Louis Hayward

Louis Hayward, Marine Corps Captain, Academy Award-winning director, and star on Broadway and in motion pictures, is best-known today for The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), but he appeared in dozens of films and stage roles, and he won other major awards for his brave wartime service.

Discover the man behind the mask in Mary Ann Anderson’s extraordinary memoir. From his Bronze Star Medal and Presidential Citation for his World War Two gallantry to winning the 1944 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject for directing With the Marines at Tarawa, Louis’ life and career reached heights that few have achieved.

His early role on stage in London as the title character in Dracula led to a film, stage, and television career that spanned 1932-1974. His major appearances included Noël Coward's Point Valaine (1935) on Broadway with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne; Mervyn Leroy’s film, Anthony Adverse (1936); The Saint in New York (1938); James Whale’s The Man in the Iron Mask (1939); The Son of Monte Cristo (1940); television series, The Lone Wolf (1954), The Pursuers (1961), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1962), Rawhide (1964), and Night Gallery (1970).

Through this richly researched work, learn the full story of how the man in the iron mask flourished as a gentleman with steely strength during World War Two and Broadway and Hollywood’s Golden Years.

110 pages. Illustrated.