Leslie Howard in the 49th Parallel.

LESLIE HOWARD [Legal Name] Born April 3, 1893 in Forest Hill, London, England, UK Died June 1, 1943 in Bay of Biscay (casualty of war) Birth Name Leslie Howard Steiner Height 5' 10½" (1.79 m) Leslie Howard Stainer was born in London, to Lilian (Blumberg) and Ferdinand "Frank" Steiner. His father was a Hungarian Jewish immigrant, and his English mother was of German Jewish, and mostly English, descent. Leslie went to Dulwich College. After school, he worked as a bank clerk until the outbreak of World War I, when he went into the army. In 1917, diagnosed as shell-shocked, he was invalided out and advised to take up acting as therapy. In a few years, his name was famous on the stages of London and New York. He made his first movie in 1914 (The Heroine of Mons (1914)). He became known as the perfect Englishman (slim, tall, intellectual and sensitive), a part that he played in many movies, and a part women would dream about. His first sound movie came in 1930, Outward Bound (1930), an adaptation of the stage play in which he starred. In Never the Twain Shall Meet (1931) and Smilin' Through (1932), he played the Englishman role to the hilt. His screen persona could perhaps best be summed up by his role as Sir Percy Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), a foppish member of society. It was Howard who insisted that Humphrey Bogart get the role of Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest (1936), a role that Bogart had played in the stage production. As he became more successful, he also became quite picky about which roles he would do, and usually performed in only two films a year. In 1939, he played the character that will always be associated with him, that of Ashley Wilkes, the honor-bound disillusioned intellectual Southern gentleman in Gone with the Wind (1939). However, war clouds were gathering over England, and he devoted all his energy on behalf of the war effort. He directed films, wrote articles and made radio broadcasts. He died in 1943, when the KLM plane he was in was shot down by German fighters over the Bay of Biscay. Spouse (1) Ruth Evelyn Martin (March 1916 - 1 June 1943) ( his death) ( 2 children) Died while a passenger on board British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) Flight #777-A, a Douglas Aircraft DC-3 named "Ibis", with four crew members and 13 other passengers, on a flight from Portela Airport in Lisbon, Portugal, to Whitchurch Airport near Bristol, England, on June 1, 1943 when it was attacked and shot down by eight German Junkers Ju 88 fighter planes of KG 40 off the north coast of Spain. It crashed into the Bay of Biscay killing all 17 on board. Father of actor Ronald Howard, who appeared with him in 'Pimpernel' Smith (1941). Oldest of five siblings: Dorice Howard; casting director Irene Howard; Jimmy Howard; and actor Arthur Howard. Nephew of director Wilfred Noy. Father of Leslie Ruth Dale-Harris (1924-2013). At 17 years old, she married Robert Dale-Harris, a chartered accountant. They lived in Toronto, Canada, with three children. In 1960 she published a biography of her father, "A Quite Remarkable Father." Uncle of actor Alan Howard. Humphrey Bogart was so grateful at Howard's insistence that he repeat his stage performance in the film of The Petrified Forest (1936), the role that proved to be his big break in movies, that he named his daughter Leslie in Howard's honor. His death was mentioned in the World War II film Bright Victory (1951). In 1934, he accepted the Oscar for "Best Actor in a Leading Role" on behalf of Charles Laughton, who was not present at the awards ceremony. Disclosed in 1944, Leslie Howard left an estate totaling $251,000. The majority was held in trust to his widow, son and daughter. Howard had also left a Beverly Hills home to his secretary, Violette Cunnington, but she had died six months before his own death. In 1936 attended as keynote speaker an American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) reception to promote Talking Book machines. Leslie first began writing when he was at Mr Bolland's prep-school in Upper Norwood (England). One Christmas term a play was performed by the schoolboys at Mr Bolland's, written by Leslie -- in Latin, of all things -- at the age of thirteen. Leslie's father, Ferdinand "Frank" Steiner, was born on April 28th 1862 in Szigetvar, Hungary, to Cacilie Bodansky and Berthold Samuel Steiner, who were both Jewish, and subjects of Austria. Leslie's mother, Lilian (née Bloomberg), was English. Lilian's own paternal grandfather, Ludwig Alexander George Blumberg, was a German Jewish immigrant, while Lilian's other grandparents were all of English origin. On February 24th 1920, he changed his name from Leslie Howard Steiner to Leslie Howard, by deed poll, which was enrolled in the Central Office of the Supreme Court of Judicature on March 3rd 1920. With Adrian Brunel, founded production company Minerva Films. Self-described laissez-faire Liberal and Democrat. In the parallel universe featured in Quest for Love (1971), Howard was still alive and still acting in 1971 as World War II never occurred. He was offered a role in Queen Christina with Greta Garbo but turned it down. Fell in love with Merle Oberon. Having performed in Petrified Forest on stage he was then cast in the film version but when he heard that the studio were intending to cast Edward G Robinson in the role that Humphrey Bogart had played on stage he wired Jack Warner saying that if you have Robinson you don't have me. Warner then signed Bogart. Was in five Oscar Best Picture nominees: Smilin' Through (1932), Romeo and Juliet (1936), Pygmalion (1938), Gone with the Wind (1939) and 49th Parallel (1941), and a narrator in another, In Which We Serve (1942). Only Gone with the Wind won in the category. In June 2018, he was honored as Turner Classic Movies Star of the Month.