Esmond Knight

Esmond Penington Knight (4 May 1906 – 23 February 1987) was an English actor. He had a successful stage and film career before World War II. For much of his later career Knight was half-blind. He had been badly wounded in 1941 while on active service on board HMS Prince of Wales when she fought the Bismarck at the Battle of the Denmark Strait, and remained totally blind for two years, though he later regained some sight in his right eye. Childhood Knight was born on 4 May 1906 in East Sheen Surrey, the third son of Francis and Bertha Knight. His father was involved in the family cigar import business. He was educated at Willington Preparatory School in Putney and then Westminster School. Early career He was an accomplished actor with a career spanning over half a century. He established himself in the 1920s on stage. In John Gielgud's 1930 production of Hamlet he played Rosencrantz. He also appeared in films. In Romany Love (1931) he played "a swaggering gypsy who never stopped singing". For The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), Knight and his uncle C. W. R. Knight trained the falcons used in the hunting scenes. In Alfred Hitchcock's Waltzes from Vienna (1934), he played the lead role as Johann Strauss. Following this, he landed a number of roles in Hollywood films. He travelled to Germany to star in Black Roses (originally , 1935), a film about a Finnish anti-communist. The film was shot in three versions, in English (as Did I Betray?), German, and French. Julius Streicher visited the set during filming. Thereafter Knight appeared in various film and theatre productions in Britain. Military service After war was declared, Knight continued to act, appearing in Powell and Pressburger's film Contraband (1940). He sought a naval commission, but after the evacuation of Dunkirk he became involved in training Local Defence Volunteers. In late 1940, he was accepted for naval training. In 1941, Knight was asked to play the lead role of fanatical Nazi Lieutenant Hirth in another Powell and Pressburger propaganda film 49th Parallel (1941), but Eric Portman took the role as Knight was required for military training. He did appear in This England (also 1941), another propaganda film.