Biography
Patric Knowles's face was definitely his fortune, as Warner Bros. signed him in 1935 because of his similarity to their popular action star Errol Flynn. The pair were teamed several times, as brothers Geoffrey and Perry Vickers in "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and as the legendary outlaw and trusted henchman Will Scarlett in "The Adventures of Robin Hood." But, while Flynn headlined the 1938 dramas "Four's a Crowd" and "The Sisters," Knowles was relegated to supporting duties and he studio-hopped for a spell, landing choice roles in John Ford's 1940 Oscar-winning Welsh saga "How Green Was My Valley" and the Mitchell Leisen comedy trio of "Masquerade in Mexico," "Kitty," and "Dream Girl." He also began what would be a career-long association with the macabre, opposite Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney, Jr. as the gamekeeper Andrews and Dr Frank Mannering in the 1940s Universal horrors "The Wolf Man" and "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man." The versatile Knowles stooged for Abbott and Costello in "Who Done It?" and "Hit the Ice," locked swords with Bob Hope in "Monsieur Beaucaire," and went to the gallows in Joan Fontaine's stead in "Ivy." He also played villains in the 1949 noir "The Big Steal," and the 1952 jungle adventure "Tarzan's Savage Fury." But, having played Lindsay Woolsey opposite Rosalind Russell in the 1958 comedy "Auntie Mame," Knowles subsisted on small-screen fare before appearing alongside John Wayne in 1970's "Chisum" and in the 1973 Cinerama chillers "Arnold" and "Terror in the Wax Museum."
