Colin Kenny

Biography

Already accomplished in his homeland, Irish actor Colin Kenny came to the US in 1917 to make his bid for film stardom. To the best of his memory, there would be over 150 of them. Silent movies were more generous in ladling out cast credit. He had steady roles from 1918 to the late 1920s. One of his best opportunities had been as Cecil Greystoke in Tarzan of the Apes (1918) and its sequel, The Romance of Tarzan (1918). When sound arrived the studios got stingy about giving credits, and handed the out in the most efficient way they could--to as few actors as possible. That, however, was the lot of many a character actor of the time, as well as some production people. Kenny found the parts most varied just the same. He was the Talking Clock in Alice in Wonderland (1933). His opening line (one of the few he actually had) as Lord Chester Dyke in Captain Blood (1935), "Ahh, guilty!" in a distinctively clipped aristocratic attitude during the courtroom scene in England, sets him apart. Small parts of all sorts would be his sole acting fare in that era, for he was already in his late 40s. Yet he would average five or six parts each year from 1934 to 1947, and the list would include many a major film. His busiest year would be 1952, with parts in such films as The Quiet Man (1952) and Limelight (1952). After that the bit parts became scarcer and he started doing uncredited extra work. Yet Colin Kenny kept working. He joined a whole crowd of fellow elder British expatriates for a choice bit part in My Fair Lady (1964). His last movie was the Steve McQueen vehicle The Cincinnati Kid (1965).