Miles Mander (born Lionel Henry Mander; 14 May 1888 – 8 February 1946), was an English character actor, writer, director and producer in the post-war period of early British cinema during the 1920s to mid-1930s, as well as a playwright and novelist.
From a privileged upper middle-class background, as a young man Mander engaged in motor sports, aviation and ballooning. In World War I he served in France with tethered kite balloons used for military observation. From 1920 to 1936 Mander was involved in the British film industry in various capacities. He acted in both silent and sound films and was involved with several film production companies. He began writing screenplays and directing in the mid-1920s, working on early sound films. Mander directed his first feature film in 1928. With the advent of sound films he established an international reputation as a character actor. After directing The Flying Doctor in Australia in 1936, Mander lived and worked in Hollywood, where he was cast in over 60 feature films until his death in 1946.
Biography
Early life
Lionel Henry Mander was born on 14 May 1888 at Wolverhampton in Staffordshire, the second son of S. Theodore Mander and Flora (née Paint). The family lived at Wightwick Manor; his father was a paint manufacturer who served as mayor of Wolverhampton, a member of the prominent Mander family, industrialists and public servants of the Midlands region.'Deaths', The Times (London), 17 September 1900, page 1.Charles Mosley (editor), Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 2, page 2589, sub Mander baronetcy of the Mount [U.K.], cr. 1911. His father died in September 1900, when Lionel was aged twelve, and his mother died in April 1905.Family records, Ancestry.com.
From 1901 to early 1903 Mander was educated at Harrow School in Greater London, where he resided at The Grove boarding house. After leaving Harrow Mander was educated in Canada, where his mother had family connections. He attended the Loretto School and McGill University in Montreal.'Miles Mander', Notable Londoners, an Illustrated Who's Who of Professional and Business Men (1922), London: London Publishing Agency, page 66; accessed 11 October 2024. Mander had early acting experience in musical comedy, including tours in Canada and the United States.
Aviation and motoring
By 1907 Mander was employed as a mechanic in the Daimler workshops in London. He showed an early interest in driving automobiles at speed and was a competitor in the first race meeting at the motor racing circuit at Brooklands, near Weybridge in Surrey, the first purpose-built 'banked' racing track which opened in June 1907. Mander drove a 60 horse-power Mercedes on the Brooklands racing circuit.Race Track to Silver Screen, The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 13 February 1936, page 4.
In 1908 Mander visited his uncle Martin Mander in New Zealand and for a short period took up sheep farming on his uncle's station.'Mr. Miles Mander' (obituary), The Times (London), 11 February 1946, page 6.Miles Mander Dead, The West Australian (Perth), 11 February 1946, page 6. Martin Mander had emigrated to New Zealand in 1890 and established the 'Horoeka-Waimata' sheep station in the Waimata Valley, near Gisborne on the north-east coast of New Zealand's North Island. In early 1909 Lionel Mander lived briefly in Australia.Miles Mander: Actor, Author and Director, The West Australian, 6 November 1935, page 19. He left Australia aboard the R.M.S. India, which departed from Sydney for London in May 1909.Passengers for London, Evening News (Sydney), 7 May 1909, page 7.
After returning to Britain Mander took an interest in aviation. He attended Louis Blériot's pilot training school at Pau in southern France and purchased a Blériot XI monoplane.1933 Who's Who in British Aviation: Name M, Grace's Guide To British Industrial History website; accessed 12 October 2024. In early 1910 Mander took flying lessons with Claude Grahame-White at the Brooklands aerodrome (adjoining the motor racing circuit). His aircraft crashed at Brooklands requiring a new wing to be fitted. In May 1910 a man named Alfred Hooper was riding his bicycle to work when a car driven by Mander "ran into him and knocked him down". Mander was living at Wolverhampton at the time. Hooper was injured to such an extent that he was absent from work for twelve weeks. In October 1910 he was awarded £60 damages in a West Bromwich court.'Damages for Motor-Car Collisions', The Times (London), 8 October 1910, page 12.
Mander was an entrant in the first all-British aviation meeting at Dunstall Park in Wolverhampton, held from 27 June to 2 July 1910.'British Aviation', Evening Standard (London), 27 June 1910, page 14. He was one of four novice pilots yet to receive their aviator's certificate from the Royal Aero Club, necessary for participation in the events. In the end Mander did not qualify in time and had to withdraw. On the second day of the meeting strong winds demolished Mander's temporary canvas hangar housing his monoplane.Midlands Aviation Meeting Wolverhampton, UK, June 27th - July 2nd, 1910, The First Air Races website; accessed 12 October 2024.
Mander invested in Grahame-White's company that developed the Hendon Aerodrome in London.
Mander also engaged in boxing promotions during this period.Henry K. Miller (2011), Miles Mander: the true pioneer of sound films, The Guardian, 28 October 2011; accessed 14 October 2024.
