Who Is Leslie Phillips? Wiki, Movie, Net Worth, 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider' & Facts To Know

Leslie Philips is a famous English actor who is best known for his acting in comedy films like Carry On, Carry On Nurse, Casanova '73, Chancer, and Empire of the Sun. He has also appeared in movies like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and as a voice character in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Phillips has an accent that is upper class and is easily recognized. His extensive acting career has contributed to his net worth. Leslie Phillips is also a producer and an author.

Leslie Phillips was born on April 20, 1924, in Tottenham, England. His birth name is Leslie Samuel Phillips. Phillips’ parents were Frederick Samuel Phillips and Cecelia Margaret. His father worked at Glover and Main, which was a manufacturing company of cookers located in Edmonton. He has an older brother called Fred and an older sister called Dorothy. In 1931, Phillips family moved to Chingford after his father’s death, which was caused by a weak heart. He attended Larkswood Primary School, which was in Chingford. Phillips’ mother later enrolled him in Italia Conti Academy so that he could receive lessons to help him lose his cockney accent. This would help his dream of being an actor to come true since actors were required not to have the cockney accent. Phillips’ family was poor. He started acting at 14 years and became the sole breadwinner of the family.

Leslie Phillips started acting at a very young age in the 1930’s. When the Pinewood Studios was opening in 1936, he was part of the opening act and is the only currently living actor who performed at the opening. In 1938 when he was 14 years old, he appeared in a West End play called Dear Octopus where he acted alongside Graeme Muir. When the Second World War was in effect, there were no shows at that time since air-raid sirens often interrupted them. In 1940, when Phillips was 16 years, he appeared in The Thief of Bagdad where he played a market street ragamuffin. In 1942, Phillips joined the army where he was the Lance-Bombardier in the Royal Artillery. In 1943, he was in charge of training the officers because of his upper-class accent. He was later made a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in the same year. In 1944, Phillips was taken to the Durham Light Infantry. In the same year, he was diagnosed with a neurological disease that was said to cause partial paralysis. Phillips was taken to a medical facility for treatment and this was the end of his career in the army. In December 1944, Phillips’ acting career took up again, when he appeared in music halls and plays in the northern part of England. He became famous in the 1950s for acting like a funny English character in TV series like Robin Hood where he acted alongside Richard Greene. Phillips’ first lead role was in 1952 when he appeared in a sitcom called My Wife Jacqueline. In 1958, he appeared in a movie called Carry On. The series was a British comedy that had thirteen episodes. Phillips acted alongside Jim Dale, Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor, and Jack Douglas among others in Carry On. Peter Rodgers produced Carry On and Gerald Thomas directed it. The Carry On movie produced a series of other Carry On movies like Carry On Nurse, Carry On Constable, Carry On Teacher, and Carry On Loving just to mention but a few. Phillips appeared in three of the Carry On movies Carry On Nurse, Carry On Teacher, and Carry On Constable. Carry On Nurse was launched in 1959 and it was the second of the Carry On movies. He acted alongside Shirley Eaton, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Joan Sims, and Rosalind Knight among others. Carry On Nurse received $1.5 million after it was released at the Box office. After Phillips’ last appearance in the Carry On movies, he told the producer that he was done doing the Carry On movies. He appeared in numerous of the ‘Doctor’ film comedies that were there in the 1960s. In 1973, Phillips appeared in a British sitcom called Casanova '73. He acted alongside Jan Holden in Casanova '73. Ray Galtona and Alan Simpson were the writers of Casanova '73. Harold Snoad was the producer of Casanova '73, which had only seven episodes. From 1960 to 1977, he was famous on the radio for his leading role in a program called The Navy Lark. In 1982, Phillips decided to leave comedies and he ventured into character roles. In 1987, he appeared in the movie Empire of the Sun, which was directed by Steven Spielberg. Phillips did not have a lead role in Empire of the Sun but he acted alongside stars like Nigel Havers, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, and Christian Bale. The movie was based on J. G. Ballard’s novel called Empire of the Sun. Empire of the Sun had good reviews but it was not a Box office hit. In 1990, Phillips appeared in a British television series called Chancer. He acted alongside Clive Owen, Peter Vaughan, Susannah Harker, Simon Shepherd, Lynsey Baxter, Stephen Tompkinson, and Benjamin Whitrow in Chancer. Chancer had two seasons each with ten episodes. Sarah Wilson produced Chancer and it was aired on ITV. In 2001, Leslie Phillips appeared in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. He acted alongside famous stars like Angelina Jolie, Jon Voight, Iain Glen, Daniel Craig, and Chris Barrie in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Simon West directed Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and it received 18 nominations and won four of them. Sara B. Cooper, Mike Werb, and Michael Colleary wrote the storyline of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. The Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movie was not a big hit after its release but it received positive reviews. In the same year of 2001, Phillips was a voice character for the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter movies like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Leslie Phillips acted alongside Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Nina Young, Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, and Robbie Coltrane among others in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone received 62 nominations among them three Oscars nominations and won 17 of them. Chris Columbus directed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone together with all the other Harry Potter movies. Leslie Phillips has also appeared in other British television sitcoms like Honey for Tea alongside Felicity Kendal and a series called The Bill. He appeared in Hanif Kureishi’s movie called Venus in 2006 where he acted alongside Peter O’Toole. In the same year, Orion published his autobiography called Hello. In 2007, Phillips received a nomination for BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his appearance as a veteran actor. In 2008, he was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) from his previous title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). The Sky Arts series called Living The Life has been produced by Phillips together with Jules Williams and Back Door Productions. The series is now in its third season. His career as an actor, producer, author, and voice over character has contributed to his net worth.

