David Manners

Biography

David Joseph Manners (born Rauff de Ryther Duan Acklom; April 30, 1900 – December 23, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor who plays John Harker in Tod Browning's 1931 horror classic Dracula, which stars Bela Lugosi in the title role. The following year, Manners portrayed the archaeologist Frank Whemple in The Mummy, another pre-code thriller by Universal Pictures.

In late 1930 Manners filmed his best-remembered role, as Jonathan Harker opposite Bela Lugosi, in Universal's horror classic Dracula (1931). Until the end of his life, he continued to receive mail from fans of the movie, although he claimed to have never seen the finished film. 

In his tenth movie, he co-starred with Barbara Stanwyck in Frank Capra's critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful The Miracle Woman (1931). The New York Times lauded Manners again for his portrayal of a blind war veteran, stating that "Manners does exceptionally well with this sympathetic assignment".

After the success of Dracula, Manners worked for several years as a romantic leading man and was most often seen in a tuxedo in romantic comedies and light dramas. The Last Flight (1931), a Lost Generation celebration of the high life in Paris, and Karl Freund's The Mummy (1932) with Boris Karloff were two standouts. 

But by 1936 he had grown bored with Hollywood and abandoned his film career. He reportedly never acclimated to Hollywood, which he found to be "a false place". Although he was among the first group of actors to join the fledgling Screen Actors Guild in 1933, he returned to New York City, but he moved back to California three years later. 

Manners grew increasingly frustrated with his roles in Hollywood and with his film career in general, despite all its successes. Following his work on three films released in 1936—Hearts in Bondage, A Woman Rebels, and Lucky Fugitives—he left the studios and retired from film work. 

He did, however, continue to perform regularly on stage for another 17 years, appearing in various productions on tour, in summer stock, and on Broadway, including the ill-fated 1946 play Hidden Horizon. In 1953, Manners retired from acting entirely.