On 21 February 1912 Mander and Prativa Sundari Devi were married at Calcutta in India.'Law Report, June 7: High Court of Justice', The Times (London), 8 June 1921, page 5. Prativa was an Indian princess of the princely state of Cooch Behar, British India, the second daughter of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan and Maharani Suniti Devi of Cooch Behar.Hindoo Brides of White Brothers, The Sun (Sydney), 8 April 1914, page 5.Princess Married in Native Dress, Sunday Times (Sydney), 31 March 1912, page 29. The couple celebrated their marriage at the residence of the bride's father, dressed in Indian costume and married in the Hindu Brahmo Samaj rites.Rachael Lennon (2023), Wedded Wife: A Feminist History of Marriage, United Kingdom: Aurum, page 98. After the marriage the couple returned to England, initially living in Buckingham Gate in London. Mander later claimed that the marriage was "unhappy owing to his wife's violent temper". In 1914 Mander's brother Alan married Princess Sudhira, Prativa's sister, in Calcutta.Anglo-Indian Marriage, The World's News (Sydney), 18 April 1914, page 9.Wightwick's Royal Connections, National Trust website; accessed 12 October 2024.
Mander began free ballooning in 1912. In early 1913 Mander, in company with the aviator Claude Grahame-White, made his first ascent in a gas balloon, launched from Saint-Cloud in the western suburbs of Paris.The Thrills of Ballooning, The World's News (Sydney), 9 October 1926, page 12. He received his aeronaut's certificate from the Royal Aero Club in June 1913.
War service
In late September 1914 Lionel Henry Mander was declared to be bankrupt. He was described as a financier of Trafalgar House in Regent Street, London.'In the High Court of Justice...', The Times (London), 26 September 1914, page 2; 'The Bankruptcy Acts...', The Times, 2 October 1914, page 16.
Mander enlisted in the British armed forces (Royal Marines) on 20 September 1914. He was promoted to sergeant soon after enlisting. He was promoted to sub-lieutenant in February 1915 in the Royal Naval Division (RND), made up of volunteers and reservists not needed for service at sea. A month later Mander was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Supply and Transport Company of the RND.World War I service record: 'Lieutenant Lionel Henry Mander Royal Army Service Corps', Ref. No.: WO 339/34652, The National Archives, Government of the United Kingdom; Ancestry.com.
In the autumn of 1915 responsibility for kite balloons in France was transferred from the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC).'Balloonatics during the First World War 1914-1918', Western Front Association website; accessed 14 October 2024. In 1915 Mander was transferred to the Royal Army Service Corps.Lieutenant Lionel Henry MANDER Royal Army Service Corps, The National Archives website; accessed 28 October 2024. Mander served with tethered kite balloons, which were extensively used for military observation during World War I.
Business ventures
After he was demobilised from the armed services Mander made a living by selling motor vehicles. His wife Prativa Mander had travelled to India in 1916; she returned to England in 1919, but she and Mander did not at first live together. Mander later claimed that the reason they lived apart was that "he had heard a report about her conduct while she was in India".
In March 1920 Mander participated in the Kop Hill Trial, organised by the Essex Motor Club, driving a Mathis automobile.1920/03/27 Kop Hill Trial, Grace's Guide To British Industrial History website; accessed 13 October 2024. A year or two after the war ended, Mander travelled in Albania after which he was elected as a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.Miles Mander Formerly an Explorer, Dominion, 23 June 1939, page 14. In 1925 he published Albania Today, a book based on his travels in that country.Author names starting with Maf - Man, New General Catalog of Old Books and Authors website; accessed 30 October 2024.
With the motor industry in the doldrums in the immediate post-war years, at the suggestion of a friend Mander found occasional work in the British film industry, initially as an extra. Mander made his credited film acting debut in a small role in Testimony, a drama released in September 1920 by George Clark Productions. The film featured Ivy Duke and David Hawthorne in the leading roles and was directed by the actor Guy Newall (his directorial debut).Testimony, IMDb website; accessed 13 October 2024. In 1921 Mander appeared in two films produced by Stoll Pictures, credited under the name of Miles Mander. He played the role of 'Lieutenant Devereaux' in The Place of Honour (released in June 1921) and as 'Godfrey Norton' in A Scandal in Bohemia (released in July 1921), the seventh in a series of films based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 'Sherlock Holmes' stories.The Place of Honour, IMDb website; accessed 13 October 2024.A Scandal in Bohemia, IMDb website; accessed 13 October 2024.
In June 1921 Mander petitioned for the dissolution of his marriage to Prativa "on the ground of her adultery with Mr. Reginald de Beer" (described as a clerk "employed in a Government office"). Mander gave evidence in the divorce court of having observed, in August 1920, Prativa and De Beer in bed together through the window of Prativa's flat in Wellington Court, Knightsbridge. A decree nisi was granted in about June 1922 (in which Mander was described as "a motor salesman" of High Street, St. John's Wood).An Amazing Story, The Express and Telegraph (Adelaide), 10 July 1922, page 1.