Edmund Gwenn

Edmund Gwenn was an English actor. On film, he is perhaps best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. As a stage actor in the West End and on Broadway, he was associated with a wide range of works by modern playwrights, including Bernard Shaw, John Galsworthy and J. B. Priestley. After the Second World War, he lived in the United States where he had a successful career in Hollywood and on Broadway.

Gwenn was born Edmund John Kellaway in Wandsworth, London. His brother was the actor Arthur Chesney and his cousin, Cecil Kellaway. Gwenn was educated at St. Olaves School and later at Kings College London. He began his acting career in the theatre in 1895, and learnt his craft as a member of Willie Edouins company, playing brash comic roles. In 1901 he married Minnie Terry, niece of the famous actress Ellen Terry. In the same year he went to Australia and acted there for three years with the J. C. Williamson company. His wife accompanied him and when Gwenn was in a production of Ben Hur that was a disastrous failure, she restored the couples fortunes by accepting an engagement from Williamson. Later, the couple appeared on stage together in London in a farce called What the Butler Saw in 1905 and, in 1911, when Irene Vanbrugh made her debut in variety, she chose Terry and Gwenn to join her in a short play specially written by J. M. Barrie.

Source: Wikipedia