Tom Conway | |
---|---|
from the trailer for
Grand Central Murder (1942) |
|
Born |
Thomas Charles Sanders 15 September 1904 St. Petersburg, Russian Empire |
Died | 22 April 1967 Culver City, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
(aged 62)
Cause of death | Cirrhosis of the liver |
Alma mater | Brighton College |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1940–64 |
Spouse(s) |
Queenie Leonard (1958–1963, divorced) Lillian Eggers (1941–1953, divorced) |
Family | George Sanders (brother) |
Tom Conway (15 September 1904 – 22 April 1967) was a British film, television and radio actor remembered for playing private detectives (including The Falcon, Sherlock Holmes, Bulldog Drummond and The Saint) and psychiatrists.
Conway was born Thomas Charles Sanders in St. Petersburg, Russia, the son of Henry Peter Ernest Sanders (1868–1960), and Margarethe Jenny Bertha Sanders (née Kolbe; 1883–1967), who was born in Saint Petersburg, of mostly German, but also Estonian and Scottish, heritage. His younger brother (b. 1906 d. 1972) was fellow actor George Sanders. Their younger sister, Margaret Sanders, was born in 1912. At the outbreak of the Russian Revolution (1917), the family moved to England, where Conway was educated at Bedales School and Brighton College. He travelled to Northern Rhodesia, where he worked in mining and ranching, then returned to England, appearing in several plays with the Manchester Repertory Company and performing on BBC Radio.
When he joined his brother George in Hollywood, Conway became a contract player for MGM.
Conway is perhaps best known for playing "The Falcon" in ten of the series' entries, taking over for his brother in The Falcon's Brother, in which they both starred. This work led Conway to become a contract player with RKO Pictures. While working for the studio, Conway starred in three of Val Lewton's horror films. In two otherwise unrelated films, Cat People (1942) and The Seventh Victim (1943), he played Dr. Louis Judd, although the character was killed in Cat People. The third Lewton film in which he starred was I Walked with a Zombie (also 1943).