Biography
Michael Rennie (born August 1909 – June 10, 1971) was an English actor best known for his role as Klaatu in the science fiction classic The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). He enjoyed a successful career spanning film, television, and theater, gaining fame for his dignified and often authoritative roles. Michael Rennie was born Eric Alexander Rennie in Ilford, Essex, England. His early interest in acting led him to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where he trained and developed his sk...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Lost In Space Forever
1998
as The Keeper (archive footage)
Host John Larroquette takes viewers on a nostalgic trip through the 1965-1968 sci-fi comedy series. The disc's rare footage include Guy Williams's scr...

Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey
1995
as Klaatu (archive footage) (uncredited)
After escaping Russia's communist revolution, Léon Theremin travels to New York, where he pioneers the field of electronic music with his synthesizer....

The Horror Show
1979
as (archive footage)
A history of horror movies.

Assignment Terror
1970
as Dr. Odo Warnoff
Aliens from a dying world plot to conquer earth by preying on man's superstitions. Bringing two dead scientists back to life, they use their knowledge...

The Battle of El Alamein
1969
as Bernard Law Montgomery
June 1942. As Rommel swept toward the Nile, the fall of Egypt and the capture of the Suez Canal seemed inevitable. Italian and German advance units ra...

Stoney
1969
as Harvey Ward
Barbara Bouchet (Casino Royale) and Mike Preston (Metalstorm, Road Warrior) are caught in an international mishmash of espionage and double crosses in...

Subterfuge
1968
as Goldsmith
A young wife is becoming very distraught over the fact that her husband, a secret service "spy" for England, has changed his mind about transferring a...

The Last Chance
1968
as George McConnell
Giuseppe Rosati's first production as director and only espionage film Scacco internazionale aka The Last Chance concerns an international crime syndi...

Seven Into Hell
1968
as Blynn
A group of misfit G.I.s go on a suicide mission behind the enemy lines. This time the objective is a to destroy a crucial Nazi transmitter before the ...

The Devil's Brigade
1968
as Lt. Gen. Mark Clark
At the onset of World War II, American Lt. Col. Robert Frederick is put in charge of a unit called the 1st Special Service Force, composed of elite C...

The Power
1968
as Arthur Nordlund
One by one members of a special project team are being killed by telekinesis - the ability to move things with the power of the mind alone. The race i...

Naked You Die
1968
as Inspector Durand
A woman is strangled in the bath by a black-gloved killer who disposes of her body in a large trunk. The trunk is delivered to St. Hilda College, an ...

Death on the Run
1967
as Major Worthington Clark
On the run from the police in Athens, a man named Jason has in his possession a microfilm eagerly sought by both criminal gangs and government agencie...

Hondo and the Apaches
1967
as Tribolet
Two episodes from the TV series "Hondo" edited together and released as a feature.

Hotel
1967
as Geoffrey - Duke of Lanbourne
This is the story of the clocklike movements of a giant, big city New Orleans hotel. The ambitious yet loyal manager wrestles with the round-the-clock...

Cyborg 2087
1966
as Garth A7
In the future world of the year 2087, freedom of thought is illegal and the thoughts of the world's populations are controlled by the government. A sm...

Ride Beyond Vengeance
1966
as Brooks Durham
Jonas Trapp falls in love with the beautiful Jessie, a wealthy girl out of his humble class. Against the wishes of her snobbish aunt, she marries him,...

Mary, Mary
1963
as Dirk Winston
Sparks fly when a recently-divorced couple is forced back into proximity to sort out a tax matter.

The Lost World
1960
as Lord John Roxton
Professor Challenger leads an expedition of scientists and adventurers to a remote plateau deep in the Amazonian jungle to verify his claim that dinos...

Third Man on the Mountain
1959
as Captain John Winter
Famous British mountaineer Winter wants to climb a difficult summit, the Citadel. He goes to a small village but no guide wants to accompany him. A yo...

Perilous Assignment
1959
as Self
"Perilous Assignment" is an episode of ABC's Walt Disney Presents. Disney loved to show viewers behind the scenes of the daring shoots of its theatric...

Battle of the V-1
1958
as Stefan
1943: A schoolmaster called Stefan Novak (Michael Rennie) and his watchmaker friend Tadek (David Knight) are working for the Polish resistance lead by...

Omar Khayyam
1957
as Hasani Sabah
Omar Khayyam was one of the greatest Persian poets. He was also a brilliant mathematician. Though his quatrains were written in the 11th century, they...

