by Hal Erickson
biography
British actor/playwright Allan Jeayes made his first screen appearance as the cuckolded Sir William Hamilton in the 1918 historical drama Nelson. Jeayes then returned to the stage, where he remained until the talkie era. From 1930 to 1962, with rare exceptions, the actor projected what film historian Leslie Halliwell once described as a "dignified, heavy presence." Allan Jeayes was particularly busy in the films of producer Alexander Korda, playing important roles in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), Rembrandt (1936), Elephant Boy (1938), and especially The Four Feathers (1939) and Thief of Baghdad (1940).
