Ernest Cossart (born Emil Gottfried von Holst, 24 September 1876 – 21 January 1951) was an English-American actor. After a stage career in England, he moved to the US, appearing on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and all around the country. In the 1930s and 1940s, he appeared in films, specializing in playing butlers, valets, and similar roles, but playing a range of other parts.

Life and career

Cossart was born in

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

, Gloucestershire, the younger of the two children of Adolph von Holst (1846–1901), a professional musician, and his first wife, Clara (née Lediard; 1841–1882).Matthews, Colin
"Holst, Gustav"
Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press. Retrieved 19 March 2013 The elder child, Gustavus, later known as

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

, became a leading English composer. Emil attended

Cheltenham Grammar School en, That which is hidden shall be revealed , established = , closed = , type = Grammar school;Academy , religion = , president = , head_label = , head = Russel Ellicott , r_head_label = , r_head = , chair_label = , chair = , founder ...

and then became a clerk in a wine company's office. When he decided to pursue an acting career, he took the stage name Ernest Cossart, appearing on stage in Britain before moving to the US in 1908, working in Broadway productions and all over the country."Emil von Holst (Ernest Cossart)"
, Holst Birthplace Museum. Retrieved 20 March 2013 During the First World War, he served in the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry divisi ...

and was severely wounded.Short, p. 476 After the war, he appeared in musical comedy in the West End before returning to Broadway in 1919. In the late 1920s, Cossart made a return to the London stage, acting with

Alfred Lunt Alfred David Lunt (August 12, 1892 – August 3, 1977) was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway and West End productions. After th ...

and

Lynn Fontanne Lynn Fontanne (; 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983) was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End theatre, West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred i ...

in a West End transfer of a Broadway success, ''Caprice''. In 1932, he appeared as Colonel Tallboys in the world premiere of

Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

's '' Too True to Be Good'', with

Beatrice Lillie Beatrice Gladys Lillie, Lady Peel (29 May 1894 – 20 January 1989), known as Bea Lillie, was a Canadian-born British actress, singer and comedic performer. She began to perform as a child with her mother and sister. She made her West End theat ...

and

Leo G. Carroll Leo Gratten Carroll (25 October 1886 – 16 October 1972) was an English actor. In a career of more than forty years, he appeared in six Hitchcock films including ''Spellbound'', '' Strangers on a Train'' and ''North by Northwest'' and in thre ...

. Cossart moved into acting in Hollywood films in the 1930s. He was often typecast as butlers; ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' said of him: In ''Angel'', Cossart and Edward Everett Horton as the servants were judged to have had the best of the film. In addition to such roles, Cossart played a range of different characters, appearing as Pa Monaghan with

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

in ''

Kings Row ''Kings Row'' is a 1942 film starring Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan and Betty Field that tells a story of young people growing up in a small American town at the turn of the twentieth century. The picture was directed by Sam Wood ...

'', and as Squire Brown in ''

Tom Brown's School Days ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is an 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes. The stor ...

''."Ernest Cossart"
British Film Institute; retrieved 20 March 2013. In two films, he played Roman Catholic priests, one French and the other Irish-American. During the Second World War, Cossart was a co-founder, with Sir Cedric Hardwicke,

Basil Rathbone Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was a South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume ...

, and other expatriate actors, of a fund to help artists in distress in Britain. Cossart died in New York at the age of 74, survived by his wife, the actress Maude Davis, and their daughter, the actress Valerie Cossart (1907–1994)."Valerie Cossart"
British Film Institute. Retrieved 20 March 2013"Deaths", ''The Times'', 24 January 1951, p. 1

Broadway roles

* '' Mary of Scotland'' (1933) as Lord Throgmorton

Partial filmography

*''

The Strange Case of Mary Page ''The Strange Case of Mary Page'' is a 1916 American drama film serial directed by J. Charles Haydon. Most of the film is considered to be lost, with only two of the episodes preserved. Cast * Henry B. Walthall as Phil Langdon, Attorney * Edn ...

'' (1916) *'' The Scoundrel'' (1935) – Jimmy Clay *''

Two for Tonight ''Two for Tonight'' is a 1935 American musical comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Bing Crosby, Joan Bennett, and Mary Boland. Based on the play ''Two for Tonight'' by J. O. Lief and Max Lief, the film is about a songwriter who comp ...

'' (1935) – Homps *''

The Great Ziegfeld ''The Great Ziegfeld'' is a 1936 American musical drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and produced by Hunt Stromberg. It stars William Powell as the theatrical impresario Florenz "Flo" Ziegfeld Jr., Luise Rainer as Anna Held, and ...

