Known for:	Ben-Hur, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia
Birth name:	John Edward Hawkins
Birthday:	14 September 1910, Wood Green, London, England, UK

He died three months after an operation to insert an artificial voice box in April 1973. Underwent cobalt treatment for a secondary condition of the larynx in 1959 after making The League of Gentlemen. Afterwards he took voice coaching and reduced the number of cigarettes he smoked each day from about sixty to five. However, while filming Guns at Batasi five years later his voice began to fail. It was not until Christmas 1965 that he was diagnosed with throat cancer, by which time the only possible treatment was a total larengectomy. He was voted Number 1 star at the British Box Office in 1954. Initially sought for the role of Melville Farr in Victim, Hawkins turned the role down because he thought the part might compromise his masculine screen image. Dirk Bogarde, who eventually played Farr, opined that Hawkins feared the role of a gay barrister would "prejudice his chances of a knighthood."

Site: Imdb.com ? Site type: multicelebrity site:

Description: Celebrity Main Details » imdb.com: Jack Hawkins