Was a Hollywood icon the target of a high-stakes Nazi assassination plot?

Art · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Leslie Howard was a quintessential screen idol of the 1930s, known for his roles in Gone with the Wind and Pygmalion. Yet, his life ended in mystery when his civilian flight was downed by German fighters in 1943, fueling persistent rumors that he was a target of wartime intelligence operations.

Born Leslie Howard Steiner in 1893, the actor transitioned from a bank clerk to a major Broadway star and Hollywood fixture. Despite his fame, he often felt uncomfortable in the American film industry, frequently returning to Britain. His career was defined by his portrayal of refined, stiff-upper-lipped Englishmen, though his personal life was marked by complex relationships and a reputation as a ladies' man. By 1939, he was eager to contribute to the British war effort, eventually producing and directing propaganda films that were later lauded for their strategic value.

The circumstances of his death remain a subject of intense historical speculation. On June 1, 1943, the BOAC Flight 777 he was traveling on was intercepted and destroyed by Luftwaffe fighters over the Atlantic. While German records indicate the attack was a standard interception of an enemy aircraft, a popular theory suggests the Nazis mistakenly believed Winston Churchill was aboard. This confusion allegedly stemmed from German agents in Lisbon observing Howard’s agent, Alfred Chenhalls—a thickset man who smoked cigars—boarding the plane, leading them to misidentify him as the British Prime Minister.

The tragedy occurred during a period of heightened sensitivity, as the Germans viewed the Lisbon-to-UK flight path as a dangerous war zone. The attack was so aggressive that it prompted a subsequent confrontation between the Luftwaffe and a Royal Australian Air Force flying boat, forcing the British to restrict all future flights on that route to nighttime operations. Whether Howard was merely a casualty of war or a specific target of German intelligence remains a point of debate, forever linking the actor's final act to the shadows of the Second World War.

Howard’s legacy extends beyond his filmography, which includes iconic performances in The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Petrified Forest. In 1981, he was honored with a place in the American Theatre Hall of Fame. His life, characterized by a blend of artistic brilliance and clandestine wartime service, continues to intrigue historians, particularly given the strange coincidence that his death was reported in the same issue of The Times as the ruse involving the 'Man Who Never Was'.

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