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
| Young Man with Lantern | Film debut, Uncredited |
Rembrandt
| Minor Role | Uncredited |
1937
| Fazerack | |
1938
| Reg. Aythorne | |
rowspan=2|1939
| German Sailor Looking for Capt. Hardt | Uncredited |
Torture Ship
| Jesse Bixel | |
1940
| Morgan | |
rowspan=4|1943
| 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
| 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
| Blue Gate Fields Waiter | Uncredited |
Isle of the Dead
| Andrew Robbins | Uncredited |
House of Dracula
| Steinmuhl | |
rowspan=6|1946
| 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
| X-Ray | |
Forever Amber
| Blueskin | Uncredited |
1948
| Pete | |
1949
| Hugo | |
1951
| Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere | Retner | Serial |
rowspan=2|1952
| Cheering Man on Tower Bridge | Uncredited |
Blackbeard the Pirate
| Gilly | |
rowspan=2|1953
| Newgate Prisoner Drawing on Cell Wall | Uncredited |
Rogue's March
| Fish | |
rowspan=2|1954
| Little Man | Uncredited |
General Electric Theater
| Man on Crutches | 1 episode |
rowspan=3|1955
| Sidewalk Spectator | Uncredited |
TV Reader's Digest
| Gibson | 1 episode |
Moonfleet
| Jacob | Final film |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons}}
- {{IMDb name|0460432}}
- {{Find a Grave|8966431}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knaggs, Skelton Barnaby}}
Category:English male stage actors
Category:English male film actors
Category:Male actors from Sheffield
Category:Deaths from cirrhosis
Category:Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Category:20th-century English male actors
Category:English expatriate male actors in the United States