Early Life
Donald Crisp was born in Bow, London, at the family home in Bow (historically known as Stratford-atte-Bow) on 27 July 1882. Some sources say he was born in Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Scotland in 1880, but U.S. Census records indicate the London birthplace and date are correct. He was one of eight children (four boys and four girls) born to James and Elizabeth Crisp. He was educated at the University of Oxford and allegedly at Eton College, though the Eton archivist denies this.
Crisp, who always claimed to be of Scottish descent, served as a trooper in the 10th Hussars in the Boer War. This experience, among other things, allowed him to cross paths with a young Winston Churchill just at the start of Churchill's long political career. According to family memories, Crisp's brother-in-law James Needham provided him with the fare to travel to America in 1906.
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