Howard, Leslie

Howard, Leslie

  orig. Leslie Howard Steiner

(born April 3, 1893, London, Eng.—died June 1, 1943, at sea) British actor. He became a popular stage actor in London and later on Broadway, where he won acclaim for Her Cardboard Lover (1927), The Petrified Forest (1935), and Hamlet (1936). He was noted for his quiet, persuasive English charm. He made his U.S. film debut in Outward Bound (1930) and later starred in Of Human Bondage (1934), Pygmalion (1938), Intermezzo (1939), and Gone with the Wind (1939). He died during World War II (1939–45) when his plane was shot down en route from Lisbon to London.