Biography
Kenneth Villiers (1912–1992) was a British actor and director. Born Kenneth Charles Howard Villiers on 27 June 1912 in Colombo, Ceylon, he was the son of former tea-planters who became actors. He trained at the Nautical College, Pangbourne, and began his career in repertory theatre before joining Sir Frank Benson's touring company and appearing in West End productions, including a long run of The Wind and the Rain (1933) and The King's Pirate.
Villiers entered films in the mid-1930s, with roles including Bob West in Mr. Cohen Takes a Walk (1935), Basil Conway in They Didn't Know (1936), a missionary in Broken Blossoms (1936), Maurice Passworthy in Things to Come (1936), and an uncredited part in A Yank at Oxford (1938). He later appeared as Lewis in Against the Wind (1948). During the Second World War he served in the Royal Navy and directed documentary films. After the war he worked as a film producer and theatre director before becoming an interior decorator, designer and landscape gardener.
