When actor Jack Hawkins had his larynx removed, he did not give up on his career - or his smoking.
In late 1959, Jack Hawkins was a worried man. Britain’s most famous stiff-upper-lipped hero – and star of The Cruel Sea (1953), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Ben-Hur (1959) and Zulu (1964)– was suffering from a persistent, vicious cough. Across three decades, he’d appeared in nearly 50 films and countless stage shows – yet never clocked a single day sick. However, as his cough worsened during the filming of The League of Gentlemen (1960), the cast witnessed some heart-wrenching moments, as Jack grappled with his loss of voice. Under a veil of silence – so as not to alarm potential employers – Hawkins was wheeled into a London clinic for cobalt treatment. His voice was restored, but in a noticeably huskier monotone. Should the cancer return, doctors warned, the removal of his vocal cords was the only option. For a while, everything seemed to be improving. Jack’s family...
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