Reginald Denny (actor) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Reginald Denny
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Denny in 1924
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| Born |
Reginald Leigh Dugmore
20 November 1891 Richmond, Surrey, England
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| Died | 16 June 1967 (aged 75) Richmond, London, England
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| Occupation | Actor, aviator, inventor |
| Years active | 1915–1966 |
| Spouse(s) |
Irene Haisman
(m. 1913; div. 1928)Isabelle "Bubbles" Stiefel
(m. 1928) |
| Children | 3 |
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Reginald Leigh Dugmore (born November 20, 1891 – died June 16, 1967) was an English actor. He was also an aviator and a pioneer in developing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are like remote-controlled planes or drones. He was known professionally as Reginald Denny.
Contents
Reginald Denny's Acting Journey
Reginald Leigh Dugmore was born in Richmond, England, on November 20, 1891. He came from a family of performers. His father was an actor and opera singer.
Early Stage Career
Reginald started acting on stage very young, at age seven, in 1899. He performed in several London plays. When he was 16, he left school to train as a boxer. He also appeared in British stage productions like The Merry Widow.
In 1911, he moved to the United States for a stage show. Later, he joined an opera company. He toured India and the Far East, even performing for Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, a ruler in India.
From Silent Films to Talkies
Reginald officially began his film career in 1915. He made movies in both the United States and Britain until the 1960s. He was a popular actor in silent films. When movies started having sound (called "talkies"), he became a character actor.
He often played funny English characters in his early films. Later, he had steady work as a supporting actor. He appeared in dozens of movies. These included The Little Minister (1934) with Katharine Hepburn. He was also in Anna Karenina (1935) with Greta Garbo.
He worked with famous director Alfred Hitchcock in Rebecca (1940). His last film role was in the 1966 crime movie Assault on a Queen with Frank Sinatra. Reginald also made many appearances on television in the 1950s and 1960s. His very last role was as Commodore Schmidlapp in the 1966 Batman film.
Reginald Denny's Aviation Career
Reginald Denny was not just an actor; he was also very interested in flying.
World War I and Stunt Flying
During the First World War, Denny served in the Royal Air Force. He worked as an observer and gunner.
In the 1920s, he became a stunt pilot. He performed with an aerial stunt team called the 13 Black Cats. He even loaned his World War I biplane to Howard Hughes. Hughes used it in his famous movie Hell's Angels (1927).
From Model Planes to Military Drones
In the early 1930s, Denny became very interested in model airplanes. In 1934, he started a company called Reginald Denny Industries. They opened a model plane shop, which grew into a chain. He designed his own model plane called the "Dennyplane." It had a special engine called "Dennymite."
Denny became very interested in radio-controlled aircraft. In 1935, he began working on his own remote-controlled "radioplane" for military use. In 1939, his company won a contract with the United States Army Air Corps. They were to build radio-controlled target drones.
In July 1940, they formed the Radioplane Company. During Second World War, they made almost fifteen thousand drones for the U.S. Army. A famous person who worked at this company was a teenage girl named Norma Jeane Mortensen. She later became known as Marilyn Monroe. The company was bought by Northrop in 1952.
Reginald Denny's Personal Life
Reginald Denny was married twice. He first married actress Irene Hilda Haismann in 1913. They had one daughter. They later divorced in 1928. In the same year, Denny married actress Isabelle "Bubbles" Stiefel. They had two children together.
Reginald Denny's Later Years
Reginald Denny passed away on June 16, 1967, at the age of 75. He had a stroke while visiting his sister in his hometown of Richmond, England. He was buried in Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. His three children and his wife Isabelle, who passed away in 1996, survived him.
See also
In Spanish: Reginald Denny para niños
