Jack Hawkins was born in Wood Green, London - the youngest of four children. His father was a builder but Jack was more interested in acting than in the family business. He was on the London stage before he was in his teens. He was never a child star, but he worked steadily and was in the original production of Saint Joan as a page.
He spent his twenties working his way up the bill. He met his first wife Jessica Tandy in a production of Autumn Crocus. Like many actors of his generation he slummed in films while concentrating on his stage career.
The war interrupted his career and his private life. He enlisted in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, while Jessica Tandy went to America for a role and to get their daughter out of the Blitz. He spent a large part of the war organising ENSA in India, and it was in a production of Private Lives that he met his second wife Doreen Lawrence.
With the war out of the way, Jack resumed his career. Now the stage had to take second place to film. His rise was steady and by 1953 he was Britain's most popular star. He was perfect officer material as far as the rash of 50s war films were concerned and audiences responded to his gruff-but-caring persona.
In 1966 he was diagnosed with throat cancer and had to have his larynx removed. This should have finished his career completely but he continued to film with his voice dubbed by Charles Gray or Robert Rietti. He died from complications following an operation to install an artificial voice box.
| 1930 | Birds of Prey |
| 1932 | The Lodger |
| 1932 | The Good Companions |
| 1933 | The Lost Chord |
| 1933 | I Lived With You |
| 1933 | The Jewel |
| 1933 | A Shot in the Dark |
| 1934 | Autumn Crocus |
| 1934 | Death at Broadcasting House |
| 1935 | Peg of Old Drury |
| 1937 | Beauty and the Barge |
| 1937 | The Frog |
| 1938 | Who Goes Next? |
| 1938 | A Royal Divorce |
| 1939 | Murder Will Out |
| 1940 | The Flying Squad |
| 1942 | Next of Kin |
| 1948 | The Fallen Idol |
| 1948 | Bonnie Prince Charlie |
| 1948 | The Small Back Room |
| 1950 | State Secret |
| 1950 | The Black Rose |
| 1950 | The Elusive Pimpernel |
| 1951 | The Adventurers |
| 1951 | No Highway |
| 1951 | Home at Seven |
| 1952 | Angels One Five |
| 1952 | The Planter's Wife |
| 1952 | Mandy |
| 1953 | The Cruel Sea |
| 1953 | Twice Upon a Time |
| 1953 | The Malta Story |
| 1953 | The Intruder |
| 1954 | Front Page Story |
| 1954 | The Seekers |
| 1955 | The Prisoner |
| 1955 | Touch and Go |
| 1955 | Land of the Pharaohs (U.S.) |
| 1956 | The Long Arm |
| 1956 | The Man in the Sky |
| 1957 | Fortune is a Woman |
| 1957 | Bridge on the River Kwai |
| 1958 | Gideon's Day |
| 1958 | The Two-Headed Spy |
| 1959 | Ben Hur (U.S.) |
| 1960 | The League of Gentlemen |
| 1961 | Two Loves (U.S.) |
| 1962 | Five Finger Exercise (U.S.) |
| 1962 | Lawrence of Arabia |
| 1963 | Lafayette |
| 1963 | Rampage (U.S.) |
| 1963 | Zulu |
| 1964 | The Third Secret |
| 1964 | Guns at Batasi |
| 1965 | Masquerade |
| 1965 | Lord Jim |
| 1965 | Judith |
| 1967 | Great Catherine |
| 1968 | Shalako |
| 1968 | The Poppy is Also a Flower |
| 1968 | Stalked |
| 1969 | Oh What a Lovely War |
| 1969 | Monte Carlo or Bust |
| 1969 | Twinky |
| 1970 | Waterloo |
| 1970 | Jane Eyre |
| 1970 | The Beloved |
| 1970 | The Adventures of Gerard |
| 1971 | Nicholas and Alexandra |
| 1971 | When Eight Bells Toll |
| 1972 | Kidnapped |
| 1972 | Escape to the Sun |
| 1972 | Young Winston |
| 1973 | Theatre of Blood |
| 1973 | Tales that Witness Madness |
