--- name: "Leo Genn" canonical: "https://film.one/person/leo-genn" roles: ["Actor"] born: "9 August 1905" died: "26 January 1978" reviewed_on_fi1m: 4 average_fi1m_score: 73 average_as: "actor" average_over: 4 updated: "2026-09-20T03:54:34.946014+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." --- # Leo Genn Actor. Born 9 August 1905 in London, England, UK. Died 26 January 1978. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 9 August 1905, London, England, UK - **Died:** 26 January 1978 - **Active:** 1944–1962 - **Also known as:** Leo John Genn - **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination - **Average Fi1m score:** 73, as actor, over 4 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 79 (2), 1950s 65 (1), 1960s 68 (1) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 72 to 70 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 3 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 4, History 2, War 2, Action 1, Mystery 1, Romance 1 - **Screen time:** 10 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $71m across 2 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Genn, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q946210, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0312890/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/29655 ## Streaming the US now - **HBO Max:** [*Henry V*](https://film.one/film/henry-v-1944.md) (82), [*Quo Vadis*](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md) (65) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Leo Genn > Leo Genn's instrument was a low, unhurried voice and a face that gave nothing away, and he spent thirty years lending both to doctors, officers and Romans. He was never dull to listen to; he was sometimes hard to remember afterwards. Watch Leo Genn tell someone bad news. He does not lean in and he does not lower his eyes. The voice does the work, low and even, the one that got him called black velvet in his own lifetime, and the face waits to see how it lands. In *The Snake Pit* (1948) his Dr Mark Kik takes on Olivia de Havilland's Virginia and starts her on electroshock in the tone of a man confirming an appointment. That sequence horrified us, and part of the horror is Genn. Anatole Litvak stages it as routine, a trolley, a gag, a nurse counting, and Genn plays it as routine too; the doctor's voice never rises. Leo Tover keeps the camera on de Havilland, and Genn is the calm at the edge of the frame, which is where he did his best work. He came to it late. He practised as a barrister before turning to the stage at the Old Vic in the early 1930s, and he was in films from 1935. The war took him away, as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Artillery, and when he came back in 1945 the industry cast him, more or less for the rest of his life, as the one man present who has seen worse. Olivier had already used him as the Constable of France in *Henry V* (1944), where he speaks the verse as if it were conversation. Then Hollywood: Kik in 1948, Petronius in *Quo Vadis* (1951), Starbuck in John Huston's *Moby Dick* (1956), a brigadier general among the crowd in *The Longest Day* (1962), and smaller parts on into the 1970s. Petronius is the performance people remember, the poker face turned to sarcasm, and by most accounts it is his wittiest hour. We have not reviewed it and will not pretend to. What we can say from *The Snake Pit* is that the stillness needs something to push against. De Havilland gives him a face that never settles, and his settled one means something beside it. Hand him a script with nothing to steady and he simply stays steady, and the word that followed him through the fifties and sixties was bland. We would put it differently: he was an actor who did not audition for the audience. He was rarely cast as the lover, and one can see why. The voice promises and the face declines. Our own reservation about *The Snake Pit* lands partly on him. The psychiatry the film uses to explain Virginia is tidier than any mind we have met, and Kik is its spokesman; Genn delivers the tidiness so gently that we wanted to believe it, which is the film's problem and his gift in one. He said of leaving the law that "somewhere inside me there was an actor trying to be heard". Heard is the right word. Start with *The Snake Pit*, and watch what he does while de Havilland is talking. The answer is almost nothing, and it is enough. ## Biography Leo Genn (also credited as Leo John Genn) was an English actor and barrister. Born in London in 1905, he qualified as a barrister in 1928 after studying law at the University of Cambridge. He began acting in the early 1930s, appearing with the Old Vic company, and made his film debut in 1935. During the Second World War he served in the Royal Artillery, reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and later assisted with war crimes investigations at Belsen. Genn appeared as The Constable of France in Laurence Olivier’s *Henry V* (1944). He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Petronius in *Quo Vadis* (1951). Other notable screen roles include Starbuck in *Moby Dick* (1956) and Brigadier General Edwin P. Parker Jr. in *The Longest Day* (1962). He continued working in film, television and radio until the mid-1970s and died in London in 1978. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, nytimes.com.* ## On Fi1m (4) - *The Longest Day* (1962), Fi1m 68, as Brig. Gen. Edwin P. Parker Jr. — [page](https://film.one/film/the-longest-day.md) - *Quo Vadis* (1951), Fi1m 65, as Petronius — [page](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md) - *The Snake Pit* (1948), Fi1m 76, as Mark Kik — [page](https://film.one/film/the-snake-pit.md) - *Henry V* (1944), Fi1m 82, as The Constable of France — [page](https://film.one/film/henry-v-1944.md) ## Complete filmography (86) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *You Are Free, Dr. Korczak* (1975), as Dr. Janusz Korczak - *Frightmare* (1974), as Dr. Lytell - *The MacKintosh Man* (1973), as Rollins (uncredited) - *The Silent One* (1973), as Chief of M.I.5 - *Endless Night* (1972), as Psychiatrist (uncredited) - *The Persuaders!* (1971), series, as Sir Hugo Chalmers - *Die Screaming Marianne* (1971), as The Judge - *A Lizard in a Woman's Skin* (1971), as Edmond Brighton - *Marie Stopes: Sexual Revolutionary* (1970), as Patrick Hastings, KC - *Connecting Rooms* (1970), as Dr. Norman - *The Bloody Judge* (1970), as Lord Wessex - *The Expert* (1968), series, as Dr. Bellman - *The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde* (1968), as Dr. Lanyon - *Khartoum* (1966), as Narrator (voice) - *Circus of Fear* (1966), as Elliott - *BBC Play of the Month* (1965), series, as Henry Wilcox - *Ten Little Indians* (1965), as General Mandrake - *The Wednesday Play* (1964), series, as Hereward Daintry - *The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse* (1964), as Adm. Quency - *The Delhi Way* (1964), as Narrator (voice) - *55 Days at Peking* (1963), as Gen. Jung-Lu - *The Longest Day* (1962), as Brig. Gen. Edwin P. Parker Jr. — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/the-longest-day.md) - *The Virginian* (1962), series, as Gavin Heath - *The Defenders* (1961), series, as Dr. Morton Chaney - *The Life of Adolf Hitler* (1961), as Narrator - *Too Hot to Handle* (1960), as Johnny Solo - *Escape by Night* (1960), as British Major Michael Pemberton - *On Trial* (1960), series, as Sir Charles Dilke - *Mrs. Miniver* (1960), as Clem Miniver - *You'll Never See Me Again* (1959), as Inspector Stillman - *Tank Force!* (1958), as Sgt. Kendall - *I Accuse!* (1958), as Maj. Picquart - *The Steel Bayonet* (1958), as Maj. Gerrard - *The Immortal Land* (1958), Actor - *Beyond Mombasa* (1956), as Ralph Hoyt - *Armchair Theatre* (1956), series, as Inspector Stillman - *Moby Dick* (1956), as Starbuck - *The Titanic Incident* (1955), as Paul Bernard - *Lady Chatterley's Lover* (1955), as Sir Clifford Chatterley - *Screen Director's Playhouse* (1955), series, as Paul Bernard - *Blackmail* (1955), as Lionel Kendall - *The Green Scarf* (1954), as Rodelec - *Personal Affair* (1953), as Stephen Barlow - *The Red Beret* (1953), as Major J. Snow - *Elizabeth Is Queen* (1953), as Narrator - *The Girls of Pleasure Island* (1953), as Roger Halyard - *Plymouth Adventure* (1952), as William Bradford - *24 Hours of a Woman's Life* (1952), as Robert Sterling - *The Magic Box* (1952), as Maida Vale Doctor - *Hallmark Hall of Fame* (1951), series, as Archbishop of Rheims - *Quo Vadis* (1951), as Petronius — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md) - *Power for All* (1951), as Narrator - *The Undefeated* (1950), as Joe Anderson (voice) - *The Miniver Story* (1950), as Steve Brunswick - *The Wooden Horse* (1950), as Peter Howard - *I Went Back* (1950), as Narrator - *Your Show of Shows* (1950), series, Actor - *No Place for Jennifer* (1950), as William Parry - *London Belongs to Me* (1948), as Narrator (uncredited) - *The Snake Pit* (1948), as Mark Kik — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/the-snake-pit.md) - *The Velvet Touch* (1948), as Michael Morrell - *Mourning Becomes Electra* (1947), as Adam Brant - *Green for Danger* (1946), as Mr. Eden - *Theirs Is the Glory* (1946), as Narrator (uncredited) - *Caesar and Cleopatra* (1945), as Bel Affris - *Famous Scenes from Shakespeare No. I: Julius Caesar - The Forum Scene - Act III. Scene 2* (1945), as Marcus Antonius - *Henry V* (1944), as The Constable of France — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/henry-v-1944.md) - *The Return of the Vikings* (1944), as Narrator (voice) - *Attack! The Battle for New Britain* (1944), as Narrator (voice) - *The Way Ahead* (1944), as Captain Edwards - *Tunisian Victory* (1944), as Narrator (voice) - *The Bells Go Down* (1943), as Off-Screen Narrator (uncredited) - *The Young Mr. Pitt* (1942), as Danton (uncredited) - *Girl in the News* (1940), as Prosecuting Counsel (Uncredited) - *Law and Disorder* (1940), as Another Agent - *Ten Days in Paris* (1940), as Lanson - *Contraband* (1940), as First Brother Grimm - *French Communique* (1940), as Commentator - *Pygmalion* (1938), as Prince (uncredited) - *Dangerous Medicine* (1938), as Murdoch - *The Drum* (1938), as Abdul Fakir (uncredited) - *Kate Plus Ten* (1938), as Dr. Gurdon - *The Rat* (1937), as Defending Counsel - *Jump for Glory* (1937), as Prosecuting Counsel - *Accused* (1936), as Man - *The Dream Doctor* (1936), as Husband ## Gallery - ![Leo Genn](https://film.one/media/person/1231147/gallery-9583a2a0d76d.jpg) Leo Genn — Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Leo_Genn_Academy_Awards_1952_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Marina Berti & Leo Genn in Quo Vadis - trailer (cropped screenshot) (1951)](https://film.one/media/person/1231147/gallery-fe8db40c6af0.jpg) Marina Berti & Leo Genn in Quo Vadis - trailer (cropped screenshot) (1951) — trailer screenshot (MGM), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Marina_Berti-Leo_Genn_in_Quo_Vadis_trailer.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Leo Genn](https://film.one/media/person/1231147/gallery-27a542980e40.jpg) Leo Genn — Image via TMDB - ![Leo Genn](https://film.one/media/person/1231147/gallery-591a50099574.jpg) Leo Genn — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated - 1952: Best Supporting Actor (nominated), for *Quo Vadis* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © 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/leo-genn