Date of Birth

10 June 1926, Forest Hill, London, England, UK

Date of Death

19 February 2010, Poole, Dorset, England, UK

With his firm jawline and bristling mustache, Lionel Jeffries played a nice line of English eccentrics. This belied his RADA training. Following military service in WWII, he played his major roles - everything from Grandpa Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) to the Marquis of Queensberry in The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) - in the 1960s.

His surprisingly brief career as a director included the highly popular family films The Railway Children (1970) and The Amazing Mr. Blunden (1972).

An Associate Member of RADA.

Played Dick Van Dyke's father in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) even though he is actually six months younger.

His hair fell out during a single week when he was 19. He tried wearing a wig to cover up his bald head but soon rejected it because it looked like "a dead moth on a boiled egg".

He served in the British Military during World War II where he was stationed at Burma (now Myanmar).

His parents were members of the Salvation Army, and worked in a mission in London's East End.

Price:  £20.00