Patric Knowles

Reginald Lawrence Knowles (November 11, 1911 – December 23, 1995) was an English film actor who renamed himself Patric Knowles, a name which reflects his Irish descent. He appeared in films of the 1930s through the 1970s. He made his film debut in 1933, and played either first or second film leads throughout his career.

In his first American film, "Give Me Your Heart" (1936), released in Great Britain as "Sweet Aloes", Knowles was cast as a titled Englishman of means.

While making "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (1936) at Lone Pine, California, he befriended Errol Flynn, whose acquaintance he had made when both were under contract to Warner Bros. in England. Since that film, in which Knowles played the part of Capt. Perry Vickers, the brother of Flynn's Maj. Geoffrey Vickers, he was cast more frequently as straightlaced characters alongside Flynn's flamboyant ones, notably as Will Scarlet in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938). More than two decades after Flynn's death, biographer Charles Higham sullied Flynn's memory by accusing him of having been a fascist sympathizer and Nazi spy. Knowles, who had served in World War II as a flying instructor in the RCAF, came to Flynn's defense, writing "Rebuttal for a Friend" as an epilogue to Tony Thomas' "Errol Flynn: The Spy Who Never Was" (Citadel Press, 1990) ISBN-10 080651180X.

Knowles was a freelance film actor from 1939 until his last film appearance in 1973. In the 1940s, he was known for playing protagonists in a number of horror films, including "The Wolf Man" (1941) and "Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman" (1943).

Knowles was also cast as comic foils in a number of comedies such as Abbott and Costello's "Who Done It?" (1942) and "Hit The Ice" (1943). He also appeared opposite Jack Kelly in a 1957 episode of the television series "Maverick (TV series)" called "The Wrecker", which was based on a Robert Louis Stevenson adventure and co-starred James Garner.

Knowles was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

He wrote a novel called "Even Steven" (Vantage Press, 1960) ASIN B0006RMC2G.

External links

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* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8794496 Profile for Patric Knowles] at Find A Grave