Hector William "Harry" Cording (26 April 1891 â€" 1 September 1954)
was an English-American actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his
roles in the films The Black Cat (1934) and The Adventures of Robin
Hood (1938).Cording was born Hector William Cording on 26 April 1891
in Wellington, Somerset. He was brought up and was educated in his
native England,. In 1919, he became steward for a British steamship
line whose ships, such as the Vauban and the Calamares, which he had
worked on, frequently called at the Port of New York. After a number
of trips, he resigned and decided to stay in the United States. He
later settled permanently in Los Angeles, where he began a film
career. His first role was as a henchman in The Knockout (1925),
followed by similar roles over the next few years. Cording appeared in
many Hollywood films from the 1920s to the 1950s. With an imposing
six-foot height, stocky build, and perhaps due to his uncomfortable
resemblance to veteran film bad guy Oskar Homolka, "Harry the
Henchman" usually portrayed thugs, villains' henchmen and
policemen.Cording's most notable roles were probably as the villainous
Dickon Malbete, Captain of the Guard in Errol Flynn's Adventures of
Robin Hood and as Thamal, the hulking henchman to Bela Lugosi's
character in 1934's Black Cat. As a contract player at Universal
Pictures in the 1940s, he turned up in tiny parts in many of their
horror films, such as The Wolf Man.Having appeared in a bit role in
20th Century-Fox's Adventures of Sherlock Holmes starring Basil
Rathbone (1939), he went on to appear in supporting and bit parts in
seven of the twelve Universal Studios Sherlock Holmes films in which
Rathbone starred.
was an English-American actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his
roles in the films The Black Cat (1934) and The Adventures of Robin
Hood (1938).Cording was born Hector William Cording on 26 April 1891
in Wellington, Somerset. He was brought up and was educated in his
native England,. In 1919, he became steward for a British steamship
line whose ships, such as the Vauban and the Calamares, which he had
worked on, frequently called at the Port of New York. After a number
of trips, he resigned and decided to stay in the United States. He
later settled permanently in Los Angeles, where he began a film
career. His first role was as a henchman in The Knockout (1925),
followed by similar roles over the next few years. Cording appeared in
many Hollywood films from the 1920s to the 1950s. With an imposing
six-foot height, stocky build, and perhaps due to his uncomfortable
resemblance to veteran film bad guy Oskar Homolka, "Harry the
Henchman" usually portrayed thugs, villains' henchmen and
policemen.Cording's most notable roles were probably as the villainous
Dickon Malbete, Captain of the Guard in Errol Flynn's Adventures of
Robin Hood and as Thamal, the hulking henchman to Bela Lugosi's
character in 1934's Black Cat. As a contract player at Universal
Pictures in the 1940s, he turned up in tiny parts in many of their
horror films, such as The Wolf Man.Having appeared in a bit role in
20th Century-Fox's Adventures of Sherlock Holmes starring Basil
Rathbone (1939), he went on to appear in supporting and bit parts in
seven of the twelve Universal Studios Sherlock Holmes films in which
Rathbone starred.
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