As a popular romance actor, John Stuart was frequently mobbed by his adoring fans. With access to Stuart’s private archive, his films, press cuttings, reviews, interviews, profiles, features, and gossip columns, this work presents a detailed account of an actor who made a significant contribution to the British film industry of the 20th century.

Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroductionPart One: Silent Idol 1. Childhood, School, War 2. From Stage to Screen 3. An Emerging Star 4. Alfred Hitchcock and Maurice Elvey 5. Britain or Hollywood? 6. Fame and a Fan ClubPart Two: The Background 7. Working Lives 8. Writers, Screenplays, Titles 9. The Film Press and the Film Society10. The Publicity Machine11. The Coming of Sound12. Winners and LosersPart Three: Into the Talkies13. Kitty14. From Dupont's Atlantic to Pabst's L'Atlantide15. With Gracie Fields and Conrad Veidt16. Stage Matters17. Fatherhood and War18. Propaganda and EscapismPart Four: Character Actor19. On the Small Screen20. Back to the Theater21. Leading Roles and Cameos22. From Quatermass to Superman23. The Final YearsEpilogueFilm, Documentary, Theater, Television, and Miscellaneous AppearancesBibliographyIndex

“Jonathan Croall [John Stuart ‘s son] is an outstanding biographer of actors… He has a way of bringing the protagonists of these books to life, clarifying their talents, their progress over the decades, and the changes that those decades can bring. He has a remarkable gift for establishing, or recreating, the media context in which these stars operate, and how this context operates in the world at large. … His wonderfully readable and extensively illustrated book grows from an amazing amount of research, involving masses of documents and letters left by his father, all of which have enabled him to create a moving study of the man as well as of the actor. A major bonus is the insight it offers into the wider British film culture, that bred the ‘silent film idol’ who stayed around for nearly six productive decades.”—Brian McFarlane, editor of The Encyclopedia of British Film