Born in South Africa, Raymond Severn moved to the United States in 1935 and began his acting career as a child in Hollywood. He is best known for his role in The Lodger (1944), where he contributes to the film's tense atmosphere as a young character caught in a web of intrigue. Severn's early work in the 1940s highlights the era's fascination with suspense and mystery, making his performance a notable piece of cult cinema history.
The Lodger
Slade, a serial killer, is a lodger in a 19th-century family's London home. So is a singer, Kitty Langley, who definitely has caught Slade's eye. Women are being brutally killed in the Whitechapel district. Scotland Yard is investigating, and a detective, John Warwick, begins to cast his suspicions in Slade's direction. Kitty, meanwhile, has also developed an attraction to Slade. Slade goes to see her perform at a cabaret. He goes backstage afterward, and tries to make her his next victim, but Warwick's men get there just in time. Unwilling to be taken into police custody, Slade flees to the riverbank, and leaps to his death.
