Nicholas James "Beau" Hannen OBE (mil) (1 May 1881 – 25 June 1972) was a British actor of the early and mid-20th century who acted in a number of stage plays and films.

[3] He was brought up in Yokohama and Shanghai where his father, Sir Nicholas John Hannen was serving, first as Judge of the British Court for Japan (1881–1891) and then Chief Justice of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan (1891–1900) as well as Consul-General in Shanghai (1891–1897).

He appeared in close to 50 stage plays in London, including Henry VIII and The Importance of Being Earnest as well as 'Arms and the Man, at the New Theatre in St. Martins Lane.

In this production, for the Old Vic Company, he played Major Paul Petkov, in a cast which included Margaret Leighton, Sybil Thorndike, Ralph Richardson, Joyce Redman and Laurence Olivier.

[13] Hannen performed in at least 26 films from 1931 to 1960, including Richard III as the Archbishop and Henry V as the Duke of Exeter.