Giles & The Loyal Sheriff

Cavan Malone as Giles with Martitia Hunt as Queen Eleanor

Several actors in Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952), remain uncredited in the film. 

In 2012 we finally discovered the actor who had played Giles the page boy. This was Cavan Malone (1939-1982). Cavan appeared in several scenes of The Story of Robin Hood, including lending Marian his costume and allowing her to visit Sherwood Forest. 

Cavan Malone with Joan Rice as Maid Marian

Cavan Malone (born 25th November 1936) was the son of the Irish tenor Danny Malone. His mother Hazel Malone, ran the famous Corona Stage School in Chiswick, London, during WWII.  As a child actor, he appeared with Alec Guinness in the movie classic Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949). 

Cavan Malone

Cavan Malone in TV's Coronation Street

Cavan appeared in TV shows as far back as 1947 like No Hiding Place, Dixon of Dock Green and also played Gordon Davies, husband to Joan Walker, in Coronation Street in 1961.  But after appearing in the classic war film 633 Squadron during the mid-sixties he seems to have quit acting.

Cavan sadly passed away in 1982, aged 46. 

Fred Johnson as the loyal sheriff

Recently, I was asked by Chrisandmike Smith if I knew the actor's name who portrayed the loyal sheriff who begged King Richard to let him join the Crusade? 

I had overlooked this character in the movie, but regular contributor Christian did some research in 2014.

The old sheriff begs King Richard to take him on Crusade

The old Sheriff appears only once but plays a pivotal role in the film since it justifies the whole plot of Robin becoming an outlaw. Should the sheriff have remained in England, the story would have been very different for obvious reasons.

Fred Johnson (left) in A Christmas Carol

Christian believes the sheriff was played by Irish actor Fred Johnson (1899-1971), a character actor who unfortunately made very few films (mostly horror pictures). He is uncredited in the Story of Robin Hood and no filmography lists him as one of the actors in this film.

Fred Johnson was born in Dublin on August 6th 1899 and went on to appear in films like Martin Luther (1953), The Curse of Frankenstein (1971), Dr. Blood's Coffin (1961) and a favourite of mine, A Christmas Carol (1951).