Robert Donat's pleasant voice and somewhat neutral English accent (a byproduct of being raised in northern England) was carefully honed as a boy because he had a stammer and took elocution lessons stating at age 11 to overcome the impediment. It was not too surprising that freedom from such a vocal embarrassment was encouragement to act. His other handicap of acute asthma did not deter him. Already at the age of 16 he began performing Shakespeare and other classic roles in a number of repertory and touring companies throughout Britain. In 1924 he joined Sir Frank Benson's repertory company, and late he was with the Liverpool Repertory Theater.

His work was finally noticed by Alexander Korda who gave him a three year film contract. Three minor films were followed by his role as Anne Bolyne's lover, Thomas Culpepper, in the hit The Private Life of Henry VIII.. Donat's style of acting was usually reserved - whether comic or dramatic-with the subtleties of face and voice being his talents to complement the role. A top draw in Britain, he went to Hollywood for The Count of Monte Cristo, but he did not care for the Hollywood scene-the fish bowl lifestyle of the movie star. "Cristo" gave him the opportunity for Captain Blood (1935), but he eventually declined (with a nod to hindsight it is hard to think of anyone but a fresh-faced Flynn doing the role). Though he would have contracts with MGM, Warner Bros. and RKO through the remainder of the 1930s, he begged off many a film role or broke commitments ostensibly due to health problems. Although, along with being finicky about roles, he was also such a conscientious actor that lack of confidence sometimes stymied his forward progress.

Hollywood usually had to shoot in England if it wanted him bad enough. And that was not a problem after the box office reception given The 39 Steps (1935), the big hit for 'Alfred Hitchcock' . There was a proportion of whimsy in Donat's face that especially worked well with the sophisticated comedic elements that crept into several of his dramatic roles. His portrayal of individualist Canadian Richard Hannay-which registered with North Americans both above and below the 49th parallel - in "Steps" was the first of such popular characters. Some of Hitch's famous on-the-set practical jokes ensued on the first day of shooting "Steps. The first scene was the escape on the moors from the master spy's henchmen by Donat and Madeleine Carroll handcuffed together. Donat and Carroll had not met before this, and Hitchcock handcuffed them together hours before filming, so they could get very well acquainted. He insisted he had misplaced the key, when in fact he slipped it to a studio security officer for safe keeping.

Hitchcock attempted to land Donat for three other roles, Sabotage and Secret Agent in 1936 and Rebecca in 1940, but illness, commitments, and more illness supposedly kept Donat from accepting each, respectively. Hollywood would be treated in kind, for Donat was more dedicated to stage work. Hollywood did get him for The Citadel for which he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. He won the Oscar the next year for perhaps his best known role in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) MGM's with Greer Garson. Since 1939 was one of the most competitive film years in Hollywood history, Donat's reward for his mild Mr. Chipping was something of a stunner. This was the year of Gone With the Wind (1939) and Clark Gable as Rhett Butler - a shoo-in for best actor. But there was something of a myth that since both pictures were MGM and "Wind" had so many nominations (including best actor, actress, and picture), MGM head and strong man Louis B. Mayer used his weight to spread the wealth toward "Chips".

Unlike other British actors who came to work in America during World War II, Donat stayed in Britain and did mostly theater but some British films-only four-with one for Korda and one for ;Carole Reed' . Only six more films were allotted Donat after the war and into the 1950s, all but one, British productions. He starred, directed and co-wrote The Cure for Love and starred in The Magic Box, a well crafted and delightful (if a bit fictionalized) salute to the history of the British film industry. By 1955 all of Donat's acting efforts required a bottle of oxygen kept off stage and at the ready as his health continued to turn toward the worse. The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, a Twentieth Century Fox production shot in the UK, was Donat's final film. His fragility was poignantly obvious on screen; he died shortly after the film finished. He received a posthumous Special Citation from the USA National Board of Review and was nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe. It was a career for Robert Donat that should have gone on - yet it was filled with many notable screen memories just the same.


The Winslow Boy (1948): £ 20,000

His last words on screen are: "We shall not see each other again, I think". "Farewell, Jen-Ai". (Spoken to 'Ingrid Bergman's' character 'Jen-Ai' ("the one who loves people") in 'The Inn of the Sixth Happiness'). He passed away shortly after filming was completed. He did not feel comfortable with Hollywood, so Hollywood came to him, filming mostly in England. He was English born of Polish descent, and several of his brothers emigrated to Canada. He said that his favourite actors were Charles Chaplin, Paul Muni, Spencer Tracy, Greta Garbo and Deanna Durbin. When he died in 1958, he left none of his $70,000 estate to wife, Renee Asherson. Instead his estate was divided among his three children, Joanna, John and Brian. Lobbied for the role of the Chorus in The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France (1944), but Leslie Banks was cast instead. Was the favourite actor of Judy Garland, who wrote a fan letter to him after seeing his performance in The Count of Monte Cristo (1934).