Leon Errol Collection, Vol. 1 on DVD

Leon Errol (1881-1951) was a legend in vaudeville long before he ever set foot on a soundstage. The Australian-born funnyman starred in and directed Ziegfield Follies on Broadway alongside such fellow luminaries as W.C. Fields and Fanny Brice. Hollywood beckoned, and although Errol appeared in such studio features as the all-star Alice in Wonderland (1933) with Gary Cooper and Cary Grant and the classic 1941 Fields' vehicle Never Give A Sucker An Even Break, he found his greatest fame in RKO's popular Mexican Spitfire series co-starring Lupe Velez, in which Errol played the dual roles of Uncle Matt Lindsay and Lord Basil Epping. In Lord Epping Returns, he reprises the role he made famous in the Mexican Spitfire films. Shortly after completing his final short, Too Many Wives (1951), Errol died of a heart attack in Hollywood. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.