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1 | He was cremated after death and his ashes were interred at Harlow Hill Cemetery in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. |
2 | Had a second son, John Marshall Rennie, with longtime companion Renee Gilbert Taylor. Professionally, his son went by John M. Taylor. |
3 | His son, David Rennie, is now a United Kingdom High Court judge on the Lewes, Sussex circuit. |
4 | Rennie was connected with the Titanic twice on screen. In 1953, he was the uncredited, off-screen narrator for Jean Negulesco's film Titanic (1953). Thirteen years later, in 1966, he played the role of Captain Edward J. Smith (misidentified in the credits as Malcolm Smith) in the pilot episode of the television series The Time Tunnel (1966). Ironically, this episode used tinted stock footage from the earlier film to tell the story of two time travelers who found themselves aboard the doomed ship. |
5 | His early career was interrupted by war service. He was a flight instructor for over two of those years. |
6 | Had appeared in The 13th Letter (1951) for director Otto Preminger, who later named Rennie as a third party to his counter-suit of adultery against his wife during divorce proceedings in 1958. |
7 | In his best known film, the sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), a scene was cut that showed his even-tempered alien character Klaatu in an emotional state. |
8 | A heavy smoker, Rennie had respiratory problems for many years. During the run of the Broadway comedy "Mary, Mary" in the early 1960s, Rennie had to visit the hospital several times; this did not prevent him from being hired to replay his role in the film version, Mary, Mary (1963). His voice was dubbed in the movie The Battle of El Alamein (1969) due to his chronic health problems. Similarly, his own voice is not heard on the English-language dialogue track of his final film, Assignment Terror (1970). |
9 | Lived his final years in Geneva, Switzerland and died at his mother's home in England while visiting because of his brother's death. |
10 | Son of James Rennie (not the actor), who operated a century-old wool mill, and Edith Dobby Rennie. His great-great grandfather, named John Rennie, designed and built New London Bridge. |
11 | Attended and graduated from The Leys School in Cambridge, England. Despite his lean build, he excelled in sports (rowing, fencing, cricket, boxing, wrestling, swimming). |
12 | Once married to British actress Maggie McGrath, who later went by the stage name Maggie Rennie. They had one son: David Rennie (born 1953). |
13 | Close friends during his 20th Century-Fox years with Tyrone Power and appeared in a few of his pictures, including The Black Rose (1950) and I'll Never Forget You (1951). |
14 | Did not begin to actively pursue acting until age 29. Living a rather wanderlust life prior to this, he was once a car salesman, but quit after a year when he couldn't sell even one car. Was also a manager of a rope factory for his uncle. |
15 | Rennie joined the Royal Air Force in 1941, training as a fighter pilot in the United States under the Arnold Plan. While at Napier Field, Dothan, Alabama for his advanced flight training he was asked by fellow trainee, Scotsman Jack Morton, what he did in civilian life. Rennie told Morton and the other pilots gathered around that he was a movie actor. They stared at him in disbelief then broke out in a chorus of laughter. A couple of nights later Rennie and his classmates went into town to watch a movie, Ships with Wings (1942). Not long into the movie, and much to the surprise of those seated with him, Rennie appeared on the screen as Royal Navy Pilot Lieutenant Maxwell. |
Title | Year | Status | Character |
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Assignment Terror | 1970 | | Dr. Odo Warnoff |
Stoney | 1969 | | Harvey Ward |
The F.B.I. | 1967-1969 | TV Series | Eric Reverson / Albert Robinson / Major John Anka / ... |
The Battle of El Alamein | 1969 | | Gen. Bernard Law Montgomery |
Subterfuge | 1968 | | Goldsmith |
Giugno '44 - Sbarcheremo in Normandia | 1968 | | Blynn |
European Eye | 1968 | TV Movie | Martin Purcell |
Premiere | 1968 | TV Series | |
The Last Chance | 1968 | | George McConnell |
The Devil's Brigade | 1968 | | Lt. Gen. Mark Clark |
The Power | 1968 | | Arthur Nordlund |
The Young, the Evil and the Savage | 1968 | | Inspector Durand |
The Invaders | 1967 | TV Series | Vice Chancellor Pierre Alquist / Magnus |
The Danny Thomas Hour | 1967 | TV Series | Paul Heaton |
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | 1967 | TV Series | Barnaby Partridge |
Death on the Run | 1967 | | Major Worthington Clark |
I Spy | 1967 | TV Series | Hamilton |
Hondo | 1967 | TV Series | Tribolet |
Iron Horse | 1967 | TV Series | Johnny Hobart |
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | 1966-1967 | TV Series | Inspector Kauslake / Edward Parker Greene |
Hotel | 1967 | | Geoffrey - Duke of Lanbourne |
Batman | 1966 | TV Series | Sandman |
Jericho | 1966 | TV Series | Major George Quincy |