Island in the Sun
1957
as Hilary Carson
A scandalous tale of politics, social inequality, interracial romance, and murder set on a fictitious British-owned Caribbean island.

Teenage Rebel
1956
as Jay Fallon
Nancy Fallon gets her teenage daughter back from her ex-husband when she remarries and must win her love.

The Rains of Ranchipur
1955
as Lord Albert Esketh
India. The spoilt and stubborn Edwina Esketh, comes to a small town with her husband. She falls in love with an indian doctor, Dr. Safti. She also mee...

Seven Cities of Gold
1955
as Father Junipero Serra
In 1769, a Spanish expedition to California seeks to conquer the land and discover its famed gold treasures while missionaries aim to gain new convert...

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1955
as Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
Adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic. Part of Chrysler sponsored series "Climax!"

Soldier of Fortune
1955
as Inspector Merryweather, Hong Kong Marine Police
An American woman arrives in Hong Kong to unravel the mystery of her missing photographer husband. After getting nowhere with the authorities, she is ...

Désirée
1954
as Bernadotte
In Marseilles, France in 1794, Desiree Clary, a young millinery clerk, becomes infatuated with Napoleon Bonaparte, but winds up wedding Genaral Jean-B...

Mambo
1954
as Enrico Marisoni
A young and poor Venetian woman is invited to a masquerade ball by a charming count.

Princess of the Nile
1954
as Rama Khan
Shalimar, an Egyptian princess, striving to rid her country of its Bedouin conquerors, forms an alliance with Prince Haidi, son of the Caliph of Bagda...

Demetrius and the Gladiators
1954
as Peter
The story picks up at the point where "The Robe" ends, following the martyrdom of Diana and Marcellus. Christ's robe is conveyed to Peter for safe-kee...

King of the Khyber Rifles
1953
as Brig. Gen. J. R. Maitland
Freshly arrived Sandhurst-trained Captain Alan King, better versed in Pashtun then any of the veterans and born locally as army brat, survives an atta...

The Robe
1953
as Peter
Drunk and disillusioned Roman, Marcellus Gallio, wins Jesus' robe in a dice game after the crucifixion. Marcellus has never been a man of faith like h...

Dangerous Crossing
1953
as Dr. Paul Manning
A honeymoon aboard an ocean liner is cut short when the bride finds herself suddenly alone, and unable to convince anyone of her husband’s existence.

Sailor of the King
1953
as Lt. Richard Saville
A British naval officer has a brief affair with a woman in England and never knows that she bears him a son. 20 years later the boy is on a ship under...

The Desert Rats
1953
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
In North Africa, German Field Marshal Rommel and his troops have successfully fended off British forces, and now intend to take Tobruk, an important p...

Titanic
1953
as End Narrator (Voice)
Unhappily married, Julia Sturges decides to go to America with her two children on the Titanic. Her husband, Richard also arranges passage on the luxu...

Les Miserables
1952
as Jean Valjean
In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both me...

5 Fingers
1952
as Colin Travers
During WWII, the valet to the British Ambassador to Ankara sells British secrets to the Germans while trying to romance a refugee Polish countess.

Phone Call from a Stranger
1952
as Dr. Robert Fortness
Four strangers board a plane and become fast friends, but a catastrophic crash leaves only one survivor. He then sets off on a journey to discover who...

The House in the Square
1951
as Roger Forsyth
Atomic scientist Peter Standish travels back in time to 1784, an era he has read about in his forefather's diaries. He falls in love with his forefath...

The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
1951
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
The life and career of Erwin Rommel and his involvement in the plot to assassinate Hitler.

The Day the Earth Stood Still
1951
as Klaatu, alias Mr. Carpenter
An alien and a robot land on Earth after World War II and tell mankind to be peaceful or face destruction.

The 13th Letter
1951
as Dr. Pearson
A new doctor in a quiet Quebec town sparks rumors and accusations when anonymous letters allege an affair with a married woman.

Trio
1950
as Major George Templeton (segment Sanatorium)
W. Somerset Maugham introduces three more of his stories about human foibles.

The Black Rose
1950
as King Edward
In the 13th century, Walter of Gurnie, a disinherited Saxon youth, is forced to flee England. With his friend, Tristram, he falls in with the army of ...
The Body Said No!
1950
A cabaret artist sees on her television set after viewing hours, a plot being discussed to murder Michael Rennie. Although her friends are sceptical s...

Miss Pilgrim's Progress
1949
as Bob Thane
An exchange factory worker from New Jersey joins a plot to save a village from the Town and Country Planning Act.