'' (1936) – Sidney *''

Desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like " wanting", " wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of ...

'' (1936) – Aristide Duvalle *''

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

'' (1936) – Starkey *''

Murder with Pictures ''Murder with Pictures'' is a 1936 American crime-mystery film based on a story by George Harmon Coxe. The film was directed by Charles Barton, the screenplay was written by Jack Moffitt and Sidney Salkow. Lew Ayres starred as Kent Murdock, Gai ...

'' (1936) – Stanley Redfield *''

Three Smart Girls ''Three Smart Girls'' is a 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Barbara Read, Nan Grey, Deanna Durbin (her feature film debut), and Ray Milland. The film's screenplay was written by Adele Comandini and Austin P ...

'' (1936) – Binns *''

Champagne Waltz ''Champagne Waltz'' is a 1937 American comedy film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and starring Gladys Swarthout, Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie. It is one of five movies produced by Paramount in the 1930s featuring Swarthout, a very popular Me ...

'' (1937) – Waiter *''

As Good as Married ''As Good as Married'' is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Edward Buzzell and starring John Boles, Doris Nolan and Walter Pidgeon. The film was distributed by Universal Pictures. Filming started in December 1936.Of Local Origin New York ...

'' (1937) – Quinn *''

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles ...

'' (1937) – Wilton *''

Bringing Up Baby ''Bringing Up Baby'' is a 1938 American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, and starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. It was released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film tells the story of a paleontologist in a number of predi ...

'' (1938) – Joe *'' Letter of Introduction'' (1938) – Andrews *''

Zaza Zaza may refer to: Ethnic group * Zazas, a group of people in eastern Anatolia (southeastern Turkey) * Zaza–Gorani languages, Indo-Iranian languages ** Zaza language, spoken by the Zazas People Given name * Zaza Sor. Aree (born 1993), Thai kic ...

'' (1938) – Marchand *'' Three Smart Girls Grow Up'' (1939) – Binns *'' Never Say Die'' (1939) – Jeepers *''

The Magnificent Fraud ''The Magnificent Fraud'' is a 1939 American crime film directed by Robert Florey and starring Akim Tamiroff, Lloyd Nolan, Mary Boland and Patricia Morison. Plot Akim Tamiroff plays an actor performing in a nameless Latin American country w ...

'' (1939) – Duval *''

Lady of the Tropics ''Lady of the Tropics'' is a 1939 American drama film directed by Jack Conway, starring Robert Taylor, Hedy Lamarr, and Joseph Schildkraut. Plot While visiting French Indochina with his girlfriend and her family on her father's yacht, freeload ...

'' (1939) – Father Antoine *''

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

'' (1939) – Tom Clink *''

The Light That Failed ''The Light That Failed'' is the first novel by the Nobel Prize-winning English author Rudyard Kipling, first published in ''Lippincott's Monthly Magazine'' in January 1891. Most of the novel is set in London, but many important events through ...

'' (1939) – Beeton *'' A Bill of Divorcement'' (1940) – Rev. Dr. Pumphrey *''

'' (1940) – Squire Brown *'' Kitty Foyle'' (1940) – Thomas Foyle *''

Skylark ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species are ...

'' (1941) – Theodore *''

'' (1942) – Pop Monaghan *''

Tonight and Every Night ''Tonight and Every Night'' is a 1945 American musical film directed by Victor Saville and starring Rita Hayworth, Lee Bowman and Janet Blair. The film portrays wartime romance and tragedy in a London musical show, loosely modelled on the Windmi ...

'' (1944) – Sam Royce * ''

The Girl of the Limberlost ''The Girl of the Limberlost'' is a 1945 American drama film starring Ruth Nelson, Dorinda Clifton, and Loren Tindall, and directed by Mel Ferrer. The film is based on a 1909 novel by Gene Stratton-Porter, which was previously filmed in 1909 as ...

'' (1945) *'' Cluny Brown'' (1946) – Syrett *''

The Jolson Story ''The Jolson Story'' is a 1946 American musical biography film which purports to tell the life story of singer Al Jolson. It stars Larry Parks as Jolson, Evelyn Keyes as Julie Benson (approximating Jolson's wife, Ruby Keeler), William Demares ...

'' (1946) – Father McGee *''Angel Street'' (1950) – Manningham ::Source:

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cossart, Ernest 1876 births 1951 deaths 20th-century English male actors Male actors from Gloucestershire English people of German descent English people of Latvian descent English male film actors People from Cheltenham People educated at Dean Close School British expatriate male actors in the United States Canadian military personnel of World War I