Ralph Truman
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Veteran British character player Ralph Truman was a pioneer radio actor and appeared in over 5000 broadcasts during his career. Born in London at the turn of the century, his overall film career was commendable but less enviable than his voice work on the airwaves. Originally from the stage, he had just finished a run of "Josef Suss" in 1930 when he moved directly into films, making his unbilled debut in the early talkie Farewell to Love (1931). Throughout the 1930s he would be found steadily in "B" films including The Bells (1931), That's My Uncle (1935), The Lad (1935), Mr. Cohen Takes a Walk (1935), Under the Red Robe (1937) and Dinner at the Ritz (1937). In the 1940s the distinctively balding, hook-nosed actor found featured work in more important films such as his Mountjoy in Laurence Olivier's stellar Shakespearean piece Henry V (1944). A natural for period settings, Truman played the nefarious Monks in Oliver Twist (1948), and was part of the large-scale proceedings in Christopher Columbus (1949) and Treasure Island (1950), giving animated Robert Newton a run for the money in the latter with a ripe, over-the-top pirate performance as George Merry. Married to fellow radio artist Ellis Powell, he was best known in later years for playing men of high ranking or position (lords, captains, admirals, governors, etc.). He retired after appearing in two final period epics: Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) and Lady Caroline Lamb (1972). He passed away a few years later. - IMDb mini biography by: Gary Brumburgh / [email protected]
Known for
Credits
Ben-Hur (1959)
as Aide to Tiberius (uncredited)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
as Buchanan
Treasure Island (1950)
as George Merry
Oliver Twist (1948)
as Monks
El Cid (1961)
as King Ferdinand
Quo Vadis (1951)
as Tigellinus
Exodus (1960)
as Colonel
Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst (1957)
as Vice Admiral
Henry V (1944)
as Mountjoy - The French Herald
The Marriage of Corbal (1936)
as Charles
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
as Rodzianko
Lady Caroline Lamb (1972)
as Admiral
Beau Brummell (1954)
as Sir Ralph Sidley
The Long Arm (1956)
as Colonel Blenkinsop
The Master of Ballantrae (1953)
as Clarendon
The Ship That Died of Shame (1955)
as Sir Richard
The Golden Coach (1952)
as Duc de Castro
Fire Over England (1937)
as Spanish Inquisition Representative (uncredited)
The Night My Number Came Up (1955)
as Wainwright
The Saint in London (1939)
as Kussella
Wicked as They Come (1956)
as John Dowling
Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill (1948)
as Comber
The Adventures of Dusty Bates (1947)
as Merryvale
Dinner at the Ritz (1937)
as Auctioneer
The Spaniard's Curse (1958)
as Sir Robert Wyvern
The Black Tent (1956)
as Major Cross
Change for a Sovereign (1937)
as Archduke Paul
Read All About It (1945)
as Robertson
Partners Please (1932)
as CID Man
Mr. Cohen Takes a Walk (1935)
as Sam Cohen
The Interrupted Journey (1949)
as Inspector Waterson
The Butler's Dilemma (1943)
as Bishop
Under Ten Flags (1960)
as Admiral Bensen
Web of Evidence (1959)
as Sir Matthew Sprott
The Drum (1938)
as Dinner Guest (uncredited)
Malta Story (1953)
as Vice Adm Willie Banks
Life of St. Paul (1938)
as Orderly
The Good Companions (1957)
as George Memsford
Christopher Columbus (1949)
as Captain
The Bells (1931)
as Blacksmith
The Crimson Circle (1936)
as Lawrence Fuller
The Man Within (1947)
as Prison Interrogator
The Case of Gabriel Perry (1935)
as Inspector White
Sabotage at Sea (1942)
as Horace Chandler
Beware of Pity (1946)
as Maj. Sandor Balinkay
Three Witnesses (1935)
as Bellman
The Silent Passenger (1935)
as Saunders
The Outsider (1939)
as Sir Nathan Israel
The Seventh Survivor (1942)
as Captain
The Challenge (1938)
as Giordano
Dusty Ermine (1936)
as Second Thug (uncredited)
Mrs. Fitzherbert (1947)
as Richard Brinsley Sheridan
The Shadow (1933)
as Chief Inspector Elliot
The Perfect Flaw (1934)
as Richard Drexel
Secret Lives (1937)
as Prison Guard
Tons of Trouble (1956)
as Inspector Bridger
Eureka Stockade (1949)
as Gov. Hotham
South Riding (1938)
as Nursing Home Doctor
The Laughing Lady (1946)
as Lord Mandeville
The Reluctant Widow (1950)
as Scowler
Lisbon Story (1946)
as Police Commissionaire
Papworth Village Settlement (1946)
as Narrator (voice)
Black Eyes (1939)
as Diner
Captain Bill (1935)
as Red