Gerald Ames

Although he was one of the leading lights of British fencing in the early years of the 20th century and competed in the Stockholm Games of 1912, Ames was better known as an actor, both on stage and as one of the earliest stars of British cinema. He appeared in over sixty silent movies and directed himself in a number of them.

A strong proponent of duelling, he was once quoted as saying “If you take a lady out to supper and some cad of a man takes it in his head to annoy her with insolent staring, she has no redress and you have no method of punishing him. If duelling were recognized and practiced in England today, that kind of thing could be stopped and a lady could walk out without fearing the insolent advances and attentions of the cads who infest our streets today.”

Gerald Ames died of a heart attack after falling down the steps at a London Underground station.