Leslie Howard - His Own Man

[Leslie Howard, c. 1920s]

Roland Pertwee remembers Leslie Howard after his death in a letter to Ronald Howard, Leslie Howard's son:

"I have very tender, soft-edged memories of Leslie who, untouched by success, moved gently through life and always contrived to appear just a scrap out of focus. Unlike the majority of stars in that particular
firmament he never made the slightest effort to excite publicity and, indeed, if your mother had not adjured him to take off his glasses, put his shoulders back and smile when passing through the lion-hunting crowds at the premiere of a film, nobody would have known he was in the theatre.

"I cannot recall a single occasion on which he said anything deliberately quotable or performed any capers to attract attention. It is, nevertheless, a fact that his natural self-effacement in a community of exhibitionists made him as conspicuous as the Empire State Building on the New York skyline. One night when he and I were dining at the Vendome someone exclaimed excitedly as we moved towards our table: 'Why look! It's Leslie Howard!' Catching the excitement in the woman's tone Leslie looked about him short-sightedly and demanded, 'Where?'

"Yet, despite the mildness of his demeanour, he was a terror to pin down and with half the leading producers in Hollywood tumbling over each other to secure his services, he smiled his way out of their clutches and brushing off astronomical offers resolutely avoided doing anything but please himself. He did not find pleasing himself easy, for he was his most severe critic and before deciding upon a future assignment he suffered long periods of sighful contemplation.

"Once when he and I were stopping at the fabulous Hearst Ranch (San Simeon) that great pundit of the press followed him from room to room and terrace to terrace trying to persuade him to appear with Marion Davies in some subject the name of which I have forgotten. No bloodhound could have been more persistent than W. R. H. but in spite of the growls and threats and pleadings Leslie preserved his artistic virginity and made good his escape without even so much as a promise to think things over."

In Search of My Father, pg. 22


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