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Brandon Hurst

English actor (1866-1947)

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Brandon Hurst (30 November 1866, 15 July 1947) was an English stage and film actor.

01Early life

Born in London, England, Hurst studied philology in his youth and began performing in theatre in the 1880s.

Before he began acting professionally, Hurst served seven years in the British army, including five years with the King's Dragoon Guards in India.

Hurst and Maude Fealy in The Stronger Sex, 1907
Hurst and Maude Fealy in The Stronger Sex, 1907

02Career

He worked in Broadway shows from 1900 until his entry into motion pictures. His most notable stage appearance was Two Women in 1910, costarring Mrs. Leslie Carter and Robert Warwick.

He was nearly fifty before his film debut in Via Wireless (1915) as Edward Pinckney. He appeared in 129 other films. He became well known in the 1920s for portraying the antagonist and anti-heroes. Those roles include Sir George Carew in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), Jehan Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), Alexei Karenin opposite Greta Garbo in Love (1927), and Barkilphedro in The Man Who Laughs (1928).

His roles in sound films during the 1920s and 1930s were often small. One of his more important roles was the sinister Merlin the Magician in Fox's A Connecticut Yankee (1931). Hurst worked as an actor until his death, his last film was Two Guys from Texas (1948).

Hurst with John Barrymore Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1920
Hurst with John Barrymore Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1920

03Filmography

Watch videos about Brandon HurstExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Brandon Hurst, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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