---
name: "Stewart Granger"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/stewart-granger"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "6 May 1913"
died: "16 August 1993"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-20T02:09:35.909789+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."
---

# Stewart Granger

Actor. Born 6 May 1913 in Kensington, London, United Kingdom. Died 16 August 1993.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 6 May 1913, Kensington, London, United Kingdom
- **Died:** 16 August 1993
- **Also known as:** James Lablache Stewart
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_Granger, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q310150, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001289/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/41235

## Fi1m on Stewart Granger

> A leading man who looked born for the sword and the safari, Granger was at his best when he seemed slightly bored by both. Hollywood kept him in costume for a decade; the dry, reluctant hero of *King Solomon's Mines* suggests what else was there.

The best thing Stewart Granger does in *King Solomon's Mines* (1950) is look as though he would rather be somewhere else. His Allan Quartermain has a son in England to pay for and no wish to die for a stranger's husband, and he delivers the film's sourest lines about the country and the men who come to shoot it as if he had said them many times before and stopped expecting anyone to listen. Most adventure heroes want the adventure. Granger's wants the fee.

That reluctance is the interesting part of him, and it is the part the studios used least. He came up through repertory and the West End in the 1930s and became a star in the Gainsborough melodramas from 1943, beginning with *The Man in Grey*, in which he played Rokeby. *King Solomon's Mines* took him to Hollywood and an MGM contract, and MGM knew exactly what it had bought: a tall man who could fence. *Scaramouche* (1952), *The Prisoner of Zenda* (1952) and *Moonfleet* (1955) followed, and the comparison to Errol Flynn was made so often it became a job description. Later there were European films and television.

The physical side was real. He moves well and he is convincing with a blade, and *Scaramouche*, where he plays André Moreau, is still the film people reach for when they want to show what the swashbuckler could be. The criticism, then and since, is that he was kept in the same costume for too long and asked for too little inside it, and we think that is fair. The dry, self-disliking man of the safari film is not a note MGM went back to.

We had gone into *King Solomon's Mines* for Robert L. Surtees's Technicolor and the stampede, and we got them, but what stayed with us was smaller: Granger mentioning the boy in England as a debt rather than a sentiment, and moving on before the line could turn soft. It is a professional's performance about a professional, and it is better than the film around it. The romance with Deborah Kerr, with whom he made two films, is a quarrel, a rescue and a kiss in that order, and only her cropped-hair scene earns its keep; he plays the rest with the good manners of a man who knows the script has scheduled him. He worked three times with Jean Simmons as well, though we have not yet reviewed those.

Start with the safari. Watch him while other people are talking, and count how often he looks like a man who has already done the sum.

## Biography

Stewart Granger (born James Lablache Stewart) was a British actor. He was born on 6 May 1913 in Kensington, London, and died on 16 August 1993 in Santa Monica, California. He trained at the Webber-Douglas School of Dramatic Art and began his career on stage before appearing in British films from the early 1940s.

Granger rose to prominence in Gainsborough melodramas such as *The Man in Grey* (1943) and *Fanny by Gaslight* (1944). He moved to Hollywood in 1950 and starred as Allan Quatermain in *King Solomon's Mines* (1950). Subsequent leading roles included *Scaramouche* (1952), *The Prisoner of Zenda* (1952) and *North to Alaska* (1960).

He later appeared in television series including *The Love Boat* and *Murder, She Wrote*, and films such as *The Wild Geese* (1978). Granger became a United States citizen in 1956.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, screenonline.org.uk, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *King Solomon's Mines* (1950), Fi1m 72, as Allan Quartermain — [page](https://film.one/film/king-solomons-mines.md)

