William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 1902 – 10 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States.

In films, he played opposite Madeleine Carroll, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth and Carole Lombard, and was Oscar-nominated for his role as Emperor Maximilian in Juarez (1939).

He was born in King's Norton, Worcestershire, the second and younger son of the architect William de Lacy Aherne and his wife Louise (née Thomas).

He then studied with a view to becoming an architect, but, having had considerable amateur experience in Birmingham and with Liverpool's Green Room Club, he obtained an engagement under Robert Courtneidge, and appeared at London's Savoy Theatre, opening on 26 December 1923, as Jack O'Hara in a revival of Paddy the Next Best Thing, the play by W. Gayer-Mackay and Robert Ord (from the novel).

[4] He then toured with Violet Vanbrugh as Hugo in The Flame and appeared at the London Playhouse in May 1924 as Langford in Leon Gordon's White Cargo, in which he played all through 1924–1925.

He made several appearances in productions at Cricklewood Studios by Stoll Pictures, then the largest British film company, including two directed by Sinclair Hill: The Squire of Long Hadley (1925) and A Woman Redeemed (1927).

At Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Aherne co-starred with Helen Hayes in What Every Woman Knows (1934), and Joan Crawford in I Live My Life (1935), which was a big hit.

[8] Aherne returned to RKO for Sylvia Scarlett (1935) with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, a notorious flop.

He returned to Broadway, where he appeared in Cornell's production of Saint Joan (1936), co-starring Maurice Evans.

He supported Constance Bennett in the hit comedy Merrily We Live (1938) for Hal Roach Studios, distributed by MGM.

[11] Hal Roach gave Aherne the star role in Captain Fury (1939) as a bushranger in colonial Australia.

He made Hired Wife (1940) at Universal with Rosalind Russell; for that studio, he did The Man Who Lost Himself (1941) with Kay Francis.

At Columbia, Aherne supported Merle Oberon in First Comes Courage (1943) and Rosalind Russell in The Beautiful Cheat (1943).

Aherne made his television debut with "Dear Brutus" for The Ford Theatre Hour (1950), which he had performed on stage in Boston.

Aherne did Escapade (1953) on Broadway and "Two for Tea" for Lux Video Theatre and "Element of Risk" and "Breakdown" for Robert Montgomery Presents (1953).

Aherne did "The Martyr" for General Electric Theater (1955), "Reunion in Vienna" for Producers' Showcase (1955), and "The Round Dozen" and "Appearances and Reality" for The Star and the Story (1955).

He also appeared in an episode of The Burns and Allen Show titled "Brian Aherne's Shorts" on March 28, 1944.

[23] Aherne published his autobiography A Proper Job in 1969 as well as A Dreadful Man (1979), a biography of his close friend George Sanders.