Lionel Jeffries
Biography
Lionel Jeffries was an English actor and director. Born in Forest Hill, South London, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in repertory at the David Garrick Theatre in Lichfield. He built a steady film career in comic character parts, and casting often gave him men older than his actual age, including the father of Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). The 1960s brought leading roles in Camelot (1967), First Men in the Moon (1964), Two-Way Stretch (1960), The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960), and Murder Ahoy (1964). He was nominated for a Golden Globe for The Spy with a Cold Nose. He later wrote and directed children's films, notably The Railway Children (1970); he also directed The Amazing Mr. Blunden (1972). The Railway Children was successful, though later work like Wombling Free was not. After avoiding television for years, he appeared in Cream in My Coffee (1980), Minder (1984), and Inspector Morse (1990).
83years old at death
- Born Forest Hill
- Died Poole
- Star sign: GeminiThe sign runs May 21 to June 20
- Lionel Charles Jeffries (birth name)
Movie Career
- Films
- 32
- Career span
- 35 years1955 to 1990
Genres
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Early training
Jeffries trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, then spent two years in repertory at the David Garrick Theatre in Lichfield, Staffordshire, where he also appeared in early British television plays.
A change of course
Jeffries disliked television and avoided it for years, but after reluctantly acting in the 1980 Dennis Potter drama Cream in My Coffee he found television production values matched film and built a belated television career.
Lionel Jeffries movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Ken Hughes directed three of these films, George Cukor two and Joshua Logan two. Nine actors appear in three of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Marianne Stone's page
Peter Sellers's page
Michael Ripper's page
James Robertson Justice's page
Niall MacGinnis's page
Graham Stark's page
Ken HughesDirector, 3 films, 1960 to 1968
All films by Ken Hughes
All films by George Cukor
Also three films together3 more actors
- Peter FinchFirst Men in the Moon (1964), The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) and The Nun's Story (1959)
- Terry-ThomasTwelve Plus One (1969), Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon (1967) and Blue Murder at St. Trinian's (1957)
- Francis MatthewsMurder Ahoy (1964), The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) and Bhowani Junction (1956)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Box office
What Lionel Jeffries's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$69.0 million
6 of the 32 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 32 films: 6 worldwide figure; 1 us gross only; 2 never in cinemas; 23 figure not found.
- 6Worldwide figure
- 1US gross only
- 2Never in cinemas
- 23Figure not found
Top grosser
Highest grossing
The six biggest films earned 100% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$32M45.7% of the total
- 2$15M22.2% of the total
- 3$13M18.6% of the total
- 4$7.5M10.9% of the total
- 5$1.6M2.4% of the total
- 6$216K0.3% of the total
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.