Biografie

22. November 1869 · Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, Vereinigtes Königreich

25. Juli 1960 · Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire, England, Vereinigtes Königreich (died in his sleep)

Alfred Edward Matthews

He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1951 King's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama.

Elderly British actor affectionately regarded by many as "Matty", he moved from leading men to distinguished character player on stage. A few silent roles came his way before coming into his own in WWII-era British films as a crusty but charming and distinguished white-haired oldster. Worked until nearly the very end at age 90.

Made his film debut in Highway Man's Honour in 1914.

Christened Alfred Edward he was always billed as A. E.

Made his Broadway debut in 1910 in Love Among the Lions,.

I pick up 'The Times' every morning and if I'm not in the obituary list then I go to work.

[on warning audiences of Zeppelins approaching London during performances of the play Nothing but the Truth] Invariably when I made this announcement, the response would be 'Go on with the bloody play.' Not one person left the theater in those days. That certainly showed what London playgoers thought of 'Nothing but the Truth,' didn't it?

[on the play Bulldog Drummond, in which he played the title character] I'd have said to myself that there is no play and there isn't. The thing is not to be taken seriously. If there had been need of a curtain speech at the opening I should not have referred to 'Bull Dog Drummond' as a play, but as an entertainment, and that is what we try to make it. My chief fear on the opening night was that the audience might not take it as we intended. We endeavored to play it as a joke, we hoped the audience would take it as a joke, and, fortunately, we think they took it exactly in this spirit. And so did the critics.