Herbert Mundin

• Name — Herbert Mundin • Birth Name — Herbert Thomas Mundin • Born — 21 August 1898 • Birthplace — St Helens, England • Died — 5 March 1939 • Place of death — Van Nuys, California, U.S. • Years Active — 1930–1939 • Spouse — Hilda Frances Hoyes (1921–?) Kathleen Ann Reed (1925–1934)

Mundin was born in St Helens, then in Lancashire (now part of Merseyside). His father was a nomadic, Primitive Methodist home missionary. His family moved within a short time of his birth to St Albans in Hertfordshire (the 1901 census data reveal that the family lived at St Helens Villa, Paxton Road, St Albans; his parents William and Jane apparently naming their house after the town where they first met and where Herbert was born). Mundin was educated at St Albans School. During World War I he served with the Royal Navy.

He began his acting career on the London stage during the 1920s. Mundin first travelled to America on 18 December 1923 for a series of theatrical engagements in New York. He sailed from Southampton on the RMS Aquitania and described himself in ship’s passenger manifest as 5'7" tall with a fair complexion, brown hair, blue eyes and a scar over his left eye. His big break as an actor was arguably with Gertrude Lawrence and Beatrice Lillie in Charlot's Revue when it appeared on Broadway in 1925. In 1931, after working in Australia and London, he permanently moved to the United States, where he received a contract with the Fox Film Corporation, where he had a successful career as a character actor in over fifty films. Perhaps his most celebrated role was as Much, the miller's son in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) alongside Errol Flynn. Other film appearances included Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) with Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, and MGM's David Copperfield (1935) as Barkis.

Mundin was killed in an auto crash on March 5, 1939. He was a passenger in a car which was hit in an intersection, and died of a fractured skull.

• Illustration — Herbert Mundin in Charlie Chan's Secret

• Illustration — Herbert Mundin, Freddie Bartholomew and Jessie Ralph in MGM's David Copperfield (1935) • Year — Title — Theatre — Notes • 1921-1922 — A to Z — Prince of Wales's Theatre — His London debut • 1921-1922 — Pot Luck — Vaudeville Theatre, London • 1922-1923 — Snap — Vaudeville Theatre, London • 1923 — Rats — Vaudeville Theatre, London • Yes! — Vaudeville Theatre, London • 1925 — Charlot's Revue — Prince of Wales Theatre