Herbert Mundin

Herbert Mundin

Born: August 20, 1898
Died: March 5, 1939
in St Helens, Lancashire, UK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Herbert Mundin (21 August 1898 – 5 March 1939) was an English-born Hollywood character actor. He was frequently typecast in films as an older cheeky eccentric, a type helped by his jowled features and cheerful disposition.

He was born Herbert Thomas Mundin in St Helens, then in Lancashire (now part of Merseyside). His father was a nomadic, Primitive Methodist home missionary. His family moved within a short time of his birth to St Albans in Hertfordshire (the 1901 census data reveal that the family lived at St Helens Villa, Paxton Road, St Albans; his parents William and Jane apparently naming their house after the town where they first met and where Herbert was born).

Mundin was educated at St Albans School, and joined the Royal Navy during World War I. He began his acting career on the London stage during the 1920s. Mundin first travelled to America on 18 December 1923 for a series of theatrical engagements in New York. He sailed from Southampton on the RMS Aquitania and described himself in ship’s passenger manifest as 5'7" tall with a fair complexion, brown hair, blue eyes and a scar over his left eye. His big break as an actor was arguably with Gertrude Lawrence and Beatrice Lillie in Charlot's Revue when it appeared on Broadway in 1925.

In 1931, after working in Australia and London, he permanently moved to the US, where he received a contract with Twentieth Century Fox Studios and enjoyed a successful career as a character actor in over 50 films.

Perhaps his most celebrated role was as Much in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), alongside Errol Flynn. Other film appearances included Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) with Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, and MGM's David Copperfield (1935).

He died in Van Nuys, California following a car crash. He was killed instantly when the car in which he was riding collided with another car at a street intersection. The force of the impact threw open the door and hurled Mundin to the street.He received a fractured skull and crushed chest.He was 40 years old. The other occupants of the car were not injured.

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Movies for Herbert Mundin...

