Born March 18, 1905 in Withington, Manchester, England, Robert Donat‘s carefully honed speaking voice was a result of the elocution lessons he took as a boy to overcome a terrible stammer. Unfortunately he never outgrew his other childhood affliction, an asthmatic condition that caused him to turn down more film roles than he accepted.

On stage from 1927, he made his screen debut in 1932 and quickly gained notice with his portrayal of the doomed Thomas Culpepper in Alexander Korda’s 1933 hit, The Private Life of Henry VIII. Brought to Hollywood to star in the acclaimed 1934 film version of The Count of Monte Cristo, he was offered the lead in Captain Blood, but turned it down as he was unhappy with the Hollywood lifestyle and wanted to return to England where he then made Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps, one of his most celebrated films.

If Hollywood wanted him, and they did, they would have to come to England where he made The Ghost Goes West opposite Jean Parker; Knight Without Armor opposite Marlene Dietrich and The Citadel opposite Rosalind Russell, hits all, receiving his first Oscar nomination for the latter.

He then starred in the film version of James Hilton’s Goodbye, Mr. Chips introducing new MGM star Greer Garson. It brought him a second Oscar nomination and the Oscar itself. He sent his wife and three children to America at the outbreak of World War II while he stayed in England, making just two films during the duration: 1939’s Young Mr. Pitt and 1943’s The Adventures of Tartu. His son John played a key role as one of the students in Jean Renoir's 1943 classic, This Land Is Mine.

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