One of the finest film actors of his generation. Howard began his career in the 1940s and excelled at playing debonair officers and gentlemen, carving a niche in his latter years as England's favorite screen autocrat. His understated performance opposite Celia Johnson in David Lean's "Brief Encounter" (1945) brought him to international attention and led to work with a distinguished roster of directors including Luchino Visconti, Joseph Losey and Tony Richardson. Howard enjoyed his most productive association with Carol Reed, memorably as the police major with an impeccably stiff upper lip in