Born in London, England. The son of Charles Warner, a famous 19th-century actor of the British stage, he made his debut at the age of seven at his father's theatre. He later studied medicine at London's University College but finally chose acting and had a distinguished career on the British and American stages. In American films from 1914, he played character leads in numerous silents and talkies, notably as Christ in De Mille's THE KING OF KINGS (1927). He also starred in SORRELL AND SON (1927) and repeated the role in a 1934 remake. Tall and slender, with a cultured voice, he adapted easily to talkies. Well into middle age, Warner accepted character roles in FIVE STAR FINAL (1931), TOM BROWN OF CULVER (1932), A TALE OF TWO CITIES (1935), MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (1936), LOST HORIZON (1937, as the gentle Chang, a role for which he was Oscarnominated), YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938, with an unforgettable scene where he confronts robber-baron Edward Arnold who has just destroyed him financially), MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, THE RAINS CAME (both 1939), THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER, THE CORSICAN BROTHERS and TOPPER RETURNS (all 1941), HITLER'S CHILDREN (1943), IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946, as the drunken pharmacist, Mr. Gower), SUNSET BLVD. (1950, playing himself, as one of the "waxworks," along with former leading lady Anna Q. Nilsson), HERE COMES THE GROOM (1951), and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956, as Amminadab), among others. He also played Colonel Nielsen in several of Paramount's BULLDOG DRUMMOND films of the late 1930s. His brother was silent film action J. B. Warner (1895-1924), who died of tuberculosis; his grandson is beach movie actor Ed Garner.    Nominated for Supporting Actor 1937: LOST HORIZON 1 nomination