Society Lawyer
Title: Society Lawyer
Character: Layton
Released: March 21, 1939
Type: Movie
Society lawyer Christopher Durant agrees to defend his friend Phil Siddall when Siddall is arrested for the murder of an ex-girlfriend. With the help of nightclub singer Pat Abbott and crime boss Tony Gazotti (a former client), Durant launches his own investigation of the murder in order to prove his friend's innocence
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Exposed
Title: Exposed
Character: Skippy
Released: November 5, 1938
Type: Movie
A magazine reporter exposes a crooked District Attorney, resulting in his trial. Complications ensue, however, when the man is acquitted.
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Lord Jeff
Title: Lord Jeff
Character: Bosun 'Crusty' Jelks
Released: June 17, 1938
Type: Movie
Spoiled child Geoffrey Bramer teams up with a pair of small time crooks to pose as an aristocrat and steal jewelry from exclusive shops. During a a caper, Geoffrey is caught and is sentenced to a reformatory where young men are trained to be sailors. He is befriended by model in-mate Terry O'Mulvaney but soon starts to get them both in trouble.
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The Adventures of Robin Hood
Title: The Adventures of Robin Hood
Character: Much
Released: May 13, 1938
Type: Movie
Robin Hood fights nobly for justice against the evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne while striving to win the hand of the beautiful Maid Marian.
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Invisible Enemy
Title: Invisible Enemy
Character: Sergeant Alfred M. Higgs
Released: April 3, 1938
Type: Movie
Jeffrey Clavering is hired in London by The Great Eastern Oil Corporation to go to Paris to prevent unscrupulous industrialist Nikolai Kamarov from gaining control of their oil fields and turning them over to a foreign power.
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Angel
Title: Angel
Character: Mr. Greenwood
Released: October 29, 1937
Type: Movie
A woman and her husband take separate vacations, and she falls in love with another man.
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Another Dawn
Title: Another Dawn
Character: Wilkins, Wister's Orderly
Released: June 26, 1937
Type: Movie
Colonel John Wister, on duty with the British army in the desert region of Dubik, returns to England on leave. There he falls in love with Julia Ashton, who cares deeply for him but believes herself incapable of love following the death of her fiancé; some time before. Wister convinces her that he loves her enough to live without her romantic love and that she should marry him. She does so and returns to Dubik with him. There she meets his adjutant, Captain Denny Roark. Roark is a dashing young man who reminds Julia thoroughly of her lost love. Soon she finds she is indeed capable of love, but it is Roark with whom she falls in love, not her husband. As warfare with the local tribes heats up and as Wister gains awareness of the unconsummated romance growing between his wife and best friend, tragedy lurks.
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You Can't Beat Love
Title: You Can't Beat Love
Character: Jasper 'Meadows' Hives
Released: June 25, 1937
Type: Movie
The film begins with a knuckle-head playboy (Preston Foster) working on a road crew dressed in a tux in order to win a bet. Apparently, this guy will take on any bet or act on a whim. This becomes very apparent when he disrupts a food giveaway hosted by the mayor's daughter and as a result of this, he announces he's running for mayor--though he seems very much apolitical and has no interest in the job. Later, when he once again meets up with the mayor's daughter (Joan Fontaine) they supposedly fall in love--although there seemed to be little chemistry between them and it made very little sense for Fontaine to suddenly love a guy she so quickly hated at the beginning of the film. Plus, she really had plenty of reason to dislike the guy.
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Tarzan Escapes
Title: Tarzan Escapes
Character: Rawlins
Released: November 6, 1936
Type: Movie
White hunter Captain Fry tries to take Tarzan back to civilization, caged for public display. He arrives in the jungle with Jane's cousins, Eric and Rita, who want Jane's help in claiming a fortune left her.
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Champagne Charlie
Title: Champagne Charlie
Character: Mr. Fipps
Released: May 6, 1936
Type: Movie
The story is told in flashback. Backers want a gambler to marry a rich girl for her dowry.
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Under Two Flags
Title: Under Two Flags
Character: Rake
Released: April 30, 1936
Type: Movie
Sergeant Victor comes to the French Foreign Legion after taking the blame for his brother's crime. Cigarette falls in love with him though Major Doyle is in love with her. Doyle sends Victor on dangerous assignments to be rid of him. He falls in love with Lady Venetia Cunningham, a visitor to the garrison
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A Message to Garcia
Title: A Message to Garcia
Character: Henry Piper
Released: April 10, 1936
Type: Movie
A fiery Cuban woman guides an emissary from the U.S. president through the jungles of war-torn Cuba.
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Charlie Chan's Secret
Title: Charlie Chan's Secret
Character: Baxter
Released: January 10, 1936
Type: Movie
Allen Colby, heir to a huge fortune, is presumed drowned after an ocean liner sinks off the coast of Honolulu. Mysteriously, Colby reappears at his mansion only to be murdered soon after. When his body is discovered during a seance, everyone in attendance becomes a suspect, and it's up to Chan to find the murderer before he or she strikes again.
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King of Burlesque
Title: King of Burlesque
Character: English Impresario
Released: January 3, 1936
Type: Movie
