- Born
- Died
- Birth nameEsmond Penington Knight
- A stage actor from 1925, Esmond made his first film appearance in
77 Park Lane (1931) for
Michael Powell for whom he
eventually made 11 films.
Esmond served in the Royal Navy during WWII and lost one eye and was
almost totally blinded in the other during an engagement against The
Bismarck. This didn't stop him later portraying a Royal Naval officer
in Sink the Bismarck! (1960).- IMDb Mini Biography By: Steve Crook <steve@brainstorm.co.uk>
- SpousesNora Swinburne(October 4, 1946 - February 23, 1987) (his death)Frances Clare(January 19, 1929 - 1946) (divorced, 1 child)
- Children
- RelativesPhillip Glasier(Cousin)Jean Knight(Cousin)C.W.R. Knight(Aunt or Uncle)Su Elliot(Grandchild)
- Michael Powell said of his first seeing Esmond, "... a sulky, handsome young
man with a mane of black hair and magnetic eyes, almost too
romantically handsome to be true. Then one day I saw him giggling with
one of the sound engineers and I realised that it was all a pose and he
had a sense of humour." - Played the captain of the HMS Prince of Wales in Sink the Bismarck! (1960). Ironically, it was while serving aboard the real Prince of
Wales during her fight with the Bismarck that he was injured in an explosion, resulting in the loss of one eye and almost losing the other. - Suffered from a stuttering problem, which he continually had to
overcome with speech exercises, and usually suffered from a huge case
of stage fright just before going on. - Father of Rosalind Knight.
- It is often reported that he died in Cairo, Egypt. In fact (as his
daughter confirms), he came back from working in Egypt and died the
next day in his flat in Chelsea.
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