Leslie Howard Stainer was born in Forest Hill on 3rd April, 1893. He was the eldest son of Frank Stainer (a Hungarian-born immigrant who changed his name from Steiner, when he adopted his new nationality) and Lilian Howard (who changed her maiden name from Blumberg to Howard, when she arrived in Britain). Soon after the arrival of their eldest child, Frank and Lilian moved to Vienna in Austria, which resulted in the boy only speaking German upon their subsequent return to Britain. Frank worked in a stockbrokers office in the City of London and he had hopes that his son would settle for a banking career. Leslie was educated at Dulwich College and, after an early banking experience, he was commissioned as a subaltern in the 20th Hussars.
Leslie met and married Ruth Martin in 1916 and they had two children, the actor Ronald Howard and Leslie Ruth Howard. They both later published biographies of their father.
In 1917, Leslie was severely shell-shocked and was invalided out of the army. Instead of following his father's wishes, he took both his mother's advice and her maiden name, in embarking on a successful cinema and theatre acting career, which endured until his premature death in June 1943, while on active service. He was 50.
Source: IMDB
02-24-2008, 03:26 AM