Warner Baxter plays the ambitious producer of a burlesque show who rises to the big time on Broadway. Alice Faye is the loyal burleycue singer who helps make Baxter a success. His head turned by sudden fame, Baxter falls under the spell of a society woman (Mona Barrie) who has theatrical aspirations of her own. She marries Baxter, then convinces him to produce a string of "artistic" plays rather than his extravagant musical revues. The plays are flops, and the woman haughtily divorces Baxter. Faithful Alice Faye, who'd gone to London when her ex-beau was married, returns to the penniless Baxter. She and her burlesque buddies team up to pull Baxter out of his rut and put him on top again.
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The Widow from Monte Carlo
Title: The Widow from Monte Carlo
Character: John Torrent
Released: December 19, 1935
Type: Movie
In this romantic comedy, an aspiring socialite heads for a vacation in Monte Carlo where she befriends a wealthy widowed duchess and then begins blackmailing her after she steals a scandalous letter.
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Ladies Love Danger
Title: Ladies Love Danger
Released: December 12, 1935
Type: Movie
Fox comedy about an adventurous young woman
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The Perfect Gentleman
Title: The Perfect Gentleman
Character: Frederick Hitch
Released: November 22, 1935
Type: Movie
A strait-laced country vicar is very embarrassed by his father's naughty exploits with a lively actress.
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Mutiny on the Bounty
Title: Mutiny on the Bounty
Character: Smith
Released: November 22, 1935
Type: Movie
Fletcher Christian successfully leads a revolt against the ruthless Captain Bligh on the HMS Bounty. However, Bligh returns one year later, hell bent on revenge.
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Black Sheep
Title: Black Sheep
Character: Oscar
Released: August 1, 1935
Type: Movie
On an ocean liner crossing a professional gambler comes to the aid of a naive young man victimized by a jewel thief. The young man turns out to be his son he's not seen since infancy.
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Spring Tonic
Title: Spring Tonic
Character: Thompson
Released: June 27, 1935
Type: Movie
Betty Ingals walks out on her fiancé in search of adventure. She gets more than she bargained for when she stumbles upon a gang of bootleggers.
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David Copperfield
Title: David Copperfield
Character: Barkis
Released: January 18, 1935
Type: Movie
Charles Dickens' timeless tale of an ordinary young man who lives an extraordinary life, filled with people who help and hinder him.
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Hell in the Heavens
Title: Hell in the Heavens
Character: Granny Biggs
Released: December 12, 1934
Type: Movie
During World War I, an American pilot vows to bring down the German ace responsible for his friend's death.
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Love Time
Title: Love Time
Character: Caesar
Released: November 3, 1934
Type: Movie
Romaticized biopic about the life of composer Franz Schubert.
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Springtime for Henry
Title: Springtime for Henry
Character: Trivers
Released: August 22, 1934
Type: Movie
A rakish fellow involves himself with a married woman. Later his secretary endeavors to win him away with the promise of a more stable relationship. The rake is tempted, but then decides he prefers the married woman, which is fine with her husband who has an eye for the secretary.
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Call It Luck
Title: Call It Luck
Character: Herbert Biggelwade
Released: July 9, 1934
Type: Movie
A London taxicab driver cashes in on a big sweepstakes ticket and becomes the prey of a confidence-gang that sells him a nag of a cavalry horse on the claim that it is a brother to a current Derby winner.
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Such Women Are Dangerous
Title: Such Women Are Dangerous
Character: Horatio Wilson
Released: June 8, 1934
Type: Movie
An aspiring young writer becomes infatuated with a successful romance novelist, who realizes his life as a philandering Lothario is suddenly threatened.
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All Men Are Enemies
Title: All Men Are Enemies
Released: April 26, 1934
Type: Movie
A British aristocrat falls in love with an Austrian woman before they are separated with the outbreak of World War I.
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Bottoms Up
Title: Bottoms Up
Character: Limey Brook aka Lord Brocklehurst
Released: April 12, 1934
Type: Movie
Promoter "Smoothie" King helps a pair of phonies con their way into a movie company. As Wanda heads toward stardom, she turns more and more from King toward the matinée idol. King must decide between his plans and her happiness.
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Ever Since Eve
Title: Ever Since Eve
Character: Horace Saunders
Released: March 25, 1934
Type: Movie
Neil Rogers, a young man who owns a substantial share of a Western gold mine, comes East and falls in love with the rather wild Elizabeth Vandegrift.
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Orient Express
Title: Orient Express
Character: Herbert Thomas Peters
Released: February 28, 1934
Type: Movie
Based on Graham Greene's novel Stamboul Train, the movie focuses on the lives of individuals aboard the Orient Express as it makes a three-day journey from Ostend to Constantinople.
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Hoopla
Title: Hoopla
Character: Hap Spissel
Released: November 30, 1933
Type: Movie
A hula dancer at a carnival sets out to seduce the naive son of the show's manager.
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Shanghai Madness
Title: Shanghai Madness
Character: Larsen
Released: August 3, 1933
Type: Movie
In the 1920s Pat Jackson destroys a Chinese post and is discharged from the Navy. Li Po Chang hires him to run a gunboat up the river. He drops Wildeth off at a mission for safety, but when his boat returns the mission is being attacked by communists.
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Arizona to Broadway
Title: Arizona to Broadway
Character: Kingfish Miller
Released: July 22, 1933
Type: Movie
A team of con men trying to double-cross a woman they are supposedly helping to get some stolen money back wind up getting crossed themselves... by the mob.