ABC Stage 67 | 1966 | TV Series | |
Daniel Boone | 1964-1966 | TV Series | Edgar Newton / Maj. Peter Wellington |
Cyborg 2087 | 1966 | | Garth A7 |
The Time Tunnel | 1966 | TV Series | Capt. Malcolm Smith |
Lost in Space | 1966 | TV Series | The Keeper |
12 O'Clock High | 1966 | TV Series | Gen. St. John Keighley |
Mr. Paracelaus, Who Are You? | 1966 | TV Movie | |
Ride Beyond Vengeance | 1966 | | Brooks Durham |
Branded | 1965 | TV Series | Charles Briswell |
Kraft Suspense Theatre | 1965 | TV Series | Robert Thurston |
Bonanza | 1965 | TV Series | Prof. Poppy / Dr. P.A.Mundy |
Mark Dolphin | 1965 | TV Movie | |
The Third Man | 1959-1965 | TV Series | Harry Lime |
The Great Adventure | 1963 | TV Series | President Jefferson Davis |
Mary, Mary | 1963 | | Dirk Winsten |
Wagon Train | 1957-1963 | TV Series | Robert Harrison Clarke / John Cameron |
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | 1963 | TV Series | Ralph Manson |
The Virginian | 1963 | TV Series | Michael O'Rourke |
Perry Mason | 1963 | TV Series | Prof. Edward Lindley |
The Dick Powell Theatre | 1961-1963 | TV Series | General Conrad Munday / Inspector Marshall |
Alfred Hitchcock Presents | 1958-1962 | TV Series | Sir Humphrey J. Orford / Allen Bliss |
Route 66 | 1961 | TV Series | Summers |
The Barbara Stanwyck Show | 1961 | TV Series | Julius Ulrich |
The Americans | 1961 | TV Series | Capt. James Duquesne |
The DuPont Show of the Month | 1960 | TV Series | Sir Percy Blakeney |
Shirley Temple's Storybook | 1960 | TV Series | Capt. Creighton |
The Lost World | 1960 | | Lord John Roxton |
Zane Grey Theater | 1958-1960 | TV Series | Marshal Locke Gardner Grant Coburn Matthew Birch |
Third Man on the Mountain | 1959 | | Captain John Winter |
Pursuit | 1958 | TV Series | |
Lux Playhouse | 1958 | TV Series | Walter Brand |
Decision | 1958 | TV Series | Colonel T.J. Allan |
Missiles from Hell | 1958 | | Stefan |
Suspicion | 1958 | TV Series | Angus Martin |
Climax! | 1955-1958 | TV Series | Lieutenant Barton / Lorenzo / Dr. Fitzroy / ... |
The Frank Sinatra Show | 1958 | TV Series | |
Omar Khayyam | 1957 | | Hasani Sabah |
Island in the Sun | 1957 | | Hilary Carson |
Playhouse 90 | 1957 | TV Series | Eric Millet |
Teenage Rebel | 1956 | | Jay Fallon |
Producers' Showcase | 1956 | TV Series | Howard Joyce |
The Rains of Ranchipur | 1955 | | Lord Albert Esketh |
Seven Cities of Gold | 1955 | | Father Junipero Serra |
Soldier of Fortune | 1955 | | Inspector Merryweather |
Désirée | 1954 | | Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte |
Mambo | 1954 | | Enrico Marisoni |
Demetrius and the Gladiators | 1954 | | Peter |
Princess of the Nile | 1954 | | Rama Khan |
Prince Valiant | 1954 | | Narrator (voice, uncredited) |
King of the Khyber Rifles | 1953 | | Brig. Gen. J. R. Maitland |
The Robe | 1953 | | Peter |
Dangerous Crossing | 1953 | | Dr. Paul Manning |
Sailor of the King | 1953 | | Lt. Richard Saville |
The Desert Rats | 1953 | | Narrator (voice, uncredited) |
Titanic | 1953 | | End Narrator (voice, uncredited) |
Pony Soldier | 1952 | | Ending Narrator (uncredited) |
Les Miserables | 1952 | | Jean Valjean |
5 Fingers | 1952 | | Colin Travers |
Phone Call from a Stranger | 1952 | | Dr. Robert Fortness |
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel | 1951 | | Narrator (voice, uncredited) |
I'll Never Forget You | 1951 | | Roger Forsyth |
The Day the Earth Stood Still | 1951 | | Klaatu |
The 13th Letter | 1951 | | Dr. Pearson |
The Black Rose | 1950 | | King Edward |
Trio | 1950 | | Major Templeton (in segment Sanatorium) |
Miss Pilgrim's Progress | 1949 | | Bob Thane |
The Golden Madonna | 1949 | | Mike Christie |
Uneasy Terms | 1948 | | Slim Callaghan |
Idol of Paris | 1948 | | Hertz |
Morning Departure | 1948 | TV Movie | Lt-Cmdr. Stanford |
High Fury | 1947 | | Rudolph |
The Root of All Evil | 1947 | | Charles Mortimer |
Caesar and Cleopatra | 1945 | | 1st. Centurion |
The Wicked Lady | 1945 | | Kit Locksby |
I'll Be Your Sweetheart | 1945 | | Bob Fielding |
The Sky's the Limit | 1943/II | Short | George |
The Big Blockade | 1942 | | Royal Air Force: George |
Ships with Wings | 1942 | | Lieut. Maxwell |
Tower of Terror | 1941 | | Anthony Hale |
'Pimpernel' Smith | 1941 | | Prison Camp Officer (uncredited) |
Suicide Squadron | 1941 | | Kapulski |
Turned Out Nice Again | 1941 | | Diner (uncredited) |
The Patient Vanishes | 1941 | | Inspector |
The Briggs Family | 1940 | | Plainclothes Policeman (uncredited) |
Shadows of the Underworld | 1939 | | Bit Part (uncredited) |
Three on a Weekend | 1938 | | Guardsman (uncredited) |
The Divorce of Lady X | 1938 | | Minor Role (uncredited) |
Murder on Diamond Row | 1937 | | Medical Examiner (uncredited) |
Gangway | 1937 | | Ship's Officer (uncredited) |
Gypsy | 1937 | | Bit Part (uncredited) |
The Conquest of the Air | 1936 | | Minor Role (uncredited) |
The Man Who Could Work Miracles | 1936 | | San Francisco Cop (uncredited) |
Secret Agent | 1936 | | Army Captain (uncredited) |
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