C. Aubrey Smith #13

May 22, 1933, a month before the Screen Actors Guild became a reality, the Hollywood Citizen-News declared "The grand old man of cricket, C. Aubrey Smith, was given the surprise of his 70 years of life when the new Griffith Park field was dedicated yesterday as C. Aubrey Smith field." Not a bad honor for the 6'2" English actor and founder, a year earlier, of the Hollywood Cricket Club. Three of Aubrey's fellow Cricket Club members, Boris Karloff, Claude King, and Ivan Simpson, would join him in founding the Guild at the end of June. In 1892, aged 29, he began his professional theatrical career, and worked both the English and American stage, and in at least 14 silent films. In 1928, he played the title role in the Broadway hit "The Bachelor Father," traveling to London with it in 1928/29. In 1930, he arrived in Hollywood and reprised his role in the feature film of the play. He made nearly two dozen films over the next 3 years, and co-starred in the horror-thriller "The Monkey's Paw" (1932) with Guild founder Ivan Simpson. In 1944, he would receive a knighthood, becoming "Sir" C. Aubrey Smith.