Leslie Howard was a person.
Leslie Howard ( born Leslie Howard Steiner , 3 April 18931 June 1943 ) was an English stage and film actor , director and producer . Howard also wrote many stories and articles for The New York Times , The New Yorker and Vanity Fair . Howard had movie roles in many other notable films , including : Berkeley Square ( 1933 ) , Of Human Bondage ( 1934 ) , The Scarlet Pimpernel ( 1934 ) , The Petrified Forest ( 1936 ) , Pygmalion ( 1938 ) , Intermezzo ( 1939 ) , `` Pimpernel '' Smith ( 1941 ) and The First of the Few ( 1942 ) , receiving two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor . Howard 's Second World War activities included acting and filmmaking .