Biography
Stout, bushy-eyebrowed British actor Lionel Belmore capped a lengthy theatrical career with his entry into Hollywood films at the dawn of the talkie era. He was most often cast as innkeepers and burgomeisters, generally appearing in films set in England and Europe. Belmore was an off-and-on regular in Universal's
Frankenstein films, appearing as the huffy-puffy mayor in the original
Frankenstein (1931) and later showing up on the village council in
Son of Frankenstein (1939) and
Ghost of Frankenstein (1942). (He was killed off in
Son, but reappeared in the same role in
Ghost as though nothing had happened). The actor also came in handy in Warner Bros.'
Errol Flynn swashbucklers, notably
Prince and the Pauper (1936) and
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). Belmore's oddest part was also one of his shortest. Though given good billing in Laurel and Hardy's
Bonnie Scotland (1935) -- and made the subject of several lengthy write-ups in the film's promotional material -- Lionel Belmore's role as a blacksmith was cut down to a single gag, wherein he taps out the Laurel and Hardy theme song on his anvil! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide