Biography
Lionel Charles Jeffries (10 June 1926 – 19 February 2010) was an English actor, screenwriter and film director. Born in Forest Hill, London, he was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He served in the British Army during the Second World War.
Jeffries appeared in films from 1950, often in comic character roles, including Monsieur Brun in Fanny (1961), Grandpa Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), and Captain Rhumstone in Murder Ahoy (1964). He directed and wrote several children's films, notably The Railway Children (1970) and The Amazing Mr Blunden (1972). He received a Golden Globe nomination for The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966).
