Anthony Steel (actor)

Anthony Steel
Steel at the 30th Academy Awards in 1958
Born
Anthony Maitland Steel

(1920-05-21)21 May 1920
Died21 March 2001(2001-03-21) (aged 80)
Occupation(s)Actor, singer
Years active1948–1998
Spouses
Juanita Forbes
(m. 1949; div. 1954)
(m. 1956; div. 1959)
Johanna Melcher
(m. 1964)
PartnerAnn Hanson
Children2

Anthony Maitland Steel (21 May 1920 – 21 March 2001)[1] was a British actor and singer who appeared in British war films of the 1950s such as The Wooden Horse (1950) and Where No Vultures Fly (1951). He was also known for his tumultuous marriage to Anita Ekberg.

He was described as "a glorious throwback to the Golden Age of Empire... the perfect imperial actor, born out of his time, blue-eyed, square-jawed, clean-cut."[2] As another writer put it, "whenever a chunky dependable hero was required to portray grace under pressure in wartime or the concerns of a game warden in a remote corner of the empire, Steel was sure to be called upon."[3] Another said "Never as popular as Stewart Granger or as versatile as Kenneth More, he enjoyed a brief period of fashionability embodying the kind of idealised, true-blue Englishman who probably rowed for his university, played cricket on the village green and exuded calm under pressure as he bravely fought for king and country."[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference British Hit Singles & Albums was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Richards, Jeffrey (1973). Visions of Yesterday. Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-71007-576-5.
  3. ^ "Anthony Steel". The Times. 29 March 2001.
  4. ^ "Obituary: Anthony Steel" [final edition], Allan Hunter. The Scotsman, 3 April 2001: 16.