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Esmé Saville Percy, a renowned English stage actor of French descent, was born in London. He trained under Sarah Bernhardt and at the Brussels Conservatoire, debuting in 1904. In his youth, he was admired for his handsome appearance. As he rose to prominence, Percy became especially known for his interpretations of George Bernard Shaw's plays, beginning with his role as Napoleon Bonaparte in a 1928 radio production of "Man of Destiny." In 1913, he founded a touring company focused on Shaw's works. After World War I, he managed a theatre in Cologne, performing for British troops as Professor Henry Higgins in "Pygmalion," alongside Mrs. Patrick Campbell.
By the 1920s, Percy's appearance had changed; he had become somewhat plump, suffered a broken nose in an accident, and lost an eye in a playful incident with a Great Dane. His glass eye often unsettled fellow actors, notably during a 1949 staging of "The Lady's Not for Burning," when it fell out and rolled across the floor, leading him to wear an eye patch thereafter.
Transitioning from stardom, Percy entered film in 1930 as a character actor, frequently portraying period drama roles and ambiguous ethnic characters. He was especially notable as Count Aristide Karpathy in the 1938 film adaptation of "Pygmalion," a role Shaw wrote for him. His filmography also included portrayals of Samuel Pepys in "Nell Gwyn" (1934), Lloyd George in "Regal Cavalcade" (1935), and Napoleon Bonaparte in "Invitation to the Waltz" (1935). He appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's "Murder!" (1930) and earned praise from The New York Times for his supporting role in the espionage thriller "Spy 77" (1933).
In his final years, Percy made several television appearances, including reprising Matthew Skipps in "The Lady's Not for Burning" for the BBC, and performed with the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre. He passed away in June 1957 at the age of 69.
