Derrick De Marney

Biography

Derrick de Marney was born in London in September 1906 of Irish and French ancestry. He acted in repertory theatre from 1922, hit the London stage four years later and began in films by 1928. During the 1930s, he worked primarily under contract at Alexander Korda's Denham Studios. A handsome and versatile leading actor, de Marney was never content to be typecast merely as romantic leading men (Alfred Hitchcock's resourceful fugitive in Young and Innocent (1937)), but often preferred to act against type in period dramas and thrillers. He gave, arguably, his best performances as Benjamin Disraeli in Victoria the Great (1937) and in the title role of sinister Uncle Silas in The Inheritance (1947). De Marney later became a manager and producer, in 1941 forming Concanen Productions with his brother (Terence de Marney), initially for the purpose of making wartime documentaries. Following the war, he starred in (as well as produced) the unconventional gothic thriller Frenzy (1945) and as Peter Cheyney's hard-boiled detective Slim Callaghan in Meet Mr. Callaghan (1954), a role he had previously created for the stage. Continuing to maintain diverse interests, de Marney even promoted a troupe of Javanese dancers he had brought to Britain in the 1950s. He lived the last few years of his life in the town of Farnham in Surrey.