Franchot Tone Franchot Tone Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American stage, film and television actor. He was Oscar-nominated for his role as Midshipman Roger Byam in "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1935), starring alongside Clark Gable and Charles Laughton. He was a leading man in many films and appeared as a guest star in episodes of several television series, including "The Twilight Zone" and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour". Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone was born in Niagara Falls, New York, the youngest son of Dr. Frank Jerome Tone, the wealthy president of the Carborundum Company, and
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934 film) the ship back to England. Alexander Korda, a Hungarian who had been born in a town not far from Baroness Orczy's farm, had recently had great success with the actor Charles Laughton in the film "The Private Life of Henry VIII", so he asked Laughton to play the role of Sir Percy. When the announcement went out to the press, the reaction from the Pimpernel's many fans was negative; the pug-nosed Laughton was thought inappropriate to play the suave Sir Percy. Korda thus gave the role to Leslie Howard, with Merle Oberon as Marguerite. Howard set the standard with his