Percy Herbert

Who was Percy Herbert?

Percy Herbert was an English character actor who worked predominantly during the 1950s, '60s and '70s, becoming one of the most recognisable faces in post war British cinema.

He served in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps during the Second World War and spent four years in the notorious Japanese prisoner of war camp Changi. After the war he was helped by Dame Sybil Thorndike to secure an interview with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he won a scholarship. His acting career began in the theatre, which included working at John Gielgud's Old Vic Company.

Beginning his film career in the early 1950s he went onto make nearly seventy films, often playing soldiers, most notably in The Cockleshell Heroes, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Sea of Sand, Tunes of Glory, The Guns of Navarone, Guns at Batasi, Tobruk and The Wild Geese. However, he was equally at home in comedies, fantasy, and drama.

He also acted on television; he was a regular on the short-lived American series Cimarron Strip, during a brief foray to Hollywood. Other television work includes Danger Man, The Saint, Z-Cars, Dixon of Dock Green, and Worzel Gummidge.