Leo Genn
| Leo Genn | |
|---|---|
in The Miniver Story (1950)
|
|
| Born |
Leopold John Genn 9 August 1905 London, England, UK |
| Died | 26 January 1978 (aged 72) London, England, UK |
| Years active | 1935–75 |
| Spouse(s) | Marguerite van Praag (1933–78, his death) |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch |
 British Army
|
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Unit | Royal Artillery |
| Battles/wars | Second World War |
Leo John Genn (9 August 1905 – 26 January 1978) was a British stage and film actor and barrister.
Genn was born at 144 Kyverdale Road, Stamford Hill, Hackney, London, the son of Woolfe (William) Genn, a jewellery salesman, and Rachel Genn (née Asserson). His parents were both Jewish.
Genn attended the City of London School and studied law at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, qualifying as a barrister in 1928. He ceased practising as a lawyer soon after World War II. On 14 May 1933, Genn married Marguerite van Praag, a casting director at Ealing Studios. They had no children.
Genn's theatrical debut was in 1930 in A Marriage has been Disarranged at the Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne and then at the Royalty Theatre in Dean Street, London. Actor/manager Leon M. Lion had engaged him simultaneously as an actor and attorney. In 1933 he appeared in Ballerina by Rodney Ackland. Between September 1934 and March 1936, Leo Genn was a member of the Old Vic Company where he appeared in many productions of Shakespeare. In 1937 he was Horatio in Tyrone Guthrie's production of Hamlet, with Laurence Olivier as Hamlet, in Elsinore, Denmark. In 1938, Genn appeared in the theatrical hit, The Flashing Stream by Charles Langbridge Morgan and went with the show to America and Broadway. His many other stage performances included Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest, 12 Angry Men, The Devil's Advocate, Maugham's The Sacred Flame. In 1959 Genn gave a reading in Chichester Cathedral.
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