Harry Andrews; Veteran Actor of Stage, Screen

Harry Andrews, the tough-looking stage and screen actor whose lengthy career included frequent roles as a stern sergeant-major type in many British and American films, has died at age 77.

The veteran supporting and character actor who broke into films in 1952 in “The Red Beret” died Monday night at his home in Salehurst in southeastern England, a spokeswoman for Actors Equity Assn. told United Press International. The cause of his death was not announced.

Born in Tonbridge, Kent, England, Andrews first appeared on stage in Liverpool in 1933 in “The Long Christmas Dinner.” He made his first appearance on the New York stage in 1936, playing Horatio in “Hamlet” at the Empire Theater.

But it was in film that he made his most popular mark. His nearly 50 pictures included “A Hill in Korea,” “Solomon and Sheba,” “Cleopatra,” “55 Days at Peking,” “The Hill,” “The Agony and the Ecstasy,” a remake of “The Charge of the Light Brigade” in 1968, “Man of La Mancha,” “The Bluebird,” “Superman,” “Equus” and many more.

On television he was seen in “Clayhanger,” “The Last Journey,” “Dynasty,” “Return of Sherlock Holmes,” “To See Ourselves” and “Jack the Ripper.”