John Stuart (John Alfred Louden Croall; 18 July 1898 – 17 October 1979) was a Scottish actor, and was a very popular leading man in British silent films in the 1920s. He successfully made the transition to talking pictures in the 1930s and his film career went on to span almost six decades. He appeared in 172 films (including shorts), 123 stage plays, and 103 television plays and series.
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Early life
John Croall – later John Stuart – was born in Edinburgh on 18 July 1898. He came from a wealthy family whose company John Croall & Sons, run by his grandfather, made chassis for luxury cars such as Rolls-Royce. When he was seven the family moved to London, living in a house in Hampstead. His parents separated the following year, and John lived with his mother and two brothers in St John's Wood. He attended Dunstable Grammar School as a boarder, and at thirteen moved to Eastbourne College: 'Scholastically I was pretty hopeless. I loved games, particularly rugger and fives'. An early ambition was to become a naval doctor, but he then decided to join the army. Initially rejected because he was under age, at nineteen he was accepted and joined the Black Watch regiment as a private. He was then posted as a Second Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders, with which he saw active service in the Arras sector of the Western Front. He was invalided out with trench fever in September 1918, and hospitalised in London, being released on Armistice Day. Whilst waiting in Scotland to be demobilised he became the battalion’s entertainment officer, organising concert parties for charity.
