Leo John Genn 9 August 1905 26 January 1978 was an English actor and barrister Signified by his relaxed charm and smooth black velvet voice he had a lengthy career in theatre film television and radio often playing aristocratic or gentlemanly sophisticate roles Born to a Jewish family in London Genn was educated as a lawyer and was a practicing barrister until after World War II in which he served in the Royal Artillery as a LieutenantColonel He began his acting career at The Old Vic and made his film debut in 1935 starring in a total of 85 screen roles until his death in 1978 For his portrayal of Petronius in the 1951 Hollywood epic Quo Vadis he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor Description above from the Wikipedia article Leo Genn licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia