Trivia

Whilst he was playing the title role in the Orson Welles stage production of "Julius Caesar" in 1937, a terrible accident took place - he actually was stabbed in the chest in full view of the audience. However, he played out the remainder of the scene and his collapse was genuine. It was not until the other actors realized that there was real blood all over his costume and the stage that an ambulance was summoned and he was rushed to hospital. He recovered swiftly enough, however, and took no legal action; he remained on good terms with Orson Welles, who had stabbed him, and it is worth noting that he lived to a ripe old age - indeed, he outlived Welles, who was several years younger, by nearly ten years.