Skelton Barnaby Knaggs (27 June 1911 – 30 April 1955) was an English stage actor who also appeared in films, especially in

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apo ...

Biography

Knaggs was born in the

Hillsborough Hillsborough may refer to: Australia *Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie Canada *Hillsborough, New Brunswick *Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick * Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County *Hillsborough (electoral d ...

district of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Knaggs moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

where he trained as an actor at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sena ...

, and subsequently became a Shakespearean actor. In addition to appearing on stage in Shakespeare's '' Cymbeline'', Knaggs appeared in a few British films, including an uncredited role as a German orderly in Michael Powell's '' The Spy in Black''. Skelton Knaggs in Blackbeard the Pirate

At some point he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

and found work as a character actor in Hollywood. Diminutive and distinctive-looking, with a strongly featured pock-marked face and charismatically voiced with an English

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Mercia, Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in ...

provincial accent, he was cast in sinister roles, often in horror films. These ranged from uncredited bit parts to prominent roles in the Sherlock Holmes thriller '' Terror by Night'', the all-star monster rally ''

House of Dracula ''House of Dracula'' is a 1945 American horror film released and distributed by Universal Pictures. Directed by Erle C. Kenton, the film features several Universal Horror properties meeting as they had done in the 1944 film '' House of Franken ...

'' and three Val Lewton productions including ''

The Ghost Ship ''The Ghost Ship'' is a 1943 American black-and-white psychological thriller film, with elements of mystery and horror, directed by Mark Robson, starring Richard Dix and featuring Russell Wade, Edith Barrett, Ben Bard and Edmund Glover, along ...

''. In the latter, a voice-over narrative by Knaggs is heard, representing the thoughts of his character, a mute seaman. Back in London, he married Thelma Crawshaw in 1949, then returned to Hollywood. The last film in which he appeared was

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...

's period adventure based on J. Meade Falkner's novel ''

Moonfleet Moonfleet may refer to: * Moonfleet (novel), a 1898 novel by J. Meade Falkner * Moonfleet (film), a 1955 film directed by Fritz Lang, inspired by the novel * Moonfleet (1984 TV series), a British period television drama series, based on the novel * ...

''.

Death

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

, Knaggs died of

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...

of the liver in Los Angeles in 1955 at the age of 43. His body was buried in the ' Hollywood Forever Cemetery' in Los Angeles.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Knaggs, Skelton Barnaby English male stage actors English male film actors Male actors from Sheffield 1911 births 1955 deaths Deaths from cirrhosis Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery 20th-century English male actors British expatriate male actors in the United States Alcohol-related deaths in California