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The Devil's in Love
Title: The Devil's in Love
Character: Bimpy
Released: July 21, 1933
Type: Movie
The French Foreign Legion is the setting for this episodic adventure yarn. Victor Jory plays a Legion doctor falsely accused of murdering his commander over the love of Loretta Young. Jory escapes prosecution by heading for parts unknown, but when a deadly illness strikes his old fort, he returns to aid his comrades. He is arrested, but clears himself of the murder charge and ends up with Young. Devil's in Love is distinguished by the surprise appearance of Bela Lugosi, who shows up unbilled as a relentless prosecuting attorney in the courtroom scenes.
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It's Great to Be Alive
Title: It's Great to Be Alive
Character: Brooks
Released: July 8, 1933
Type: Movie
An aviator who crash landed on an island in the South Pacific returns home to find that he is the last fertile man left on Earth after an epidemic of masculitus.
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Adorable
Title: Adorable
Character: Detective Pipac
Released: May 18, 1933
Type: Movie
Rebellious Princess Marie "Mitzi" Christine must try to marry the man she loves, instead of the stuffy old prince her parents want her to marry.
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Pleasure Cruise
Title: Pleasure Cruise
Character: Henry
Released: April 1, 1933
Type: Movie
Shirley, a married woman, who is fed up of her husband's incessant nagging, decides to go on a cruise. Her husband also gets on the cruise as a worker in the barber shop to keep an eye on her.
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Dangerously Yours
Title: Dangerously Yours
Character: Grove
Released: February 24, 1933
Type: Movie
A playboy asks his friend to borrow his yacht to entertain his girlfriend.
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Cavalcade
Title: Cavalcade
Character: Alfred Bridges
Released: February 8, 1933
Type: Movie
A cavalcade of English life from New Year's Eve 1899 until 1933 is seen through the eyes of well-to-do Londoners Jane and Robert Marryot. Amongst events touching their family are the Boer War, the death of Queen Victoria, the sinking of the Titanic, and the Great War.
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Sherlock Holmes
Title: Sherlock Holmes
Character: George
Released: November 5, 1932
Type: Movie
Moriarty is sentenced to death, and Sherlock Holmes prepares to retire to the country and marry his girl. But Moriarty has sworn that Holmes, Lt. Col. Gore-King of Scotland Yard, and his trial judge shall all be hanged too. When Moriarty escapes and proceeds to put his threat into operation, Holmes has to postpone his retirement.
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One Way Passage
Title: One Way Passage
Character: S.S. Maloa Steward (uncredited)
Released: October 4, 1932
Type: Movie
A terminally ill woman and a debonair murderer facing execution meet and fall in love on a trans-Pacific crossing, each without knowing the other's secret.
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Love Me Tonight
Title: Love Me Tonight
Character: Groom (uncredited)
Released: August 18, 1932
Type: Movie
A Parisian tailor finds himself posing as a baron in order to collect a sizeable bill from an aristocrat, only to fall in love with an aloof young princess.
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Chandu the Magician
Title: Chandu the Magician
Character: Albert Miggles
Released: August 4, 1932
Type: Movie
When delusional madman Roxor kidnaps a scientist in hopes of using his death ray to achieve world dominance, he is opposed by Chandu, a powerful hypnotist and yogi.
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Bachelor's Affairs
Title: Bachelor's Affairs
Character: Jepson
Released: June 26, 1932
Type: Movie
A middle aged millionaire falls in love with a gorgeous, but stupid blonde gold digger, being guided by her ever-present shrewish friend.They marry but the man soon regrets his rash move when she's constantly bored and looking for dancing and excitement, leaving him feel his age. He conspires with a loyal friend to find a suitable man she might run away with so he can divorce her.
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The Trial of Vivienne Ware
Title: The Trial of Vivienne Ware
Character: William Boggs
Released: May 1, 1932
Type: Movie
Vivienne Ware is defended by her ex-beau when she's accused of killing her faithless fiance.
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Devil's Lottery
Title: Devil's Lottery
Character: Trowbridge
Released: March 27, 1932
Type: Movie
Intricate, soapy drama of romance, heartbreak, and murder amongst a diverse group of sweepstakes winners visiting a newspaper tycoon's estate.
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The Silent Witness
Title: The Silent Witness
Character: Henry Hammer
Released: February 7, 1932
Type: Movie
A London nobleman (Lionel Atwill) takes the blame and stands trial after his son strangles a lover (Greta Nissen).
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The Wrong Mr. Perkins
Title: The Wrong Mr. Perkins
Character: Jimmy Perkins
Released: December 31, 1931
Type: Movie
An impoverished man Jimmy Perkins is mistaken by a banker for a wealthy man with a similar name...
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East Lynne on the Western Front
Title: East Lynne on the Western Front
Character: Bob Cox / Lady Isobel
Released: July 13, 1931
Type: Movie
During the First World War a group of British soldiers serving on the Western Front stage a comic performance of the play East Lynne to entertain their comrades.
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Ashes
Title: Ashes
Released: December 31, 1930
Type: Movie
Futuristic story about a slow moving cricket match that begins in 1940 (ten years beyond the year when the film was produced) and finally finishes in 2000.
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Enter the Queen
Title: Enter the Queen
Character: Goss
Released: November 1, 1930
Type: Movie
A short comedy film directed by Arthur Varney.