Leslie Howard

Trivia of Leslie Howard (3 April 1893 - 1 June 1943)

*Leslie Howard made his acting debut on stage in 1916 to 1917 during regional tours in Peg O’ My Heart and Charley’s Aunt in London. After some few stage performances, Leslie Howard made his way to the United States to act in Broadway theatre in 1917. That was the time he gained necessary recognition for his talent and artistic displays. Some of his earlier plays were Aren’t We Well (1923) Outward Bound (1924), and the Green Hat (1925) among several others. He later played in Her Cardboard Lover (1927) and Berkeley Square (1929) which became one of his best ever. His popularity grew massively in Broadway making him one of the most sought-after actors at the time.

*He didn’t like his first Hollywood experience and promised himself never to act in Hollywood films again, but couldn’t keep that promise since he would later return to work there.

*He was more familiar to Broadway would always be a stage actor because he developed a deep passion for it. He didn’t just act on Broadway; he was part of other sectors like directing and production.

*Humphrey Bogart was so grateful at Howard's insistence that he repeat his stage performance in the film of The Petrified Forest (1936), the role that proved to be his big break in movies, that he named his daughter Leslie in Howard's honor.

*In 1939, he played the character that will always be associated with him, that of Ashley Wilkes, the honor-bound, disillusioned intellectual Southern gentleman, in Gone with the Wind.Though Howard was reluctant addition to the cast of 'Gone With the Wind' because Ashley Wilkes was too weak character.

*Died while a passenger on board British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) Flight #777-A, a Douglas Aircraft DC-3 named "Ibis," with four crew members and 13 other passengers, on a flight from Portela Airport in Lisbon, Portugal, to Whitchurch Airport near Bristol, England, on June 1, 1943 when it was attacked and shot down by eight German Junkers Ju 88 fighter planes of KG 40 off the north coast of Spain. It crashed into the Bay of Biscay killing all 17 on board.He was rumoured to have been involved with British or Allied Intelligence, sparking conspiracy theories regarding his death.

*Leslie Howard had a virtually short career but was duly honored for that. He was posthumously inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981. British exhibitors also voted him the most popular local star at the box office in 1944 after his death.