---
name: "Felix Aylmer"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/felix-aylmer"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "21 February 1889"
died: "2 September 1979"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 7
average_fi1m_score: 75
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 7
updated: "2026-09-20T04:18:47.670419+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Felix Aylmer

Actor. Born 21 February 1889 in Corsham, Wiltshire, England, UK. Died 2 September 1979.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 21 February 1889, Corsham, Wiltshire, England, UK
- **Died:** 2 September 1979
- **Active:** 1938–1964
- **Also known as:** Феликс Эйлмер, Felix Edward Aylmer Jones
- **Frequently works with:** [Deborah Kerr](https://film.one/person/deborah-kerr.md), [Laurence Olivier](https://film.one/person/laurence-olivier.md), [Robert Taylor](https://film.one/person/robert-taylor-82216.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 75, as actor, over 7 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 74 (1), 1940s 83 (2), 1950s 70 (3), 1960s 79 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 76 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 5 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 0 of 5 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 6, History 4, Romance 4, Adventure 1, War 1
- **Screen time:** 15 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $44m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Aylmer, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1403322, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0043875/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/85345

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Hamlet*](https://film.one/film/hamlet-1948.md) (84), [*Henry V*](https://film.one/film/henry-v-1944.md) (82), [*Quo Vadis*](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md) (65)
- **Apple TV:** [*Separate Tables*](https://film.one/film/separate-tables.md) (74)
- **Tubi:** [*Ivanhoe*](https://film.one/film/ivanhoe.md) (70)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Felix Aylmer

> Felix Aylmer played bishops, judges and chamberlains for forty years, straight enough to be believed and slow enough to be laughed at. In Olivier's *Henry V* and *Hamlet* he is the old man who turns out to be funnier than anyone expected.

Watch the start of *Henry V* (1944). Two bishops shuffle onto the Globe stage to explain the king's claim to France, and they cannot find the right page. Felix Aylmer and Robert Helpmann play the muddle without a wink, and the groundlings on screen laugh at them, which is Olivier's way of telling us we may. That is Aylmer's method, there and for the rest of his career: a man of authority played exactly as such men are, certain of his position, precise in his speech, and a little behind the conversation. He does not send the part up. He lets it be what it is and trusts us to notice.

He had been on stage since 1911, when he made his debut at the London Coliseum, and did not come to films until 1930, already past forty. From then on he worked steadily as a character actor, and the parts sorted themselves quickly: clerics, judges, chamberlains, men with a seal of office and a grievance. He made five films with Laurence Olivier. The two we have reviewed, *Henry V* and *Hamlet* (1948), are where a reader should start. The 1950s and 1960s brought Merlin in *Knights of the Round Table* (1953), Stephen Banning in *The Mummy* (1959) and a second go at the Archbishop of Canterbury in *Becket* (1964), and he was still working in television into the 1970s.

Polonius is the performance to see. The part is usually a bore who takes ten lines to say four, and directors either cut him or let him drone. Aylmer takes the speeches at a clip, so the tedium belongs to the character rather than the audience, and he is quicker and funnier than the part has any right to be. We went in braced to endure the advice to Laertes and found ourselves smiling through it, because Aylmer plays a man who enjoys the sound of his own good sense and is faintly puzzled that nobody else does. In a film that is otherwise chilling and holds its breath for two hours, he is one of the few people allowed to be warm.

The limit is plain, and he never got past it. He played the Archbishop of Canterbury twice, twenty years apart, and most of what came between was a variation on the same robed elder. We have not reviewed *Becket* or *The Mummy* and will not pretend to judge them. Typecasting is the price of doing one thing well, and Aylmer paid it for four decades. If you want him at his best, take the Olivier films, and watch the bishop lose his place.

## Biography

Felix Aylmer was an English stage and film actor. Born Felix Edward Aylmer Jones, he was educated at Oxford and made his stage debut at the London Coliseum in 1911. He served as a junior officer in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during the First World War and resumed his stage career afterwards.

Aylmer entered films in 1930 and appeared in numerous productions over the following decades, often in roles as elderly or clerical figures. He played the Archbishop of Canterbury in Laurence Olivier’s *Henry V* (1944) and again in *Becket* (1964). Other notable screen roles include Polonius in *Hamlet* (1948) and appearances in *Quo Vadis* (1951), *Ivanhoe* (1952) and *The Mummy* (1959).

He was appointed an OBE in 1950 and knighted in 1965 for services to drama. Aylmer served as president of the actors’ union Equity from 1950 to 1969.

