David Manners, 1900-1998, Reclusive Early Actor
For those who loved the early "Dracula" and other films ...
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Wednesday, January 6, 1999
Halifax (Nova Scotia)-born star died with little notice - by LOIS LEGGE -- Halifax Herald -
www.herald.ns.ca -
The Halifax-born actor performed with some of history's biggest movie stars. Actors like
Lucille Ball and Marlon Brando have credited him with giving them their major breaks in
the film industry. His name was among the earliest to grace the Hollywood Walk of Stars.
But when David Manners died at 98 on Dec. 23 [1998] in a Santa Barbara, Calif.,
retirement community, the news made nary a ripple in the city where he was born.
Garry Shutlak, senior archivist at Nova Scotia Public Archives, and Halifax author Allan
Marble are among the few who instantly recognized the actor's name when they saw an
obituary this week. "He seemed like quite an interesting character," Mr. Shutlak said of the
once-youthful, handsome star who performed in classic 1930s horror flicks - Dracula with
Bela Lugosi, The Mummy and Black Cat with Boris Karloff - and a string of romances with
such actresses as Loretta Young, Claudette Colbert, Katherine Hepburn and Lucille Ball.
Born Rauff de Ryther Duan Acklom on April 30, 1900, in Halifax, the actor lived in the
city with his father George, a schoolteacher, and mother Lillian until he was nine. His father
ran the then-Tower Road boys school Harrow House, where prominent families of the day
sent their children, said Mr. Marble, who included Mr. Manners in his 1976 book Nova
Scotians At Home and Abroad. As a young man, Mr. Manners attended the University of
Toronto to obtain a forestry degree, but later trained in acting at Hart House Theatre in
Toronto, making his theatrical debut in 1924. He eventually changed his name to Manners,
his mother's maiden name. While starting out in theatre in Toronto, New York and Chicago,
Mr. Manners later moved to Hollywood, primarily, he said later, because - as a lifelong
asthmatic - he sought clean air.
While obscure to the majority of the movie-going public, his name still had resonance with
Hollywood's elite in 1978, when an article about him appeared in the magazine Atlantic
Advocate. According to the article's author, Charles Foster, Mr. Manners' past female
co-stars were particularly enamoured.
"Just a dear to work with and a totally professional and talented actor," recalled Ms.
Hepburn. "Every girl in town wanted to work with him," echoed Ms. Young, who appeared
with Mr. Manners in five films. "He was the dream actor, handsome, charming and totally
genuine." And Ms. Ball confessed: "I still have a thing for him after all those years." Even
the reclusive Mr. Brando - who made his Broadway debut opposite Mr. Manners in 1946's
Truckline Cafe - told Mr. Foster that he owed his entire career to the Halifax-born actor.
Mr. Manners himself was far less enraptured by Hollywood. After 36 films in six years
during the 1930s, he turned his back on Hollywood and blamed increased smoking in
studios for his departure. He returned briefly to acting in the late 1940s but had by then
become a novelist, penning 1941's Convenient Season, set in Bridgetown. "Few moments,
even fewer people, were memorable enough for me to want to remember," he said in 1978,
noting he had never even seen his famous star. "I suppose it's an honour," he told Mr.
Foster. "But tell me, would you like your name trodden on by hundreds of dirty shoes every
day of the year?"
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Does anyone posting here recognize the name Rauff de Ryther Duan Acklom born on April 30, 1900, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, his father George, a school teacher, and mother Lillian ________ ? In those days, such positions were often filled by someone directly from the Old Country.
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Re: David Manners, 1900-1998, Reclusive Early Actor
George Thompson 1/11/03