A Very Surprising Man

[Leslie Howard as Peter Standish in Berkeley Square, 1933]

When I first decided to start my Leslie Howard Fan Page on Facebook I had only intended to post some pictures. But in my search for new photos my natural curiosity was piqued and I wanted to know the stories behind the images. This launched me on an almost compulsive search for information about Leslie Howard—The Man. I soon realized that I needed a blog to contain all the information I was discovering and that is how LeslieHowardSteiner.blogspot.com came into being.

I have now been on this quest for information for at least eight hours a day, day in and day out, for a little over six months and I believe that I have a fairly good idea of who Leslie Howard was and what his personality was like. One of the things I discovered that surprised me was that Howard was a hypochondriac. Leslie Howard never stopped thinking about and obsessing over his health. He was convinced that he suffered from all sorts of diseases and that his heart would give out at any moment. Howard "never moved without a perfect battery of pills and medicines"(1) for this disease and for that condition and wouldn't put any type of food in his mouth until it had been thoroughly inspected. No amount of evidence produced by doctors could convince him that he wasn't about to succumb to a terrible illness at any given moment.(2)

[Leslie Howard as Berry Rhodes in Five and Ten, 1931]

Another shocker was the methods used and money spent by Leslie Howard attempting to contact Violette Cunnington, his lover and soul-mate, after her death in 1942. I know what it is like to lose someone who is loved and cherished and the overwhelming feelings of desperation to see and talk to them one more time. I also know that a feeling of guilt can exacerbate those feelings. And I do believe that Howard had an unreasonable and unwarranted feeling of guilt over Cunnington's death.

But the most perplexing discovery I have made is Leslie Howard's attitudes regarding the theater, movies and the acting profession. He seemed to look down on acting, stating that because it was an "outlet for emotion" it was a profession better suited for women(3) and calling it the most "unfathomable profession in the world."(4) Howard "saw the whole business of acting as a sheer process of embarrassment, with its sheepish daubing on of grease-paint followed by a period of immodest prancing about in borrowed finery."(5) Howard even went so far as to demonstrate how all the essential ideas of a story could be conveyed on the stage without an actor ever making an appearance. [Click here to read the article.]

[Leslie Howard as Dwight Winthrop and Norma Shearer
as Jan Ashe in A Free Soul, 1931]

According to Ronald Howard his father "often said in moments of infuriation, or even exasperated amusement at his predicament, that acting was a silly, futile, bogus sort of job and actors no more than clever performing seals, or, at worst, mere puppets jerked into life at another's bidding."(5) The more success Howard achieved as an actor, the more his distaste for his profession grew. He didn't like being known by his fans and stated that actors "should not exist off-stage."(6) Howard said the actor "should be able to wear such a complete make-up on the stage that he will never be recognized off it."(6) He went on to state that "actors ought not to be human beings; they should be part of the rôles they play, and the audience should not be aware of them as personalities apart from those rôles."(6) Howard stated that familiarity "destroys that important element in the theater—illusion."(6) He felt that when the actor became too familiar with the public the result was a "remarkably short career."(6) That the public was familiar with what their favorite actor "eats, how they sleep, where they go in the summer, what color ties they wear, what they think about babies, the international debt, cauliflower and marriage"(6) soon destroyed the fantasy and without the fantasy, the fan soon lost interest.

And Howard's opinions of movies and those that made them was worse. He referred to films as "typical effusions of the conveyor mentality."(7) Before Howard had ever made his first film he let his feelings be known about the movies stating: "A certain part of the theater, which has been dying for the past 100 years, did die a natural death and that was the part that went into talking pictures. The public would rather see a bad movie than a bad play because it is so much cheaper. Those at the head of the motion picture industry still find it hard to believe that the public wants anything in the way of motion pictures that is worth while. Despite talking pictures the theatre is still able to exist as a living, breathing organization."(8)

[Leslie Howard as David Trent and Ann Harding
as Shirley Mortimer in Devotion, 1931]

As I became more and more aware of Howard's attitudes about the theatre, the movies and acting, I went through several attitudes myself. At first I felt surprised that my favorite movie actor had such a dislike for doing something I so enjoyed watching him do. And as I discovered how Howard felt about being known I felt that I was intruding on his secret and private world. Should I even be researching his life and career? Was I just one of those fans he disliked and wanted to avoid who lurked at the backstage entrance, waiting for a glimpse of him? Then, I think I became a little miffed that he seemed to be placing himself on a higher plane than those ignorant among us who didn't understand the reality of the situation—until I read of the high esteem in which he held the public. Next I felt sad—sad that Mr. Howard didn't feel the pride of his accomplishments and the enjoyment that success should bring. And, finally, I felt the way someone feels who has just been pranked. Because I finally understood that, although Howard did really think all these things, I am not sure that he believed all of them. Or if he did believe all of them, that he continued to believe all of them once the words passed his lips. Every time I felt sure that I knew where Howard stood on an issue, I would read something that contradicted my understanding.

[Leslie Howard as Max Tracey in Service for Ladies, 1932]

Leslie Howard seemed to be a man who needed to "try on" a belief to see if he really believed it. He professed to want anonymity, but he sought fame. He expressed a desire to be alone, but he had many friends and enjoyed their company and they enjoyed his. He was a man who wanted everything but hung on to nothing. I sometimes have the feeling that Howard would make a pronouncement that would leave his audience stunned and then turn around and laugh, or at least be surprised at his own words. I said before that I think I have a fairly good idea of who Leslie Howard was and what his personality was like. I also think that at any moment I may read something about him that totally changes everything I believe. Howard was a complex man and that is what makes him so fascinating. He could be annoying, too, and at times I find myself rolling my eyes when I read some of the things he said and read about some of the things he did. I have the feeling that those who knew him and loved him best did some eye-rolling, too. But getting to know Leslie Howard has caused me to come to a very realistic view of The Man, and even though he was far from perfect, he was a truly kind and generous man, with very little ego and a very big heart.

[Leslie Howard as Tom Collier and Myrna Loy
as Cecelia Henry in The Animal Kingdom, 1932]

Sources:

(1) Howard, L. R. A Quite Remarkable Father: The Biography of Leslie Howard, p. 7. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1959.
(2) Howard, L. R. A Quite Remarkable Father: The Biography of Leslie Howard, p. 8. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1959.
(3) Reed, D. "Tea-Timing with the Horsy Mr. Howard." Silver Screen, March, 1935. Screenland Magazine, Inc., New York.
(4) Howard, L. "In Which Mr. Howard Talks About Acting." The New York Times, March 23, 1930. Retrieved from www.nytimes.com.
(5) Howard, R. In Search of My Father: A Portrait of Leslie Howard, p. 38. London: St. Martin's Press, 1984. ISBN 0312411618.
(6) "Howard Gives Views on Actors and Other Things." Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 5, 1932.
(7) Howard, R. In Search of My Father: A Portrait of Leslie Howard, p. 21. London: St. Martin's Press, 1984. ISBN 0312411618.
(8) "Calls 12 Good Plays Enough for New York." The New York Times, January 22, 1930. Retrieved from www.nytimes.com.


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