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org, web.archive.org.*

## On Fi1m (7)

- *Becket* (1964), Fi1m 79, as Archbishop of Canterbury — [page](https://film.one/film/becket.md)
- *Separate Tables* (1958), Fi1m 74, as Mr. Fowler — [page](https://film.one/film/separate-tables.md)
- *Ivanhoe* (1952), Fi1m 70, as Isaac — [page](https://film.one/film/ivanhoe.md)
- *Quo Vadis* (1951), Fi1m 65, as Plautius — [page](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md)
- *Hamlet* (1948), Fi1m 84, as Polonius - Lord Chamberlain — [page](https://film.one/film/hamlet-1948.md)
- *Henry V* (1944), Fi1m 82, as Archbishop of Canterbury — [page](https://film.one/film/henry-v-1944.md)
- *The Citadel* (1938), Fi1m 74, as Mr. Boon — [page](https://film.one/film/the-citadel.md)

## Complete filmography (145)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Legend of the Champions* (1983), as Old Man
- *Oh, Father!* (1973), series, as Father Anselm, The Prior, Father Anselm
- *Jason King* (1971), series, Actor
- *The Main Chance* (1969), series, as Judge
- *Hostile Witness* (1968), as Justice Osborne
- *Decline and Fall ...of a Birdwatcher* (1968), as Judge
- *The Champions* (1968), series, as Old Man
- *Oh, Brother!* (1968), series, Actor
- *Sir Arthur Conan Doyle* (1967), series, as Sir Dominic Crabbe
- *Walk's End* (1966), as Mr. Bone
- *Out of the Unknown* (1965), series, as Mr. Bone
- *The World of Wooster* (1965), series, as The Duke of Chiswick
- *Masquerade* (1965), as Henrickson
- *The Walrus And The Carpenter* (1965), series, Actor
- *The Chalk Garden* (1964), as Judge McWhirrey
- *Macbeth* (1964), as Doctor
- *Becket* (1964), as Archbishop of Canterbury — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/becket.md)
- *The Running Man* (1963), as Parson
- *The Boys* (1962), as Judge
- *The Road to Hong Kong* (1962), as Grand Lama
- *Victoria Regina* (1961), as Lord Melbourne
- *Exodus* (1960), as Dr. Lieberman
- *The Hands of Orlac* (1960), as Dr. Francis Cochrane
- *From the Terrace* (1960), as James Duncan MacHardie
- *Never Take Sweets from a Stranger* (1960), as Clarence Olderberry Sr.
- *Captain Brassbound's Conversion* (1960), as Sir Howard Hallam
- *The Third Man* (1959), series, Actor
- *The Mummy* (1959), as Stephen Banning
- *The Doctor's Dilemma* (1959), as Sir Patrick Cullen
- *Separate Tables* (1958), as Mr. Fowler — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/separate-tables.md)
- *The Two-Headed Spy* (1958), as Cornaz
- *I Accuse!* (1958), as Edgar Demange
- *Saint Joan* (1957), as Inquisitor
- *Anastasia* (1956), as Chamberlain
- *Loser Takes All* (1956), as The Other
- *Spider's Web* (1955), as Sir Rowland Delahaye
- *The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp* (1954), Actor
- *The Love Lottery* (1954), as Winant
- *Knights of the Round Table* (1953), as Merlin
- *The Master of Ballantrae* (1953), as Lord Durrisdeer
- *The Man Who Watched Trains Go By* (1952), as Merkemans
- *Ivanhoe* (1952), as Isaac — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/ivanhoe.md)
- *Hallmark Hall of Fame* (1951), series, as Sir Howard Hallam, Doctor, Lord Melbourne
- *Quo Vadis* (1951), as Plautius — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md)
- *The Lady with a Lamp* (1951), as Lord Palmerston
- *No Highway in the Sky* (1951), Actor
- *She Shall Have Murder* (1950), as Mr. Playfair
- *Trio* (1950), as Bank Manager
- *So Long at the Fair* (1950), as British Consul
- *Your Witness* (1950), as The British Judge
- *Prince of Foxes* (1949), as Marc Antonio Verano
- *Christopher Columbus* (1949), as Father Perez
- *Alice in Wonderland* (1949), as Dr. Liddel / The Cheshire Cat (voice)
- *Edward, My Son* (1949), as Mr. Hanray
- *Hamlet* (1948), as Polonius - Lord Chamberlain — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/hamlet-1948.md)
- *Quartet* (1948), as Martin (segment "The Colonel's Lady")
- *The Calendar* (1948), as Lord Forlingham
- *The Ghosts of Berkeley Square* (1947), as Colonel "Bulldog" Kelsoe
- *A Man About the House* (1947), as Richard Sanctuary
- *The October Man* (1947), as Dr. Martin
- *Green Fingers* (1947), as Daniel Booth
- *The Man Within* (1947), as Priest
- *The Magic Bow* (1946), Actor
- *The Laughing Lady* (1946), as Sir Felix Mountroyal
- *The Years Between* (1946), as Sir Ernest Foster
- *Caesar and Cleopatra* (1945), as 1st. Nobleman
- *Famous Scenes from Shakespeare No. I: Julius Caesar - The Forum Scene - Act III. Scene 2* (1945), as Marcus Brutus
- *The Wicked Lady* (1945), as Hogarth
- *The Way to the Stars* (1945), as Rev. Charles Moss
