Leo G. Carroll - Films and Television

Films and Television

Carroll (who had moved to Hollywood) made his film debut in Sadie McKee (1934). He often played doctors or butlers, but he made notable appearances as Marley's ghost in A Christmas Carol (1938) and as Joseph in Wuthering Heights (1939). In Father of the Bride, he played an unctuous wedding caterer. In the 1951 film The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel he played a sympathetic Gerd von Rundstedt, presenting him as a tragic, resigned figure completely disillusioned with Hitler.

Carroll is perhaps best known for his roles in six Alfred Hitchcock films: Rebecca (1940), Suspicion (1941), Spellbound (1945), The Paradine Case (1947), Strangers on a Train (1951), and North by Northwest (1959). He appeared in more Hitchcock films than anyone other than Clare Greet (1871–1939) (who appeared in seven) and Hitchcock himself, whose cameos were a trademark. As with earlier roles, he was often cast as doctors or other authority figures (such as the spymaster "Professor" in North by Northwest).

In addition to appearing as Rev. Mosby with actress Hayley Mills in 1961's The Parent Trap, Carroll is remembered for his role as the frustrated banker haunted by the ghosts of George and Marion Kerby in the 1950s television series Topper (1953–1956), with costars Anne Jeffreys, Robert Sterling and Lee Patrick. Carroll later starred as spymaster Alexander Waverly on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968), echoing his earlier work for Hitchcock. Several U.N.C.L.E. films followed, and a spin-off TV series (The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. in 1966). He was one of the first actors to appear in two different television series as the same character.