Sir Charles Aubrey Smith (21 July 1863 – 20 December 1948) was an English Test cricketer who became a stage and film actor, acquiring a niche as the officer-and-gentleman type, as in the first sound version of The Prisoner of Zenda (1937).

[3] He captained England to victory in his only Test match,[5] against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in March 1889, taking five wickets for nineteen runs in the first innings.

He attracted fellow expatriates such as David Niven, Laurence Olivier, Nigel Bruce (who served as captain), Leslie Howard[10] and Boris Karloff to the club as well as local American players.

"[11] Decades after his cricket career had ended, when he had long been a famous face in films, Smith was spotted in the pavilion on a visit to Lord's.

When Raymond Massey asked him to help him understand the role of Black Michael, he answered "My dear Ray, in my time I have played every part in The Prisoner of Zenda except Princess Flavia.

A. Milne for the company Minerva Films, which was founded in 1920 by the actor Leslie Howard and his friend and story editor Adrian Brunel).

One role in 1937 was as Colonel Williams in Wee Willie Winkie, starring Shirley Temple, Victor McLaglen, Cesar Romero and June Lang.

Other film stars considered to be "members" of this select group were David Niven (whom Smith treated like a son), Ronald Colman, Rex Harrison, Robert Coote, Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce (whose daughter's wedding he had attended as best man), Leslie Howard (whom Smith had known since working with him on early films in London),[16] and Patric Knowles.

[citation needed] Fiercely patriotic, Smith became openly critical of the British actors of enlistment age who did not return to fight after the outbreak of World War II in 1939.

Smith starred alongside leading ladies such as Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor, and Vivien Leigh as well as the actors Clark Gable, Laurence Olivier, Ronald Colman, Maurice Chevalier, and Gary Cooper.

He appeared in Dennis Wheatley's 1934 thriller Such Power Is Dangerous, about an attempt to take over Hollywood, under the fictitious name of Warren Hastings Rook (rather than Charles Aubrey Smith).

[17] His body was cremated and nine months later, in accordance with his instructions, the ashes were returned to England and interred in his mother's grave at St Leonard's churchyard in Hove, Sussex.