Biography
A stage actor from the age of seventeen, Derrick DeMarney made his film bow in 1928, at age 21. A handsome and virile leading man in films like
Forbidden Music (1936) and Hitchcock's
Young and Innocent (1937), DeMarney seemed to prefer playing against type in such character roles as Disraeli in
Victoria the Great (1936) and
Sixty Glorious Years (1938). During his wartime service, he directed the government documentary Malta GC (1942). He went on to produce or co-produce a number of films, including the morale-boosting
The Gentle Sex (1943) and the noirish thrillers
Latin Quarter (1946) and
She Shall Have Murder (1950). De Marney's postwar film roles included the vastly different title characters in
Uncle Silas (1947) and Meet Slim Callaghan (1952). Derrick DeMarney was the brother of actor Terence De Marney (1909-71). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide