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
Oliver Twist (1948)
as Monks
Quo Vadis (1951)
as Tigellinus
El Cid (1961)
as King Ferdinand
Treasure Island (1950)
as George Merry
Exodus (1960)
as Colonel
Under Ten Flags (1960)
as Admiral Bensen
Henry V (1944)
as Mountjoy - The French Herald
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
as Rodzianko
The Golden Coach (1952)
as Duc de Castro
Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill (1948)
as Comber
Web of Evidence (1959)
as Sir Matthew Sprott
The Master of Ballantrae (1953)
as Clarendon
Beau Brummell (1954)
as Sir Ralph Sidley
Fire Over England (1937)
as Spanish Inquisition Representative (uncredited)
The Crimson Circle (1936)
as Lawrence Fuller
The Ship That Died of Shame (1955)
as Sir Richard
The Adventures of Dusty Bates (1947)
as Merryvale
The Bells (1931)
as Blacksmith
Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst (1957)
as Vice Admiral
The Night My Number Came Up (1955)
as Wainwright
Lady Caroline Lamb (1972)
as Admiral
The Long Arm (1956)
as Colonel Blenkinsop
Partners Please (1932)
as CID Man
Malta Story (1953)
as Vice Adm Willie Banks
Dinner at the Ritz (1937)
as Auctioneer
Change for a Sovereign (1937)
as Archduke Paul
Wicked as They Come (1956)
as John Dowling
The Drum (1938)
as Dinner Guest (uncredited)
The Saint in London (1939)
as Kussella
The Good Companions (1957)
as George Memsford
The Black Tent (1956)
as Major Cross
The Spaniard's Curse (1958)
as Sir Robert Wyvern
The Interrupted Journey (1949)
as Inspector Waterson
South Riding (1938)
as Nursing Home Doctor
The Marriage of Corbal (1936)
as Charles
Christopher Columbus (1949)
as Captain
Lisbon Story (1946)
as Police Commissionaire
Read All About It (1945)
as Robertson
Dusty Ermine (1936)
as Second Thug (uncredited)
The Butler's Dilemma (1943)
as Bishop
The Shadow (1933)
as Chief Inspector Elliot
The Challenge (1938)
as Giordano
The Laughing Lady (1946)
as Lord Mandeville
Mr. Cohen Takes a Walk (1935)
as Sam Cohen
Papworth Village Settlement (1946)
as Narrator (voice)
The Silent Passenger (1935)
as Saunders
Mrs. Fitzherbert (1947)
as Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Beware of Pity (1946)
as Maj. Sandor Balinkay
Sabotage at Sea (1942)
as Horace Chandler
The Seventh Survivor (1942)
as Captain
The Reluctant Widow (1950)
as Scowler
Captain Bill (1935)
as Red
The Man Within (1947)
as Prison Interrogator
Life of St. Paul (1938)
as Orderly
The Perfect Flaw (1934)
as Richard Drexel
Tons of Trouble (1956)
as Inspector Bridger
Eureka Stockade (1949)
as Gov. Hotham
Black Eyes (1939)
as Diner
The Outsider (1939)
as Sir Nathan Israel
The Case of Gabriel Perry (1935)
as Inspector White
Three Witnesses (1935)
as Bellman
Secret Lives (1937)
as Prison Guard