Charming, classically handsome leading man who began his career as a child actor on the stage from the age of eight before gaining attention in several British silents and as a Broadway lead, often opposite Katharine Cornell. Aherne went to Hollywood in 1933 where he starred in numerous romantic roles as the quintessential upper-class English gentleman, although he was equally memorable in the atypical supporting role of the Emperor Maximilian, in "Juarez" (1939) for which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.