David Farrar

Who was David Farrar?

David Farrar was an English stage and film actor, born in Forest Gate, east London.

He gained fame in the 1940s playing Sexton Blake in a pair of low budget thrillers which were enormously popular. By 1945 he was receiving 800 fan letters a week.

Three of his most notable film roles were leads in the Powell and Pressburger films Black Narcissus, The Small Back Room, and Gone to Earth. In 1949 exhibitors voted him the ninth most popular British star. Director Michael Powell once spoke of his handsome appearance and distinctive "violet eyes", and his exceptional timing in films. Powell has stated that had Farrar been more interested in cinema and cared more about his career he could have been a much more high-profile actor, as successful as any. John Huston once offered him a part but it was given to Humphrey Bogart instead.

He retired in 1962. After the death of his wife Irene in 1976, he moved to South Africa to be with their daughter, Barbara.

He died on 31 August 1995 in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, 10 days after his 87th birthday.