Donald Crisp Biography

Fast Facts

• Won the Directors Guild of America Honorary Life Member Award in 1957
• Received his education at the University of Oxford
• Served as a trooper in the 10th Hussars in the Boer War, during which time he met Winston Churchill
• While singing at a concert aboard the ship that took him to America, he impressed opera impresario John C․ Fisher who offered him a place with his company, meaning that he spent his first year in New York singing in the Grand Opera
• Befriended director D․W․ Griffith while working as a stage manager, and when Griffith moved from New York to Hollywood, so did he
• Directed over 100 silent films, in addition to his acting career
• One of his most celebrated roles was that of a Welsh miner in "How Green Was My Valley․"
• Served in army intelligence for Britain during World War I
• Served the advisory board of Bank of America for decades, sometimes acting as its chairman
• Served in the U․S․ Army Reserve during World War II, rising to the rank of colonel