In 1997, Phillips won a Special Award in the Evening Standard British Film Awards. In 1998 Queen's Birthday Honors List, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire. In 2006, he won the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor in the movie Venus. In 2007, Leslie Phillips received a nomination on the BAFTA Film Award for Best Actor in a supporting role. In the same year, he received a nomination in the ALFS Award for British Supporting Actor of the Year. Phillips won a Dilys Powell Award in the London Critics Circle Film Awards. In the 2008 Queen's New Year Honors List, he was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

On 30th May 1948, Leslie Phillips married his first wife Penelope Bartley who was an actress. The two had four children namely Claudia, Andrew, Roger, and Caroline. In 1962, he had an affair with an actress called Caroline Mortimer. The actress was the stepdaughter of John Mortimer and daughter of famous writer Penelope Mortimer. The actress was part of a play that Phillips was in. Phillips and his wife separated when she learned of the affair and they divorced in 1965. After the divorce, Leslie started a romantic relationship with an actress named Vicki Luke. The two lived together for three years. After this, he started another relationship with a former Bond girl named Angela Scoular. In 1981, when Leslie was in Australia on tour, he was notified that his ex-wife Penelope had died in a fire. He chose not to go to the funeral but continued with the tour. His family never forgave him for not going to the funeral. In 1982, Leslie and Scoular were married and stayed together until she died on April 11th, 2011. Scoular had bipolar disorder and she was suffering from bowel cancer. She took her own life and Leslie was the one who found her. Three months after her death, he was too sick to attend the inquest into Scoular’s death. In 2013, Leslie married his current wife Zara Carr at the age of 89 despite rumors that she had married him because of his huge net worth. Leslie Phillips is a huge fan of Tottenham Hotspur. On April 1st, 2012, he appeared on the field during the team’s home match against Swansea City as part of the half-time entertainment.

Leslie Phillips has an oval shaped face with grey hair. His eyes are light green and he weighs 158 pounds. Leslie’s height is 5’ 8’ and he has no tattoos on his body.

It was recently rumored that Leslie’s wife Zara is pregnant. The rumors started when she was spotted hiding what appeared to be a baby bump. This occurred when they had gone for a romantic dinner date together close to their home. A source close to them disclosed that she toasted twice with water during the dinner date. It is customary for toasts to be done with a full glass of wine or champagne and pregnant women are allowed to toast with water. This seemed to put more fire on the rumors. Neither Leslie nor Zara have commented about the baby rumors. It was also rumored that the actor will retire from acting when he is 93 years old. A source who wanted to stay anonymous said that the actor might have said that acting was not fun anymore and that he wanted to focus on other creative deals. This caused the hashtag #ThankYouLeslie to trend on Twitter as fans looked back on wonderful memories. Leslie has not yet commented on the rumor.

In 2014, Leslie suffered a stroke on his way home from a shopping trip in London’s Oxford Street. He was riding the bus home with his wife Zara. He told his wife that he had pains in his left arm and it reached a point where he could not move his arm. Zara stopped the bus and gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation before an ambulance arrived. He was then rushed to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington. He was recently seen out and about with a friend who was pushing him in a wheelchair. Zara has been nursing him back to health and she hopes for the best.

1. David Jason considers Leslie a legend of British comedy. 2. He considers Carry On Nurse the funniest movie he has ever done. 3. In Carry On Columbus, he took the role of the King of Spain that was to be played by Frankie Howard who had died. 4. In 2014, Leslie suffered a stroke and survived. 5. In 1937, he made his first stage appearance at the London Palladium where he acted as the wolf in Peter Pan alongside Anna Neagle. 6. When Leslie was 14 years old, he appeared in Otello and Turandot at Convent Garden. 7. He has a sister called Dorothy and an older brother called Fred. 8. He attended Italia Conti Academy after his mother saw an advertisement in a paper, requesting children to apply for a Christmas show. 9. In 1998 Queen’s Birthday Honors List, Leslie was awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his service to drama. 10. He worked on The Navy Lark, which was a BBC radio comedy together with other famous British actors like Ronnie Barker and Jon Pertwee. 11. Leslie’s favorite actor is Kenneth Connor. 12. In 2008 at the Queen’s New Year Honors List, he was given the Commander of the Order of the British Empire award for his dedication to drama. 13. Leslie has been friends with Jon Pertwee and Denholm Elliott for many years now. 14. He is famous for catchphrases like Ding Dong, Lumme, and Hello, which he constantly said on the Carry On movies. 15. Leslie is a huge fan of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. 16. His mother Cecilia died at the age of 92 after she was robbed in Chingford, Essex by three teenagers. 17. Leslie's older sister Dorothy died months after their mother's death because she could not get over the tragedy. 18. He appeared in three of the Carry On movies. 19. Leslie's second wife Angela was bipolar and had bowel cancer. She later committed suicide because of depression. 20. He became famous for his funny English characters and is known for his upper-class accent.

Leslie's net worth is estimated to be $245 million. This net worth makes him the highest paid actor in the world. He has accumulated his net worth over the years by appearing in movies like Carry On, Carry On Nurse, Chancer, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Casanova '73, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and Empire of the Sun. Leslie owes his net worth to numerous property holdings, smart stock investments, and endorsement deals with CoverGirl cosmetics. His net worth also comes from the chain of restaurants he owns called The Fat Phillips Burger in London, and a football team called the London Angels. Leslie Phillips has his own brand of vodka called Pure Wonderphillips-England, a top-selling perfume called With Love from Leslie, and a fashion line called Leslie Phillips Seduction, all of which contribute to his large net worth. Leslie Phillips is a force to be reckoned with in the acting industry. He makes most young people aspiring to be actors to believe that dreams are valid despite the background you come from. The actor is enthusiastic about life despite his age and stays true to the proverb "age is just a number".