Biography

British actor, on stage from 1930 and in films from 1934. He was a former member of the Rhodesian constabulary, the British South Africa Mounted Police. After moving to Britain, he studied at RADA and made a successful career as a screen and radio actor, including as host of his own Sunday night programme, 'Quiet Rhythm'. He lived to the ripe old age of 104.

In his nineties he retired to East Anglia with his second wife, Julia. "If the doctors are right and we are going to live to 125 years of age," he remarked to an interviewer in 1992, "perhaps I had better invest in a new pair of golf shoes. I'm only 92." He continued to enjoy a regular round until the age of 100.

In 2003 he retired to East Anglia with his wife Julia.

From 1968 he embarked on a new career as a hard-working charity fundraiser, first as appeals secretary for the Abbeyfield Society, then as appeals director for 13 years of the National Kidney Research Fund.

In 1928, Arden moved to Southern Rhodesia and served in the British South Africa Police (BSAP). Two years later, he returned to Great Britain to pursue an acting career.