- *Famous Scenes from Shakespeare No. 2: Macbeth Act II, Scene 2 and Act V, Scene I* (1945), as Doctor
- *Henry V* (1944), as Archbishop of Canterbury — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/henry-v-1944.md)
- *Mr. Emmanuel* (1944), as Mr. Emmanuel
- *English Without Tears* (1944), as Mr. Spaggot
- *Time Flies* (1944), as The Professor
- *The Demi-Paradise* (1943), as Mr. Runalow
- *Escape to Danger* (1943), as Sir Alfred Horton
- *The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp* (1943), as The Bishop — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/the-life-and-death-of-colonel-blimp.md)
- *Thursday's Child* (1943), as Mr. Keith
- *The Peterville Diamond* (1943), as The President
- *A Welcome to Britain* (1943), as Schoolmaster (uncredited)
- *The Young Mr. Pitt* (1942), as Lord North
- *Sabotage at Sea* (1942), as John Dighton
- *Uncensored* (1942), as Colonel Von Hohenstein
- *The Black Sheep of Whitehall* (1942), as Crabtree
- *The Seventh Survivor* (1942), as Sir Elmer Norton
- *Hi Gang!* (1941), as Lord Amersham
- *South American George* (1941), as Mr. Appleby
- *I Thank You* (1941), as Henry Potter
- *Atlantic Ferry* (1941), as Bank President
- *This England* (1941), as Sir Edward Grey (uncredited)
- *Major Barbara* (1941), as James
- *The Spell of Amy Nugent* (1941), as Mr. Morton
- *The Saint's Vacation* (1941), as Leighton
- *The Ghost of St. Michael's* (1941), as Dr Winter
- *Saloon Bar* (1940), as Mayor
- *The Case of the Frightened Lady* (1940), as Dr. Amersham
- *The Briggs Family* (1940), as Mr. Sand
- *Night Train to Munich* (1940), as Dr. Fredericks
- *Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt* (1940), as The Proctor
- *Girl in the News* (1940), as Prosecuting Counsel
- *Just like a Woman* (1939), as Sir Robert Hummel
- *Young Man's Fancy* (1939), as Sir Caleb Crowther
- *Land of Liberty* (1939), as Lord Palmerston (edited from 'Victoria the Great')
- *Spies of the Air* (1939), as Col. Cairns
- *Sixty Glorious Years* (1938), as Lord Palmerston
- *The Citadel* (1938), as Mr. Boon — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-citadel.md)
- *South Riding* (1938), as Chairman of Council
- *The Live Wire* (1938), as Wilton
- *Kate Plus Ten* (1938), as Bishop
- *Bank Holiday* (1938), as Dr. Nichols
- *The Rat* (1937), as Prosecuting Counsel
- *Victoria the Great* (1937), as Lord Palmerston
- *Action for Slander* (1937), as Sir Eustace Cunninghame
- *The Vicar of Bray* (1937), as Earl of Brendon
- *Glamorous Night* (1937), as Diplomat
- *The Frog* (1937), as John Bennett
- *Dreaming Lips* (1937), as Sir Robert Blaker
- *The Mill on the Floss* (1937), as Mr. Wakem
- *Jack of All Trades* (1936), as Managing Director
- *Sensation* (1936), as Lord Bouverie
- *Dusty Ermine* (1936), as Police Commissioner
- *The Man in the Mirror* (1936), as The Earl of Wigan
- *As You Like It* (1936), as Duke Frederick
- *Tudor Rose* (1936), as Edward Seymour
- *Seven Sinners* (1936), as Sir Charles Webber
- *In the Soup* (1936), as Counsel
- *The Improper Duchess* (1936), as Count Seidel
- *Royal Eagle* (1936), as Windridge
- *Her Last Affaire* (1935), as Lord Carnforth
- *Checkmate* (1935), as Henry Nicholls
- *The Clairvoyant* (1935), as Prosecutor (uncredited)
- *Hello, Sweetheart* (1935), as Peabody
- *She Shall Have Music* (1935), as Donald Black
- *The Ace of Spades* (1935), as Lord Yardleigh
- *Old Roses* (1935), as Lord Sandelbury
- *The Iron Duke* (1934), as Lord Uxbridge
- *Doctor's Orders* (1934), as Sir Daniel Summerfield
- *The Path of Glory* (1934), as President of Thalia
- *Whispering Tongues* (1934), as Superintendent Fulton
- *The Wandering Jew* (1933), as Ferera (Phase IV)
- *The Shadow* (1933), as Sir Richard Bryant
- *The Ghost Camera* (1933), as Coroner
- *The World, the Flesh and the Devil* (1932), as Sir Henderson Trent
- *Escape!* (1930), as The Prison Governor
- *The Temporary Widow* (1930), as Public Prosecutor

## Gallery

- ![Felix Aylmer](https://film.one/media/person/1230807/gallery-b77fdc781787.jpg) Felix Aylmer — Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Sir_Felix_Aylmer_Allan_Warren.jpg/1280px-Sir_Felix_Aylmer_Allan_Warren.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Sir Felix Aylmer](https://film.one/media/person/1230807/gallery-4142467eb025.jpg) Sir Felix Aylmer — Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Sir_Felix_Aylmer_2_Allan_Warren.jpg/1280px-Sir_Felix_Aylmer_2_Allan_Warren.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Felix Aylmer](https://film.one/media/person/1230807/gallery-e223aff83ab8.jpg) Felix Aylmer — Image via TMDB

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/felix-aylmer