## Complete filmography (79)

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

- *Les messages de Fritz Lang* (2003), Actor
- *Otto – The Series* (1995), series, as Verschiedene
- *Chameleons* (1989), as Jason Carr
- *Fine Gold* (1989), Actor
- *Hell Hunters* (1988), as Martin Hoffmann
- *A Hazard of Hearts* (1987), as Old Vulcan
- *The Story of a Recluse* (1987), as Manton Jamieson
- *The Legacy of Guldenburgs* (1987), series, as Jack Brinkley
- *The Wizard* (1986), series, Actor
- *Crossings* (1986), series, as George Hackett
- *Murder, She Wrote* (1984), series, as John Landry
- *The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana* (1982), as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
- *Hotel* (1982), series, as Tony Fielding
- *The Wild Geese* (1978), as Sir Edward Matherson
- *The Love Boat* (1977), series, as Thomas Preston
- *The Hound of the Baskervilles* (1972), as Sherlock Holmes
- *Any Second Now* (1969), as Paul Dennison
- *The Last Safari* (1967), as Miles Gilchrist
- *The Trygon Factor* (1966), as Superintendent Cooper Smith
- *Requiem for a Secret Agent* (1966), as Jimmy Merrill
- *Target for Killing* (1966), as James Vine
- *Where Are You Taking That Woman* (1966), as David Porter
- *Flaming Frontier* (1965), as Old Surehand
- *Rampage at Apache Wells* (1965), as Old Surehand
- *Red Dragon* (1965), as Michael Scott
- *The Crooked Road* (1965), as Duke Of Orgagna
- *Frontier Hellcat* (1964), as Old Surehand
- *The Secret Invasion* (1964), as Maj. Richard Mace
- *The Shortest Day* (1963), as Avvocato (uncredited)
- *Commando* (1962), as Captain Le Blanc
- *The Swordsman of Siena* (1962), as Thomas Stanswood
- *Sodom and Gomorrah* (1962), as Lot
- *The Virginian* (1962), series, as Alan MacKenzie, Col. Alan MacKenzie
- *The Secret Partner* (1961), as John Brent
- *North to Alaska* (1960), as George Pratt
- *The Whole Truth* (1958), as Max Poulton
- *Harry Black and the Tiger* (1958), as Harry Black
- *Gun Glory* (1957), as Tom Early
- *The Little Hut* (1957), as Sir Philip Ashlow
- *Bhowani Junction* (1956), as Col. Rodney Savage
- *The Last Hunt* (1956), as Sandy McKenzie
- *Footsteps in the Fog* (1955), as Stephen Lowry
- *Moonfleet* (1955), as Jeremy Fox
- *Green Fire* (1954), as Rian X. Mitchell
- *Beau Brummell* (1954), as Beau Brummell
- *All the Brothers Were Valiant* (1953), as Mark Shore
- *Young Bess* (1953), as Thomas Seymour
- *Salome* (1953), as Commander Claudius
- *The Prisoner of Zenda* (1952), as Rudolf Rassendyll / King Rudolf V
- *Scaramouche* (1952), as Andre Moreau
- *The Wild North* (1952), as Jules Vincent
- *The Light Touch* (1951), as Sam Conride
- *Soldiers Three* (1951), as Pvt. Archibald Ackroyd
- *King Solomon's Mines* (1950), as Allan Quartermain — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/king-solomons-mines.md)
- *Adam and Evelyne* (1949), as Adam Black
- *Woman Hater* (1948), as Lord Terence Datchett
- *Saraband for Dead Lovers* (1948), as Count Philip Konigsmark
- *Blanche Fury* (1948), as Philip Thorn
- *Captain Boycott* (1947), as Hugh Davin
- *The Magic Bow* (1946), as Nicolo Paganini
- *Caravan* (1946), as Richard Darrell
- *Caesar and Cleopatra* (1945), as Apollodorus
- *Waterloo Road* (1945), as Ted Purvis
- *Madonna of the Seven Moons* (1945), as Nino Barucci
- *Love Story* (1944), as Kit Firth
- *Fanny by Gaslight* (1944), as Harry Somerford
- *The Lamp Still Burns* (1943), as Laurence Rains
- *The Man in Grey* (1943), as Swinton Rokeby / Peter Rokeby
- *Thursday's Child* (1943), as David Penley
- *Secret Mission* (1942), as Sub-Lieutenant Jackson
- *Convoy* (1940), as Sutton
- *So This Is London* (1939), as Laurence
- *Under Secret Orders* (1937), as Bit part (uncredited)
- *I Spy* (1934), as Extra
- *Over the Garden Wall* (1934), as (uncredited)
- *Give Her a Ring* (1934), Actor
- *A Southern Maid* (1934), Actor
- *The Rise of Catherine the Great* (1934), as Regiment Soldier
- *The Song You Gave Me* (1933), as Waiter

## Gallery

- ![Stewart Granger](https://film.one/media/person/1236534/gallery-62d10ec73557.jpg) Stewart Granger — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Stewart_Granger_1970.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Scena del film "Sodoma e Gomorra" (1962), con Stewart Granger che interpreta Lot. (2020)](https://film.one/media/person/1236534/gallery-857c5858d7ce.jpg) Scena del film "Sodoma e Gomorra" (1962), con Stewart Granger che interpreta Lot. (2020) — Film prodotto dalla casa cinematografica italiana Titanus., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/Sodoma_e_Gomorra_%28film%29.jpg/1280px-Sodoma_e_Gomorra_%28film%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : Steward Grainger Cocktail party Eagle Lion Datum : 4 juli 1946 Trefwoo](https://film.one/media/person/1236534/gallery-f75f94278c17.jpg) Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : Steward Grainger Cocktail party Eagle Lion Datum : 4 juli 1946 Trefwoo — Theo van Haren Noman / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Steward_Grainger_Cocktail_party_Eagle_Lion%2C_Bestanddeelnr_901-8419.jpg/1280px-Steward_Grainger_Cocktail_party_Eagle_Lion%2C_Bestanddeelnr_901-8419.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : Steward Grainger Cocktail party Eagle Lion Datum : 4 juli 1946 Trefwoo](https://film.one/media/person/1236534/gallery-7d67a7ef2581.jpg) Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : Steward Grainger Cocktail party Eagle Lion Datum : 4 juli 1946 Trefwoo — Theo van Haren Noman / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Steward_Grainger_Cocktail_party_Eagle_Lion%2C_Bestanddeelnr_901-8421.jpg/1280px-Steward_Grainger_Cocktail_party_Eagle_Lion%2C_Bestanddeelnr_901-8421.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Stewart Granger](https://film.one/media/person/1236534/gallery-2f52e77f8178.jpg) Stewart Granger — Image via TMDB
- ![Ava Gardner dining with Stewart Granger, 1950](https://film.one/media/person/1236534/gallery-e871bfa26cc3.jpg) Ava Gardner dining with Stewart Granger, 1950 — Bob Beerman [1], Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Ava_Gardner_dining_with_Stewart_Granger%2C_1950.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Other awards — 1 won

- Theatre World Special Award 1990: Theatre World Special Award (won)

*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/stewart-granger