A.E. Matthews

Known as A. E. Matthews, Alfred Edward Matthews was an English actor born in Bridlington whose stage and film career lasted eight decades. By his mid-forties he was a prominent stage actor, then entered silent films with the British Actors Film Company, which ran from 1916 to 1923. During World War II he toured in The First Mrs. Fraser alongside Marie Tempest and Barry Morse. He became known for crotchety, sometimes rascally old men, a reputation that grew from the war onward. His films included Carry On Admiral, Doctor at Large, Around the World in 80 Days, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Million Pound Note (1954) with Gregory Peck, Inn for Trouble, The Magic Box, The Ghosts of Berkeley Square and Just William's Luck. In 1951 King George VI appointed him an officer in the Order of the British Empire. He was also the hundredth castaway on Desert Island Discs, interviewed by Roy Plomley.