Between 1941 and 1968, he played "Captain Hook" in at least six different stage productions of J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan" (the non-musical version), but he never starred in a film of the play.
By 1950, he topped the cinemagoers popularity poll.
Foster father and acting instructor of George Cole.
He and Naomi had one daughter, Merlith McKendrick.
He appeared in 61 films and 46 West End productions.
He met his wife Naomi Plaskitt when they both appeared in a stage production of "The Land of Hearts Desire" by William Butler Yeats. He was 27, she was 12. They married when Naomi was 18.
He never signed autographs.
He shares the distinction, along with Seymour Hicks and Basil Rathbone, of portraying "Ebenezer Scrooge" in more than one production of the classic Charles Dickens novel.
He was awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the Coronation Honours List of 1953. He was also offered a knighthood but turned it down because it would have impinged too much on his private life.
He was awarded an honorary LLD by Edinburgh University at the end of his term as Rector.
He was made the rector of Edinburgh University in 1948.
He worked with Alfred Hitchcock in Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright (1950), playing "Commodore Gill".
His performance in Dulcimer Street (1948) so impressed Alec Guinness that he based his performance in The Ladykillers (1955) on it. So much so that Alastair is often thought to have done it.
In 1950 he headed the British Cinema Exhibitors Poll.
Near the end of his life he maintained a correspondence with Ray Bradbury.
Played the lead in Pinero's "The Magistrate", opposite Patricia Routledge at the 1969 Chichester festival in what is often cited as his best stage performance.
When he was made Rector of Edinburgh University, he beat Harold Macmillan (the future Prime Minister) by 2078 votes to 802.