the son of violet eileen concanen and arthur de marney, and the grandson of noted victorian lithographer alfred concanen, his career in the theatre began in 1923 and continued almost without interruption, taking in film, radio and television parts. he toured with mrs patrick campbell in "the last of mrs. cheyney". in 1930 he played gustave in "the lady of the camellias", and toured south africa as raleigh in "journey's end". in 1934 he played tybalt in "romeo and juliet" at the open air theatre, and giovanni in "'tis pity she's a whore" at the arts. thrillers tended to be his stock in trade, appearing in a revival of sutton vane's "outward bound" during the 1930s, as well as agatha christie's "ten little indians" and "dear murderer". in later years he appeared in a revival of gerald du maurier's "trilby".