SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: He appeared alongside world-famous actors such as Lillie Langtry, Errol Flynn, Bela Lugosi and Basil Rathbone. But Lionel Atwill’s time in Hollywood came to a tough end after a party with some blue movies, as DAVID MORGAN explains
Hollywood classics: Lionel Atwill appeared in many well-known movies of the 1930s and ’40s
Cinema buffs who enjoy watching old black and white movies will probably have a list of their favourites.
One of the films on that list might be the 1939 version of Hound of the Baskervilles, with Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes. For those whose favourite genre is horror, then the 1939 Son of Frankenstein with Boris Karloff might be favoured. Those who enjoy watching the great Hollywood stars might choose the 1935 film The Devil is a Woman starring Marlene Dietrich.
And there is a Croydon connection between all three films, because prominent in the cast of each of them was Lionel Atwill, a huge Hollywood star in the 1930s and early ’40s.
Lionel Atwill was born on March 8 1885 at 2 Upton Villas, Selhurst Road, South Norwood.
At the age of five, his family moved to 54 Lennard Road, Penge. Lionel’s father, Alfred Atwill, sent his son to school at Mercer’s, an independent school in the City of London. His family hoped that a career as an architect and surveyor would be where Lionel would earn his living. The young man had other ideas.
Acting the part: Lionel Atwill as a young man
He was always keen on entertaining and performing and though he was not from a theatrical family, he told a newspaper reporter that he inherited an artistic leaning from his mother. Atwill described her as having a beautiful voice but was someone who never used her gifts publicly.
When he was 14, Atwill got together a group of friends and acquaintances to perform in his drawing room. Atwill played the principal lead, was stage manager, general manager and did pretty much everything necessary to put on the show.
He joined the Sydenham Dramatic Club when he was 16.
He remembered two of the early roles he played there, firstly Jim the Penman, followed by Sydney Carton in The Only Way.
Atwill’s uncle was a partner in one of London’s biggest firms of architects, and so, despite his interest and talent in the theatre, Lionel was articled to his uncle when he left school. Atwill described himself as “grousing” all the while he was working there.
All the spare cash he could scrape together he spent on elocution lessons, deportment training and anything else which he thought would improve him, all the while carrying on with his amateur dramatics.
Looking the part: in his time in the West End in Edwardian London, Atwill enjoyed playing uniformed officers
As soon as he had finished his architect’s training, Lionel Atwill set about finding a job as an actor. After a few knock-backs and disappointments, his first break in the theatre was to get a job with a Shakespearean company.
He made his West End debut in 1904, at the Garrick Theatre. He credited this job for giving him a good grounding, “for Shakespeare is splendid training”.
His first significant Shakespeare role was to play Toby Belch, for which he had to be well padded.
An Ibsen play followed, together with, as he put it, “some modern work”. Atwill said he really enjoyed playing military service parts, especially naval.
In the spring of 1910, aged 25, he sailed for Australia with a contract from JC Williamson Ltd. He was to tour the country with several shows. Even on the steam ship, he tried to get a show together with five others to relieve the tedium of the long voyage. Three times he attempted to put it on, three times he was thwarted, due to ilness and other set-backs.
Atwill did well down under. An Australian newspaper report said, “Mr Atwill is a young man with an excellent stage presence, a fine voice and a thorough stage training.”
When he returned from touring Australia, Atwill’s next big break was to star in Milestones at the Royalty Theatre in the West End.
Playing the part of Arthur Preece, he found himself in the longest run of his career to date, with more than 600 performances in 1912.
In the summer of 1915, he appeared as Dick Marsden in Mrs Thompson at Eastbourne. This was a significant role for him as he played alongside Lillie Langtry, the former “close friend” of King Edward VIII when he was Prince of Wales, and still a star name for the English theatre.
The producers took the play the Colonial Theatre, New York, that October. The play wasn’t a success but Atwill managed to meet some important New Yorkers, some socialites, some theatre impressarios. As a result of these new contacts, Atwill moved to New York.
Making it on Broadway: Croydon-born Lionel Atwill was top of the bill in the late 1920s
Between 1917 and 1931 he appeared in 25 Broadway plays, including Another Man’s Shoes at the Belasco Theatre in December 1918 and The Grand Duke at the Lyceum in March 1923.
In 1918 he had his first appearance in a movie, which were, of course, silent films at this time. He appeared in two that year, Eve’s Daughter and For Sale.
His final play on Broadway was to become his first major role in the “Talkies”.
In 1931, the 45-year-old Lionel Atwill appeared in Silent Witness at the Morosco Theatre. A year later a film version , made by the Fox Film Corporation, was in cinemas across America, and in Britain, too. In both, Lionel Atwill was billed as the star.
Despite being in his late 40s by this time, Atwill’s film career took off. He had good looks, was a decent actor and his sonorous voice, with its English accent, seemed irresistible to the film moguls.
Doctor X was a huge success for him. In that 1932 film he played the crazed doctor, Jerry Xavier. Atwill was never out of work during the 1930s, ending the decade by starring in nine films in 1939.
Of these nine, the best known were Baskervilles and Son of Frankenstein. Atwill, who played Dr James Mortimer in the Conan Doyle classic, became firm friends with Rathbone.
