

| Uncredited

rowspan=4|1944

| The Lodger

| Man with Cart

| Uncredited

The Scarlet Claw

| Villager in Pub

| Uncredited

The Invisible Man's Revenge

| Alf Perry - a Cabman

| Uncredited

None But the Lonely Heart

| Lou 'Slush' Atley

| Uncredited

rowspan=3|1945

| The Picture of Dorian Gray

| Blue Gate Fields Waiter

| Uncredited

Isle of the Dead

| Andrew Robbins

| Uncredited

House of Dracula

| Steinmuhl

|

rowspan=6|1946

| Terror by Night

| Sands

|

Just Before Dawn

| Louie

| Uncredited

Bedlam

| Varney

| Uncredited

Night and Day

| Newspaper Vendor

| Uncredited

A Scandal in Paris

| Cousin Pierre

|

Dick Tracy vs. Cueball

| Rudolph

|

rowspan=2|1947

|Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome

| X-Ray

|

Forever Amber

| Blueskin

| Uncredited

1948

| The Paleface

| Pete

|

1949

| Master Minds

| Hugo

|

1951

| Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere

| Retner

| Serial

rowspan=2|1952

| Million Dollar Mermaid

| Cheering Man on Tower Bridge

| Uncredited

Blackbeard the Pirate

| Gilly

|

rowspan=2|1953

| Botany Bay

| Newgate Prisoner Drawing on Cell Wall

| Uncredited

Rogue's March

| Fish

|

rowspan=2|1954

| Casanova's Big Night

| Little Man

| Uncredited

General Electric Theater

| Man on Crutches

| 1 episode

rowspan=3|1955

| Son of Sinbad

| Sidewalk Spectator

| Uncredited

TV Reader's Digest

| Gibson

| 1 episode

Moonfleet

| Jacob

| Final film

References

{{Reflist}}