The Golden Madonna
1949
as Mike Christie
Patricia (Phyllis Calvert) throws away a painting members of her Italian village consider to be extremely lucky. She goes to great lengths in her atte...

Uneasy Terms
1948
as Slim Callaghan
Private eye Slim Callaghan is summoned to the country home of a Colonel Stenhurst, but the latter is murdered before he can talk to the detective. Was...

Idol of Paris
1948
as Hertz
The Idol of Paris is based on Paiva, Queen of Love, a novel by Alfred Schirokauer. Set in the mid-19th century, the film traces the rags-to-riches sto...

White Cradle Inn
1947
as Rudolph
This drama is set in Switzerland and chronicles a fight between an innkeeper and her husband, a chronic adulterer. The trouble begins when she wants t...

The Root of All Evil
1947
as Charles Mortimer
Jeckie Farnish is a level-headed young woman, unlike her spoiled younger sister, Rushie. When the sisters become involved with charming businessman Ch...

Caesar and Cleopatra
1945
as 1st Centurion
The aging Caesar finds himself intrigued by the young Egyptian queen. Adapted by George Bernard Shaw from his own play.

The Wicked Lady
1945
as Kit Locksby
A married woman finds new thrills as a masked robber on the highways.

I'll Be Your Sweetheart
1945
In turn-of-the-century London a young music publisher fights both competitors and piracy in a time where author's royalties were still unprotected.
The Sky’s the Limit
1943
as George
A re-creation of a bombing raid on Hanover, with the objective of promoting war savings bonds.

The Big Blockade
1942
as George
Wartime propaganda piece reporting on the success of the economic blockade of Germany in the early years of the war.

Tower of Terror
1941
as Anthony Hale
Wartime Germany: Marie, a concentration camp escapee on the run from the Nazis, narrowly escapes drowing when she is rescued by Wolfe Kristan a half-m...

Ships with Wings
1941
as Lieut. Maxwell
Before the war, a Fleet Air Arm pilot is dismissed for causing the death of a colleague. Working for a small Greek airline when the Germans invade Gre...

Turned Out Nice Again
1941
as Diner
George Pearson, an employee at an underwear factory, is caught between his modern wife and his meddling mother. After buying a special yarn and gettin...

'Pimpernel' Smith
1941
as Prison Camp Officer
Eccentric Cambridge archaeologist Horatio Smith takes a group of British and American archaeology students to pre-war Nazi Germany to help in his exca...

The Patient Vanishes
1941
as Inspector
Action and excitement beckon as popular sleuth Mick Cardby goes on the trail of a missing girl, and finds himself in the clutches of a gang of blackma...

Dangerous Moonlight
1941
as Kapulski
Stefan Radetzky, a Polish pilot and famous concert pianist, is hospitalised in England from injuries sustained while in combat, and having lost his me...

This Man in Paris
1939
as Gang Member (uncredited)
A British reporter and his wife, on vacation in Paris, run into a gang of counterfeiters.

Bank Holiday
1938
as Guardsman (uncredited)
A 1930s British summer Bank Holiday starts at midday on Saturday with a rush for the trains to the seaside. Doreen and Milly are off to a beauty conte...

The Divorce of Lady X
1938
as Minor Role (uncredited)
The morning after a London barrister lets a mystery woman stay in his suite, a friend files for divorce.

The Squeaker
1937
as Medical Examiner
London's jewel thieves are under the thumb of a mysterious fence, who ruthlessly exposes any thief who crosses him. Desperate, Scotland Yard re-hires ...

The Gap
1937
as Chemist-Radio Operator (uncredited)
A dramatization to promote the Territorial Army.

Gangway
1937
as Ship's Officer
Newspaper reporter becomes involved with gang of crooks who take her for a tough American gangster.
Gypsy
1936
Gypsy dancer Hassina falls in love with lion tamer Brazil and travels to London to find him. Brazil is supposedly working at the Crystal Palace, but h...

The Conquest of the Air
1936
as Marquis d'Arlandes (uncredited)
This early docudrama uses dramatic reenactment, working models of early flying machines, and archival footage to trace man's attempts to fly from anci...

The Man Who Could Work Miracles
1936
as San Francisco Cop
An ordinary man, while vigorously asserting the impossibility of miracles, suddenly discovers that he can perform them.

Secret Agent
1936
as Army Captain (uncredited)
After three British agents are assigned to assassinate a mysterious German spy during World War I, two of them become ambivalent when their duty to th...