British character actor Rupert Davies (1916-1976) often played amiable, reassuring authority figures, none more famous than his signature role, Inspector Jules Maigret.

A bluff, burly man with an unruly mop of crinkly brown hair, Rupert Davies was an instantly recognizable character player in movies of the 1950s and 1960s. Gentle in demeanor, he often played priests, detectives, and other authority figures. But he is best known to audiences in his native Great Britain for his portrayal of Inspector Jules Maigret, a pipe-puffing Parisian sleuth, on a television series in the early 1960s. Later in his career he became a valuable supporting actor in low-budget horror movies, often starring Vincent Price or Christopher Lee.

Rupert Davies was born in Liverpool, England in 1916. He did not take up acting until he was an adult. When World War II broke out, Davies joined the British naval air force. After his airplane...