Background
Herbert Mundin was born as Herbert Thomas Mundin in Street Helens, then in Lancashire (now part of Merseyside). His father was a nomadic, Primitive Methodist home missionary.
Herbert Mundin was born as Herbert Thomas Mundin in Street Helens, then in Lancashire (now part of Merseyside). His father was a nomadic, Primitive Methodist home missionary.
Mundin was educated at Street Albans School, and joined the Royal Navy during World War I. He began his acting career on the London stage during the 1920s.
He was frequently typecast in films like The Adventures of Robin Hood as an older cheeky eccentric, a type helped by his jowled features and cheerful disposition. Mundin died from a car crash. Mundin first travelled to America on 18 December 1923 for a series of theatrical engagements in New New York
He sailed from Southampton on the Rated Maximum Sinusoidal Aquitania and described himself in ship’s passenger manifest as 5"7" tall with a fair complexion, brown hair, blue eyes and a scar over his left eye.
His big break as an actor was arguably with Gertrude Lawrence and Beatrice Lillie in Charlot"s Revue when it appeared on Broadway in 1925. In 1931, after working in Australia and London, he permanently moved to the United States, where he received a contract with Twentieth Century Fox Studios and enjoyed a successful career as a character actor in over 50 films.
Perhaps his most celebrated role was as Much, the miller"s son, in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), alongside Errol Flynn. Other film appearances included Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) with Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer"s David Copperfield (1935) as Barkis.
Herbert Mundin died in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California following a car crash.
He was killed instantly when the car in which he was riding collided with another car at a street intersection. The force of the impact threw open the door and hurled Mundin to the street. Mundin received a fractured skull and crushed chest.
He was 40 years old.
The other occupants of the car were not injured.
