Percy Herbert (31 July 1920 – 6 December 1992) was an English character actor who worked predominantly during the 1950s, '60s and '70s, becoming one of the most recognisable faces in post-war British cinema.

Biography

He served in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps during the Second World War and spent four years in the notorious Japanese prisoner of war camp Changi. After the war, he was helped by Dame Sybil Thorndike
to secure an interview with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he won a scholarship. His acting career began in the theatre, which included working at John Gielgud's Old Vic Company.

Beginning in the early 1950s, he went on to make nearly seventy films, often playing soldiers, most notably in The Cockleshell Heroes, The Bridge on the River Kwai (for which he also worked as consultant), Sea of Sand, Tunes of Glory, The Guns of Navarone, Guns at Batasi, Tobruk and The Wild Geese. However, he was equally at home in comedies (Barnacle Bill, Casino Royale, two Carry On films), fantasy (One Million Years B.C., Mysterious Island), and drama (Becket, Bunny Lake is Missing).

He also acted on television; he was a regular on the short-lived American series Cimarron Strip, during a brief foray to Hollywood. Other television work includes Danger Man, The Saint, Z-Cars, Dixon of Dock Green, and Worzel Gummidge.

Herbert died of complications due to being a POW in Changi - 6 December 1992.