Skelton Knaggs (June 27, 1911 – April 30, 1955) was an English character actor whose gaunt, sinister, and utterly unique physical appearance made him one of the most memorable and effective villains of 1940s Hollywood horror films and film noirs.
A former Shakespearean actor with London’s prestigious Old Vic company, Knaggs brought a theatrical intensity to his on-screen roles. After coming to the United States, his distinctive look quickly typecast him, and he became a staple of the atmospheric horror films produced by Val Lewton, with memorable appearances in The Ghost Ship (1943) and Isle of the Dead (1945).
He also worked frequently in Universal’s monster movies, such as House of Dracula (1945), and was a memorable villain in the RKO series, playing Rudolph in Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946) and the sinister X-Ray in Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947). Though often appearing in small parts, Knaggs’s unforgettable face and menacing presence could steal a scene, cementing his legacy as a true cult icon of the horror genre.
