Jack Hawkins worked extensively in stage and film from the 1930s through the 1970s, becoming one of Britain's most popular screen stars of the 1950s, prized for a formidable presence in military and authority roles. His most celebrated performances included supporting William Holden and Alec Guinness in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), playing the Roman admiral Quintus Arrius in Ben-Hur (1959), and appearing as the conflicted missionary Reverend Otto Witt in Zulu (1964). After losing his voice to throat cancer surgery in 1966, he continued acting with his dialogue dubbed by other performers, right up until his death.