Horror specials: Atwill’s English accent regularly saw him cast as part of ‘mystery’s greatest thrill team’
The following year he appeared in two Charlie Chan films. Firstly, as Cliveden Compton in Charlie Chan in Panama and then as Dr Suderman in Charlie Chan’s Murder Cruise.
But Atwill, known for hosting lavish parties at his beachside home in Hollywood, now found himself at the centre of a stormy scandal which, under the strict rules of the time, all but ended his career.
He was accused of showing pornographic films to some of the guests at a Christmas party in December 1940.
Atwill did a have a reputation for hosting parties where people could let their hair down, but it seemed that this one had gone too far. When the case came to court, the prosecution described the party as being an orgy, with scantily clad guests. It was alleged that a 16-year-old girl became pregnant at the event.
And while all this was going on, with war raging in Europe, Atwill was grief-stricken when news reached him in April 1941 of the death of his son, Flying Officer John Attwill, an RAF medical officer, killed on active duty aged 26.
Atwill’s tribulations, and trials, would continue for more than a year.
A grand jury was summoned to investigate. Atwill testified on May 21, 1941, and vehemently denied all accusations. Nothing “scandalous” had happened, he said. On June 1, the grand jury decided not to charge anyone. “The stories were just too fabulous and the credulity of the jury was taxed beyond all endurance by all of the witnesses,” the chairman of the grand jury said.
But a year later, in June 1942, a second grand jury re-examined the evidence and decided to re-open the investigation. This time, Atwill was charged with perjury. By showing pornographic films at his parties, “scandalous” activity had, indeed, occurred, the grand jury concluded. Atwill pleaded not guilty to the charge. A second perjury indictment was handed down on August 11, after the grand jury determined Atwill had lied twice under oath.
Trial was set for the end of September, but just days before the case was due to be heard, Atwill changed his plea to guilty. He denied all charges of immoral acts, but did admit to possessing and showing lewd films to a small group of friends at his beach house.
The grand jury was told that Atwill “lied like a gentleman” to protect the identities of the people at the party.
Atwill was sentenced to five years of probation, a form of suspended sentence. The court noted that the witnesses against Atwill were “unsavory”, and that Atwill had received numerous character references from local law enforcement and important Hollywood people. But under the Hays Code of conduct for the movie industry, Atwill was blackballed from working in Hollywood.
Atwill tried, unsuccessfully, to find work on the Broadway stage. He travelled back to California where he did find employment in the one studio which hired people who had fallen from grace, the Producers Releasing Corporation.
Star billing: Atwill was regularly cast with Hollywood greats like Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Basil Rathbone
It was the smallest of the Hollywood studios and was described as “Poverty Row”. Films were completed on the cheap, often allowing only five days for filming with no retakes.
Atwill did make an occasional film with the main studios, one of them playing the part of Cyrus Muldor in the 1944 production of Captain America.
Atwill was married four times. His first wife was Phyllis Relph, whom he married in 1913 – she was mother of John Atwill. They divorced in 1919.
Lionel Atwill married the actress Elsie Mackay in 1920. In 1930, he married Louise Cromwell Brooks, following her divorce from General Douglas MacArthur; they divorced in 1943. And in 1944, close to turning 60, Atwill married Paula Pruter. They had a son, Lionel Anthony Atwill, who became a writer.
In April 1946, Atwill was working on a serial, Lost City of the Jungle, when he died of pneumonia, a result of his having lung cancer.
In his professional life, Lionel Atwill was one of the very best actors on a Hollywood set. He worked with all the top names. American casting directors enjoyed casting this handsome actor with the English accent as a villain. Universal Studios liked him so much that he appeared in five of the eight Frankenstein films.
Lionel Atwill might not today be a well-known name from the golden era of Hollywood. The tarnishing of his reputation off-screen probably saw to that.
But the next time you see one of the great 1930s movies, though, look down the cast list. It might contain the name of a Croydon boy.
David Morgan, pictured, is a former Croydon headteacher, now the volunteer education officer at Croydon Minster who offers tours or illustrated talks on the history around the Minster for local community groups
If you would like a group tour of Croydon Minster or want to book a school visit, then ring the Minster Office on 020 688 8104 or go to the website on www.croydonminster.org and use the contact page
Some previous articles by David Morgan:
- Willoughby really knew how to put on a show in New York
- Victorian opera star whose family enjoyed burgeoning success
- The church fire that consumed a thousand years of history
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
Excellent piece. I first read of Lionel Atwill’s fall in ‘Hollywood Babylon’, and am glad to see all the detail filled in here. His transgressions seem a bit tame compared to some of the stuff that was going on in Hollywood at the time.
Atwill was one of a number of great character actors in the 1930s & 40s – others include George Zucco, Henry Daniell, Sir Cedric Hardwicke. All could play a goodie, a baddie, or the occasional mad scientist.
What a wonderful piece! A Croydon connection to Marlene Dietrich! If, like me, you’re a fan of the incomparable Basil Rathbone and the always enjoyable Nigel Bruce in the Sherlock Holmes’ films then you might know the face without knowing the name. This fills in the blanks.
A superb piece on an under-valued actor, it was nice to see that he requested a judge quash the verdict of the court after a year, who agreed.