Mervyn Johns

David Mervyn Johns (18 February 18996 September 1992) was a Welsh stage, film and television actor who became a star of British films during the Second World War. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Johns began his career in repertory theatre in 1923. He made his screen debut with Lady in Danger in 1934 and went on to become an indelible part of British wartime cinema, with starring roles in such films as Saloon Bar (1940), The Next of Kin (1942), Went the Day Well? (1942), The Halfway House (1944), Twilight Hour (1945), and Dead of Night (1945). In the postwar era, he worked regularly as a character actor at Ealing Studios, first with starring roles in such films as They Knew Mr. Knight (1946), The Captive Heart (1946), Captain Boycott (1947), and Easy Money (1948), and later guest appearances on televised plays and anthology series, ending with his 1979 role in Shoestring. Johns was the father of actress Glynis Johns. Early life David Mervyn Johns was born on 18 February 1899 in Pembroke, Wales. He attended Llandovery College, an independent boarding school in South Wales, following the graduation of his brother Howard Johns, later rector of Pusey and Weston-on-the-Green. From 1913, he played cricket and rugby for the school's national teams.