Biography
According to his official studio bio, Boyd Irwin appeared for 17 years on stages in both his native England and Australia. He embarked on a screen career in the latter country in 1915, as a leading man with J.C. Williamson Prod., Southern Cross Feature Film Co., and Haymarket Pictures Corp. In America from 1919, Irwin was relegated to character roles, often villainous in nature, and can be seen as Rochefort in
Douglas Fairbanks'
The Three Musketeers (1921). He also played the Duc de Guise in
Norma Talmadge's
Ashes of Vengeance (1923) and Levasseur in Vitagraph's
Captain Blood (1924) before returning to Australia. Irwin was back in Hollywood after the changeover to sound, however, lending his ramrod-straight presence to playing scores of military officers, noblemen, and even hotel clerks in films ranging from
Madam Satan (1930) to
Forever Amber (1947). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide